Thread regarding General Motors layoffs

@1ja
It's relative. You have to define what the average wealth of the average 22 year is first.
Can the average 22 year old afford to buy a $100 dinner for two? Probably not.
So you can see where this path takes you.
The average 22 year old probably can't afford to own a 2006 Ford Focus and insure it, let alone a date night.

Ask your colleagues who have 22 year olds living at home if they have a job, have friends, or even have a driver's license. You would be surprised at what social media, media demoralization and liberal politics have done to the minds and the ambition of young people. Most are basement dwellers on meds. Once again, ask around.

What's the cheapest vehicle GM sells?

Is it priced so that a 22 year old entry level buyer can afford it?

Vehicles made for the US market are mostly trucks and SUVs.

If cars are offered at all, it might be one or two in a lineup of 10 or 12 models.

@sc

Plenty of companies sells cars at a profit, built by Americans in the USA.

Leading up to 2009, people used to remark about how much of GMs profit was created by truck sales. Then people stopped buying trucks and the company went bankrupt. Trucks these days are luxury goods.

@v0 the customers a company targets aren't necessarily the customers they get.

What are the demographics of the actual purchasers of our vehicles?

I agree with the other posting that they probably skew older, but that's just a personal opinion.

I bet everybody here's PEP car is a GM product though

@sx Yeah, great mentality for the entry level buyer. When those current 50 year olds get older, the current gen z will have started off as customers who bought affordable Toyotas, Hondas, and Mazdas… No one recommends GM when talking about financial advice and car buying decisions around those age groups. People generally aren't buying expensive trucks when you’re broke out of college.

@sx
Fake.
Making up statistics makes you look like a fool but I bet you are used to that.
Why not consult General Motors annual report for a detailed look at targeted income and age? GM does NOT have a single target market and it sells cars from coast to coast. Why lie?

Age and Lifestyle Trends

• Younger Buyers: Brands like Chevrolet specifically target younger buyers with their emphasis on technology and in some segments, affordability (e.g., Chevy Equinox EV, Buick Envista attracting young, new-to-brand owners).

• Older/Established Buyers: Historically, brands like Cadillac and Buick have targeted older consumers who prioritize comfort, reliability, and luxury. For instance, the Cadillac Escalade often attracts buyers with deeper pockets.

  -Gen X: Studies have indicated that Gen X is the generation that likes GM the most, with Chevrolet being their favorite brand in many states.

  -Families: The automotive industry in general, including GM segments, targets family-oriented consumers who prioritize safety, spaciousness, and reliability (often leading them to SUVs and crossovers like the Chevrolet Traverse or Tahoe).

GM's average customer is 50+ and lives in the Midwest.

They want trucks not cars.

@sc just a couple more years until the well runs dry, then what. Youll have a shell of a company that can't design, build or ship any type of car domestically. It will all be imported from saic.

@r3
This type of argument - that GM should sell CARS is futile.
GM is in the business of selling what sells at the highest possible margin.
They are not going sell regular cars at a small margin or any kind of loss to make some people happy.
Like it or not, demographics change and the marketing team has their fingers on the pulse. It's good for our bonuses and shareholder dividends. Over 100k jobs rely on it too.

@nw that’s a common criticism, the only ‘cars’ we have are the Malibu NOT in the U.S. market, corvette, and the ct4 and ct5. Ct4 is about to end production, but at least ct5 is still going. Now we’ll have the bolt if you want that, still not IC. But there’s no Cruze anymore. The criticism comes from GM being a ‘truck’ company from our main sellers being the T1xx line, which the non trucks are still considered truck adjacent SUV’s by people, then crossovers and SUV’s outside of that still aren’t sedans.

@mr
"GM doesn't even build cars!"

No. GM is one of the biggest employers in America. They build millions of cars.
Do you lie to your friends and family too?
Exhausting character flaw.

2018 Lost my job to an all electric future!
2035 all electric zero zero zero ?
8500 people lost their jobs, Power train in Pontiac is a ghost town becuse they moved people to Warren that lost their jobs regardless. How is Barra the ceo to this day? GM doesn't even build cars! They gave proprietary knowledge to China and wiped out American jobs and our industry. Every historical GM site is either closed or skeleton crews now.

Love how people throw a tantrum and down-vote facts with no real ability to refute them.
Pathetic.

@fp
You haven't been brought up to speed.
Equinox EV (3 builds) being #2 program priority came from the top of the engineering org.
There's no arguing this. It's reality.

@dm I work in powertrain and the EV’s are NOT a priority. Truck yes.

Newsflash:
I work in engineering. Our new priority for programs:
#1 The truck program
#2 The EV Equinox

EVs are still way up at the top of the list, and this is with a fraction of the labor available.
This is set in stone.

Now your singing my song. I once caught an issue on a interior radius on all plastic parts that was to small, All the tools had to be redone. I asked one of the leads "How did we not catch this in prototype builds". I fell out of my chair when I heard. "we already started the steel tools before alum ones were done". OMG. Glad Im retired from there.

Could have saved MB 1.6 billion if she listened to the employees years ago.

Having vision works both ways.

Having the vision to see into the future, and the foresight to sidestep the immoveable objects.

In this case, the entire industry just got face smashed by an immoveable object. No the people suffer due to leaderships' - lack of leadership.

Zero trust, zero respect, zero common sense.

The upstream analysis has never changed. The EV thing simply shifts from oil to nat gas and coal because at the end of all the BS long day you still have to get your dead battery charged, and you need a new pack every 4 or 5 years. Not because it's out of warranty, but it has enough accumulated damage that it's range is compromised. Ten years ago back of the envelope calcs revealed the billions in infra structure development that it would need to take - that wasn't free - rates would skyrocket, AND China has showed any manufacturer who is paying attention that unless you have state owned utilities and don't care about rapidly exhausting coal and gas reserves, it made no economic sense. DUH. What exactly do these high flyers get paid to do? A dart board would have done a better job of leading.

The company needs to get back to what made this company great. It's our engineering and development process's. The virtual launches, yeah they save time on the front end but the end result is proof in the pudding. We have piles of vehicles in float for things that could have been caught in pre production. Virtual only catches 30% of issues compared to physical prototypes. The company should really focus on the next round of models with physical as we coast through this mid cycle phase. All these virtual labs and battery ev development buildings are a total waste compared to what made this company successful in the last 15 years.