Here is a link to another sad story today about Cadillac dealership closings:
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091016/BUSINESS02/910160337
Blame the trendy Americans, who buy for labels to go with their latte and organic groceries. It's unfortunate many of these dealers were loyal to the brand and now are being shuttered. Most of the customers who go to other brands may never return to Cadillac. For 2010, the DTS & STS are combined in one sixteen page brochure, as their production cycle winds down! :(
Many nyers ago, I had been told that the underlying theme of all of the social and political planning was to eliminate the private ownership of transportation. I watched it happen from the mid-seventies to this day. Everything I'd been told has happened. But, during all of those years, NOBODY could ever have been told.
Still today, most of the "learned" ones I talk to, will never acknowledge that it all has bee a plan.
Next thing you know the commies will be putting red heater hoses on Cadillacs.
Stampie
http://blogs.automobilemag.com/6553284/editors-soapbox/noise-vibration-and-harshness-think-small/index.html
Quote from: Doug Houston #2257 on October 16, 2009, 02:09:25 PM
Many nyers ago, I had been told that the underlying theme of all of the social and political planning was to eliminate the private ownership of transportation. I watched it happen from the mid-seventies to this day. Everything I'd been told has happened. But, during all of those years, NOBODY could ever have been told.
Still today, most of the "learned" ones I talk to, will never acknowledge that it all has bee a plan.
And sadly, Hussein Obama is here to help carry the plan out. We are in sad times.
how true , WHY DOESN'T HEE STEP OVER THE LINE SO HE CAN BE IMPEACHED?? , JIM
Quote from: JAMES A. (JIM) THOMAS on October 18, 2009, 06:26:52 PM
how true , WHY DOESN'T HEE STEP OVER THE LINE SO HE CAN BE IMPEACHED?? , JIM
Because he ain't that stupid.
Bruce. >:D
PS. I don't know why people can't simply understand that the man was voted in by the majority of Voters. Those that didn't vote can only blame themselves.
This is a great thread, so it's Obama's and the customer's fault that Cadillacs aren't selling and they are closing a bunch of dealers.
Cadillac doesn't need dealerships in small towns, they only exist because of constant advertising and very generous financing that enabled folks with $25K jobs to buy $50K cars and trucks. Hey, it worked for a while, and local folks got on board opening dealerships everywhere. So the bubble burst, it had to.
On my old car trips across the country I have been amazed by the number and size of dealerships in small towns. I mean, how many new cars can a person buy evey year, especially expensive ones like Cadillacs? If there is any luxury car market left when all this is over, it is going to be concentrated at population centers where there is enough income to support the market.
Sometimes to win you need to retreat.
See a whole lot of BMW, Porsche or Lexus dealers in those small towns?
Quote from: buicksplus on October 19, 2009, 12:38:40 AM
This is a great thread, so it's Obama's and the customer's fault that Cadillacs aren't selling and they are closing a bunch of dealers.
Cadillac doesn't need dealerships in small towns, they only exist because of constant advertising and very generous financing that enabled folks with $25K jobs to buy $50K cars and trucks. Hey, it worked for a while, and local folks got on board opening dealerships everywhere. So the bubble burst, it had to.
On my old car trips across the country I have been amazed by the number and size of dealerships in small towns. I mean, how many new cars can a person buy evey year, especially expensive ones like Cadillacs? If there is any luxury car market left when all this is over, it is going to be concentrated at population centers where there is enough income to support the market.
Sometimes to win you need to retreat.
See a whole lot of BMW, Porsche or Lexus dealers in those small towns?
Good point. However, I live in a small city with many high paying jobs (university, large pharmaceutical manufacturer, energy research, among others) and lots of people with incomes quite sufficient to afford luxury automobiles. While Cadillacs were quite plentiful on the local streets in the past, not many folks have purchased them in the past 10-15 years or so. The luxury brands seen most often on the local streets are Mercedes, Lexus and BMW. The local Cadillac dealer is also the Mercedes (and Chevrolet, Toyota, and Mitsubishi) dealer. They've reportedly lost their Cadillac and Chevrolet franchises, but not due to the income level of the potential customers. It's due to the perceived quality of GM cars. And now that Cadillac, Chevrolet and Pontiac will no longer be sold locally (Buick and GMC will be the only GM brands sold within several miles of here), GM will likely fade from local memory. I've purchased new Lincolns and Cadillacs for more than 20 years, but the closest Cadillac dealer will now be 50 miles away, so I'll not be buying another Cadillac any time in the foreseeable future. I anticipate that once I purchase and become comfortable with a new Mercedes (or whatever I buy next) it will be unlikely that I'll return to Cadillac should a local dealer ever obtain a franchise sometime in the future.
In my opinion, bigger is not better. No more small hardware or drug stores, fewer independent restaurants, no more owner-operated gas stations - and now no more small, friendly and service-oriented auto dealerships. Goodbye to the small businesses that made this country great. If you are lucky, you can talk to a live person on the phone when you call a business, especially the airlines and credit card companies and most government agencies. The party is over but I liked things the way they once were.
I live in a small town in NE Ohio and we have a local Buick, Cadillac and Chevy dealer with the best service around and small-town friendly personal service. I took in my 1966 Cadillac for service last year and they located everything needed to change the fluids, belts, gaskets, etc. and even installed a new rear seal without removing the transmission. They have some mechanics that have been there for over 40 years and are always helpful. Even though they are a small dealer with a showroom for only 2 cars, they are a high-volume dealer.
Now my wife is thinking of buying a new Buick or Cadillac, but is turned off by all of the rumors of small dealerships closing, so we are postponing our purchase until the status of this dealership is clarified. I am sure that we are not the only ones thinking like this, so GM's sales will undoubtedly continue to decline. Look what happened to Saturn - for awhile they were going to continue the line through Penske - then unexpectedly Penske pulled the plug and the Saturn dealerships closed quickly. Too bad, as the new Saturns really had a nice look and owners told me that they really liked the car. What will this do to the resale value of a Saturn? Because of all of this, the GM dealerships are hurting in most areas. However, our local Ford dealership is busier than ever - they made a good decision not to get involved with the government and should emerge stronger than ever.
Fred
Hello, Fred.
I couldn't agree more with you in your observations; I am a long time new Cadillac owner as well as an owner of new Mercedes's. However with the government running GM, the entire brand will disinigrate quickly. What affluent individual is going to buy a Cadillac (if the government still makes this marque) not knowing of its dealership survival? The Obama minions likely will close all small dealerships that don't contribute to the Democratic Party coffers, in fact, tihis is a current reality. Unfortunately, any logical consumer who is considering a luxury automobile from either GM or Chrysler is taking on risk. The resultant will be increased sales by German and Japanese makers of luxury automobiles; the situation at Ford, however, remains untenable. Fred Zwicker is right on!
Bill Podany
Knoxville, TN
Its a total shame that this has happened to such a once great company. Its also a shame that Detroit's motor community never embraced the ideals of Bill Demming and Statistical Process Control (until it was too late). An American taught Japan how to make great cars after he was virtually laughed out of this country. I hate to say it but GM should have been allowed to fail, and my personally feeling is that it still will. In my 10 professional working years I am now working in my third manufacturing plant (all union). Not that I'm totally anti-union my father is union but I've seen some things that have bothered as well as concerned me. I watched a plant shut down 4 years ago....1200 employees when I started, around 200 when I left and I was the 9th from last salaried person out the door.
I still remember vividly a conversation I had with one of the senior employees......
One of the engineers I worked with was replacing lighting fixtures throughout the plant to help save in energy costs (different ballasts that was it). I wasn't even involved with the project and was confronted by a worker who started yelling at me "You engineers just make all these changes....look at this lighting...how are we supposed to do our job!" I responded: "Tom, what are you talking about we haven't done these lights yet?"...."Oh....."
Arrogance.....that's what has done in manufacturing. I can't tell you how many times I've heard: "That's not my job!" or "I'm not a janitor" after you ask someone to sweep their work area up. Try that in one of Toyota's plants....
I don't begrudge anyone making a good living BUT....the product better be the BEST available, and that is something GM has come up short with....maybe the product is turning around but I think its too little too late.
Ashamed to say....I drive an Audi to work....
First off this topic sounds more like a political debate then a car club forum... I think you are giving way to much credit to the Obama administration that they would pick and choose what dealerships close based on donations to the DNC...I don't think they are that smart.
My friends just purchased a new Escalade and the Navigation screen makes a high pitched sound when it is turned off. If you turn on the nav screen and the radio the sound stops. The dealer replaced the nav unit and it still makes the noise. They tried every 09 they had on the lot and they all do the same thing. A GM engineer was brought in and basically said that is the way it is deal with it. For $70,000 I don't think you should have to "Deal with It" The dealer has offered to give my friends back their money. I feel sorry for the dealer in this case. GM NEEDS TO BUILD A BETTER CAR.
I have purchased new Cadillacs the last 4 of my cars and they dealer I worked with in Louisville was fantastic. I had my share of problems with my last 2008 STS the phone would not work right it would make a loud screech ever time you started a call, so after 5 or 6 service visits we just gave up and I did not use the bluetooth feature. All the interior door handles had to be replaced because the chrome was peeling off and would cut your hand.
I moved to Texas and the Cadillac dealer here sucks ! They are not nice, they couldn't care less if you bought a car from them and I tried they were just so smug about the whole process that it made me mad. So I am sad to say I bought a new Mercedes E550 and I wish my Cadillac STS was as nice. The Mercedes dealer is great! They know me by name, take excellent care of me, and they acted like they wanted my business!!!!
I hope GM wakes up before it is too late!
As industrial sales rep back in the 70's selling hydraulic and pneumatic products to large industrial plants, I can tell you that it was total anarchy... it was amazing that anything got out the door at all, and as we all remember, most of it was junk. This opened the door to foreign competition. A lot of what went on in plants was nothing but sabotage... anything to disrupt and cause trouble. I won't bother you with individual stories, tho I could swamp you with tales of willful damage to products going down the assembly lines, etc. The worst part of the story is that the poor attitude on the part of the blue collar workers resulted in slitting of their own throats. When you pay high wages and have poor quality and productivity, the capital will flow someplace where you ultimately get value for the dollar spent.... in this case, manufacturers moved production overseas. Of course the government tried to stop it by name calling and engaging in coercive tactics, but the horse was out of the barn. One thing I can tell you tho, American workers are as good as anyone. You only have to go into a non union Toyota plant or non union coal mine or whatever, and those folks understand who butters the bread.... it ain't the boss or management, it is the customer. I have serious doubts GM will pull this one out unless they totally sack a lot of old bad habits on the part of management and the unions.... it will take a revolution.
Whit
Quote from: Payton1960 on November 11, 2009, 11:59:01 PM
I moved to Texas and the Cadillac dealer here sucks ! They are not nice, they couldn't care less if you bought a car from them and I tried they were just so smug about the whole process that it made me mad. So I am sad to say I bought a new Mercedes E550 and I wish my Cadillac STS was as nice. The Mercedes dealer is great! They know me by name, take excellent care of me, and they acted like they wanted my business!!!!
I hope GM wakes up before it is too late!
This is the way my local Harley Davidson dealer is. My purchase was pleasant, the service is great, I am always addressed by name and my Road King is always detailed after any work is done to it. With treatment like that, I have ne reason to go anywhere else.
When the value of these cars go down 8k a year why would you buy a new one anyways. Also why would you buy a car from a bankrupt company; especally if you owned stock in it and now the value is zero?
I don't think I could buy any GM or Chrysler car right now. We just had a thread where someone could not find front end parts for his Chrysler 300. This makes only Ford a solid company. But some of the most american made cars now are Toyotas.
The unions are hit hard in all this. Boeing just moved a major production line (for the plane that does not fly) to SC because the unions called a strike last year for two months and and are making even more demands. (like 3% per year plus colas).
Good luck to GM but I'm not going to support them. I actally like the HHR but I just can't buy one even at the reduce price.
TED
Quote from: Ted in Olympia WA on November 12, 2009, 02:43:57 PM
...are making even more demands. (like 3% per year plus colas)
Are they demanding Coke or Pepsi?
If it was me I would want beer.
Cost of living Allowances
When most are getting nothing and happy to have a job they want the inflation index plus an additional 3%. But I guess this is good for North Carolina? The state of Washington just lowered their tax rate by 1/3 but Boeing also wanted more tax breaks. But the main reason was the Union's demands.
But you knew this.
TED
I have no problem with tax breaks for businesses or anyone else, really. In the end, all taxes are payed by the consumer anyway.
Kia is building a factory here in GA and expects to hire 20,000 people. No union BS to deal with.