Changing times

It's sad to see the decline of the NA auto industry continue - especially having grown up in Oshawa. While I feel empathy for the community and workers, it's difficult to be surprised at what's occuring. The fact that GM has not kept pace with reality is one of the largest contributors to their failing business.

And the union has also had an impact on the situation now at hand.

While the "Big Three" have dominated the NA car market for decades, they have failed to be responsive to several key emerging trends over the past 20 years:

- the rise of the efficient, affordable, consumer-oriented car makers (Toyota, Honda, Hyundai etc.)
- the move to consolidate and streamline product lines and brands - is there really a need for the same cars to be branded as Pontiac, GMC, Buick etc.? And why so many? How can this be cost-effective?
- the improved nimbleness of plants that provide great environments and benefits without heavy-handed, fat-cat, self-justifying union bosses
- the move from the old industrial model to a new paradigm that features products that respond to consumer needs and wants, and less emphasis on big-budget, ineffective marketing tactics

My experience last summer is a good indication of how GM has lost such tremendous ground to Toyota in its own back yard. I tried hard to buy a GM Vibe as I had done my research and knew that the Vibe is the same car as the Toyota Matrix. Given that I'm living in this area now, I figured I would show loyalty for the home-grown. Following weeks of online research, test-drives and quotations, I found that Toyota's sales and service model was by far superior. My final decision was based on the fact that Toyota could provide the model and specs I wanted, quickly, and for the same price as a Vibe. Plus when I asked for online quotes and timing from 20 dealerships from both GM and Toyota (still trying to find a way to stick with the Vibe), I received responses from Toyota from between 1 and 24 hours later, versus GM who took days, weeks and even up to a month to respond.

That was the clincher as I realized that GM, as big and powerful as they have been in the past, has not recognized what's clearly in front of their face. The consumer now comes first - not their executive bonuses, union packages, nor old-paradigm business models. And that's not even taking into consideration their slow-off-the-mark response to developing fuel-efficient cars, and elimininating gas guzzlers from the roads. Now with the current focus on eco-friendly transportation, high oil prices, and struggling US and Canadian economies, this old-time company may well simply collapse before our eyes.

(Interestingly, one of the reasons Toyota was able to provide the model I requested much more quickly was because their plant in Cambridge, Ontario is much closer than the GM/Toyota plant shipping the Vibe from California. So, in the end, I went with a home-grown solution anyway...)