GM's message to the IRL

[trubritz]

Did they have Sarah Fisher write the headline - "I'm sooo sorry"?

http://slate.msn.com/id/2084377/

[cart7]

The "caught with their pants down" irl effort was preceded by pulling out of ALMS just when the Caddy program was showing some gains. These guys are lost. :shakehead

[pchall]

GM Motorsports is in bad shape everywhere except NASCAR, where the playing field is leveled and even tilted in their favor on an almost daily basis.

The Caddy LM900 program should have run against Bentley this year. Then a victory at the Sarthe circuit would have meant something.

The Corvette program seems to have been standing still in the face of the Prodrive effort and got creamed by the surviving Ferrari.

And in the IRL Chevy is crawling to Cosworth for help.

Pull the plug on this company. They have no heartbeat.

[racer2c]

Originally posted by pchall
GM Motorsports is in bad shape everywhere except NASCAR, where the playing field is leveled and even tilted in their favor on an almost daily basis.

The Caddy LM900 program should have run against Bentley this year. Then a victory at the Sarthe circuit would have meant something.

The Corvette program seems to have been standing still in the face of the Prodrive effort and got creamed by the surviving Ferrari.

And in the IRL Chevy is crawling to Cosworth for help.

Pull the plug on this company. They have no heartbeat.

Amen.

[RacinM3]

Blah blah, blah.

So I'm supposed to run out and buy a Chevy now because they SAY they're good?

Is this really the message they want to send? There's an old "golden rule" in advertising: Never, ever make the customer look stupid.

It offends my sensibilities that they think we're stupid enough to fall for this.

How about making better cars, getting them tested by independent magazines who'll then say they're better cars, having a few long-term tests to determine whether they're really better FOR THE LONG RUN?

Then, only then, may I consider buying a GM car.

Lip service is meaningless.

[RichK]

The company's North American president calls it "a unique effort to reach those consumers whose perceptions of GM are out of step with today's reality."

The customer is always WRONG!

[cart7]

originally posted by pchall
The Corvette program seems to have been standing still in the face of the Prodrive effort and got creamed by the surviving Ferrari.
It's not like the handwriting wasn't on the wall last year. The 2 yellow vettes were spared last year by the 550's knack for melting down before the end of the race. Otherwise, they were blowing the GM team away before a big expiration in flames and smoke. It seems the only thing GM did was repaint the yellow cars a pretty red and blue to commerate the 50th anniversary. Some commeration. :rolleyes: Getting waxed by Ferrari without seemingly doing anything to meet the challenge that was present last year.:thumdown:

[RacinM3]

I'll defend the Corvette program. I've seen quite a few of the people associated with it and for the most part the level of competence is extremely high. The Corvette program is probably the only bright spot.

As far as Le Mans, I'll take reliability over outright speed any day in a 24 hour endurance race. The fact that the Ferraris blew up last year means the problem was theirs, not Corvettes. Maybe the Corvette boys relied on that same strategy again this year?

Oh, everything else associated with GM pretty much blows.

[Ankf00]

Originally posted by RacinM3
I'll defend the Corvette program. I've seen quite a few of the people associated with it and for the most part the level of competence is extremely high. The Corvette program is probably the only bright spot.

As far as Le Mans, I'll take reliability over outright speed any day in a 24 hour endurance race. The fact that the Ferraris blew up last year means the problem was theirs, not Corvettes. Maybe the Corvette boys relied on that same strategy again this year?

Oh, everything else associated with GM pretty much blows.
wouldn't you expect prodrive to fix their reliability problem over the course of TWELVE months? who in their right mind would expect a static situation in terms of performance and quality?

[RacinM3]

Dunno, I'd have to go back and look at Prodrive's reliability issues AFTER the 24 last year and try to determine whether or not they'd made any progress. If the evidence showed they were starting to finish more consistently, yeah, I'd be worried. If not, and they were suffering silly little failures still, then maybe not.

The Corvette boys are closer to it than me, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. I'm not, however, doubting your logic either.

I'd go back to research it, but this silly thing I call a "job" keeps getting in the damn way!:)

[Treeface]

"Oh, everything else associated with GM pretty much blows."

EMD and Hughes have their stuff together. Which is why they get mentioned as spin off candidates.

[Peter Olivola]

Is that the same EMD that Roger Smith eviscerated to fund Saturn? Amazing group of people. Forced by top management to give up their preeminent position in diesel locomotives they still manage to be one of the most profitable units. Wonder if GE would have been able to steal their market if they'd been R&D funded properly instead of being forced to tread water for so long.


Originally posted by Treeface
EMD and Hughes have their stuff together. Which is why they get mentioned as spin off candidates.

[RacinM3]

My comment was aimed mainly at their carmaking "expertise".

[Ankf00]

Originally posted by RacinM3
Dunno, I'd have to go back and look at Prodrive's reliability issues AFTER the 24 last year and try to determine whether or not they'd made any progress. If the evidence showed they were starting to finish more consistently, yeah, I'd be worried. If not, and they were suffering silly little failures still, then maybe not.

The Corvette boys are closer to it than me, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. I'm not, however, doubting your logic either.

I'd go back to research it, but this silly thing I call a "job" keeps getting in the damn way!:)
yea, true.