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What Question Would You Ask GM CEO Fritz Henderson?

June 6th, 2009 | Posted in: Feedback to GM, Video

GM-Volt.com has now been in existence for 29 months. Throughout this remarkable turbulent ride I have had the chance to meet with and question many GM executives including former CEO Rick Wagoner on a few occasions.

Now of course Fritz Henderson is at the helm. He has inherited a company that is in bankruptcy, and is charged with the herculean task of restructuring it into a leaner meaner four brand form. The government and bankruptcy court are of course making that job easier.

We here have focused on the Chevy Volt’s development which we have been assured remains on track, in good health, and undeterred.

There may come the day when I get to meet and interview Mr. Henderson. If I did, as always, I’d want to bring all of you with me to ask him any questions you might have.

Please use the comments of this post to write down your one question for him. Please keep it short and concise, and watch out for repeats. If I do get the chance, I’ll pick as many as I can.

Henderson already answered some public questions on GMs Fastlane blog. He told a “Volt skeptic” who wondered if Volts could actually get into the hands of people other than the rich and famous, “this will not be an inexpensive vehicle in its first generation, but it will be extremely affordable relative to a tesla. while we have not made final decisions on pricing, you should be thinking about $40k ish, with a $7500 available tax credit.” He also said it was “not likely” when one commentator asked is we’ll ever see and electric Camaro.

And while your thinking about what question you’d like to ask, watch the new GMreinvention television ad below.

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0Vcx3cRdi8]

Posted by: Lyle

215 Responses to “What Question Would You Ask GM CEO Fritz Henderson?”

Herm Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 8:37 am

I have no questions for him but I wish him good luck.. also remind him that pissing of the customer with problems and penny pinching warranty issues is what killed GM.. and high cost of course.

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Thomas Gilling Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 8:42 am

When are you going to start making good car’s? Because I am fed up of ugly looking Vauxhalls going down the street!

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statik Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 8:57 am

Now that is asking for trouble Lyle, heeh. I think in my own bid for ‘world peace’ I will not make any suggestions on questions for you to ask…at least I will hold off as long as I can, lol
——-

“while we have not made final decisions on pricing, you should be thinking about $40k ish, with a $7500 available tax credit”
—statements like this muddy the waters quite a bit for our optimistic posters…the only expectations to get ‘re-adjusted’ now are the delivery date and the production levels (although those expectations on production numbers have actually already been cut down 2 or 3 times)

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ROBERT M. SPERRY Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:01 am

Are they going to put some VOlts in the hands of the public prior to the official release date to get real world performance figures? And if so when? GO GM! GO VOLT!

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NZDavid Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:08 am

How much do you see Voltec playing in meeting CAFE and CARB standards? And, will version two or three be easily rolled out across the rest of the fleet?

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old man Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:11 am

My question[s] are regarding the Lithium-ion battery.

#1 Is there an ample supply of Lithium in this country?

#2 Are there any alternative chemistrys that look like strong competition to Lithium?

#3 Is there realistic potential of an EEStor [type] product being incoorporated into the Voltec drive system?

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-1 Brian Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:13 am

What are you plans to pay back the billions in bailout money you received before filing bankruptcy?

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BDP Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:13 am

When will you build a Voltec SUV like the one we see from Raser Technologies using a Hummer sized body?

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Jacob Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:15 am

What the hell do football and hockey images have to do with cars? That ad is ridiculous. Tell us about your specific plan to make better cars, not the hot dog and apple pie BS.

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john1701a Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:21 am

Why won’t we be offered a CHOICE of battery size?

Old GM failed in part by not offering choices. New GM shouldn’t follow that same mentality… one size fits all… lack of diversity.

Provide the larger battery size as an option, just like countless other upgrade features have been marketed for decades. That way, consumers can choose what to buy. A less expensive Volt would still achieve significant consumption reduction while also being able to reach a much larger number of consumers.

Not getting the CHOICE also makes Volt less competitive… which is not wise in this much more competitive market. Remember, the business model now is low-margin vehicles sold in high-volume.

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Kevin R Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:22 am

I have been saving for my Volt since spring 2007. I want to buy one in 2010. Will Mr. Henderson give the Volt sign up list some priority as we have been the biggest cheerleaders of the entire Volt program and would be it’s biggest source of advertising.

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Guy Incognito Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:28 am

I’d ask Fritz what he thinks of the fact that Obama’s Auto Task Force consists entirely of Wall Street insiders with no experience in the industry.

I’d ask Fritz what he thinks about the fact that GM is being sold off piecemeal to Communist countries like China and Oligarchic countries like Mexico.

I’d ask Fritz if he ever thinks that GM stock will ever rise in value again, and if not, was’nt it great that almost 20% of the companies worthless stock was pawned off on the Unions, and was’nt it a great snow job?

Oh yes, questions abound for Fritz…

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CDAVIS Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:30 am

______________________________________________________
Here is My Questions for Mr. Fritz Henderson:

How do you respond to those critics that say General Motors has been transformed to Government Motors?
______________________________________________________

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Randy Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:32 am

Ask him if they plan to build an electric other than a small sedan which i and many others have absolutely no use for. How about a van or pickup truck. Half of all sales are pickup trucks.Makes sense to start there not?

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CorvetteGuy Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:32 am

Mr. Henderson:

Eight months prior to the launch of the Camaro you allowed consumers to place deposits and select the options and colors of their choice which allowed the factory to get a ’sense’ of what the ‘market’ really wants from GM and from their ‘personalized’ Camaro… With that in mind, many GM-VOLT.com readers have wondered why it is so important to GM or Chevy to “load down” the VOLT with a huge laundry list of features, some of which border on the absurd (i.e.: the necessity for the VOLT to plug into the home power grid as a ‘backup battery’) if not just plain unnecessary.

My question is: With a price tag of $40,000 pushing many consumers away from the VOLT, why not take pre-orders NOW to find out what features they are really willing to pay for, and what a ‘minimum price’ could be?

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StevePA Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:34 am

Lyle – not a question so much as a statement of encouragement…

To a leader with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to restore a once-proud organization into a profitable, productive, contributing enterprise that meets and exceeds the expectations of its customers, and confounds its critics.
Mr. Henderson – I can only imagine the incredible focus, dedication, customer awareness and energy you will need. On your side – call it the American way to support an underdog – and certainly GM is on the balls of its ass. I believe you can do it…in spite of the remnants of the old GM corporate culture. I believe you want to do it for the right reasions. Your success and GMs would reinforce this American’s belief (and I suspect many others too) that there are still in this country people who can innovate, work hard, and kick butt in the market place. Prove us right – for yourself, your employees, your dealers, and the taxpayers – American and Canadian.
Go GM, Go Volt.

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old man Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:35 am

More of a suggestion.

I think the Volt as the pace car at a major Nascar or Indy race would garner more attention from young buyers than even a super bowl add would.

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Frank D Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:36 am

I agree with #9 Jacob…Marketing in the auto industry has been mainly focused on superficial and meaningless imagery that does not encourage knowledge. Mr Henderson, will the new GM market the Volt and the Voltec platform based on our societies new challenges? The public needs to understand it…then make pretty pictures that stand on their own.

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Martin Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:40 am

GM wants me to buy another procuct from them but lowers my GM credit card limit and that lowers my credit score, making it harder and more expesive for me to get a loan. Explain that!!!!!!!!!!

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Mitchell B Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:42 am

My question is when will you sell me the Oldsmobile brand? I can’t wait to start making 2012 Olds 442’s that’ll blow the doors of any Challenger, Mustang, and cough cough, Genesis.. haha

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Tagamet Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:42 am

My question would be (quietly):
“Who do I need to kell to get into a preproduction fleet vehicle”?
And then I’d wish him well.
Be well
Tagamet

LJGTVWOTR!!***************NPNS

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Brad green Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:42 am

Is the condition of GM today a function of the U.S. and World economy or was there a systemic problem with GM?

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CDAVIS Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:44 am

______________________________________________________
GM Total Confidence ended June 1:

I went to Lyle’s above FastLane Fritz Henderson Q&A link and was struck by the following Editors Note posted at the top of the page:

“Editor’s Note: During the chat, Fritz stated that Total Confidence would run through June. This was inaccurate; Total Confidence ended on June 1. Thank you for understanding.)”

—

I understand that the above quated Editors Note pertains to the GM “Total Confidence” marketing promotion but it is the same thing as saying to the consumer that as of June 1 the consumer can forget about having Total Confidence in GM products. Is it just me or do others think this is a bone-head PR disaster? Perhaps Lyle can distill what I have pointed out here into a question for Mr. Henderson.
_____________________________________________________

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Brad Green Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:45 am

Can GM produce a practical all electric “commuter” car for under 20k$
and how long would it take to engineer and begin production.

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Tagamet Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:55 am

Argh. Kell=Kill
Tag

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StevePA Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:59 am

What will GM do differently going forward to improve its ability to translate the needs / wants / concerns of the car buying public into new products that sell? This isn’t just about producing the good products – already doing some of that with Malibu, CTS, Camaro and Corvette ZR1 – it is also about overcoming the years of anti-GM bias.

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Mary Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:02 am

Why are they pricing the Volt out of reach for most consumers? Originally, it seemed it would be reasonably priced, but whenever a price is mentioned, it keeps going up. I’m afraid we’re leaning towards the other possibilities now. It’s a bummer, because the Volt was sharp.

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koz Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:03 am

Sorry, can’t refine to just one question…

1.) New competitiors have an advantage of having much less legacy cost and infrastructure to carry. This shows glaringly in the competitive advantage of being able to sell directly via the internet. Will bankruptcy allow GM to seek alternative means to the market, namely direct sales via the internet?

2.) Lyle included this statement in his post requesting input for questions to ask you, “He also said it was “not likely” when one commentator asked is we’ll ever see and electric Camaro.” I believe this to be legacy GM thinking anchoring your (our) company to it’s underperforming past. Is this accurate of your sentiments and if so, why do YOU FEEL this way about the possibility of a high power Voltec Camaro?

3.) GM has stated they will develop other Voltec vehicles but those other vehicles are not yet announced and may not yet be decided upon. GM has a glaring hole in it’s lineup in that you don’t have a “real” minivan competitor. Has the market shifted back towards minivans in the last year and would a stylish (more CUV looking) Voltec minivan make sense?

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RW Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:07 am

Could the ‘new’ GM sell the initial volts to the gm-volt web site subscribers who have promoted and followed the Chevrolet volt from the start? Another point, could you put some real world test volt cars in the hands of gm-volt web site enthusiasts? We could spread the word of just how well the volt could replace ordinary gas powered cars.

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RB Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:08 am

If you can, ask Mr Henderson

1) how long he thinks it will be before geographical distribution of theVolt extends beyond California.

2) what he thinks will be the main challenges to overcome in moving Voltec to high volume vehicles.

3) whether he thinks GM can improve its communication channels that go directly to and from customers (This question is important, as it has seemed to many of us for a long time that GM operates pretty much in isolation and really does not want to communicate.)

I’m not optimistic about his saying much in response to questions beyond the standard phrases, but it will be good to give him the opportunity should he like to say something.

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George K Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:10 am

Are there plans for a Voltec Malibu with 20 or 30 mile range?

=D~~~~

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Jerry Becker Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:11 am

Well… I guess i won’t be getting the Volt after all. I was very excited at first, but watching it morph from a fresh and sporty concept to a Camry clone put me off. I just bought a Corvette instead. Are there any plans for an electric sports (or at least sporty) car? One with more of a performance orientation? You know… like a Tesla but with Corvette pricing.

OK… I know some will think this a frivolous post. I understand that this is a “niche’ market, and not likely to be the best income producer, but I am intrigued by the enormous performance potential of brushless motors and the new battery technologies. I would buy one in a heartbeat.

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RB Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:14 am

#15 Corvette Guy asks
My question is: With a price tag of $40,000 pushing many consumers away from the VOLT, why not take pre-orders NOW to find out what features they are really willing to pay for, and what a ‘minimum price’ could be?
————————————————————————–

So doing likely would be a good idea for GM if they can figure out the geography of where the Volt will go. Based on the Camaro experience, it does not seem to be a good idea for buyers. Probably they are better off to wait and see if, as, when, and where Volts are delivered.

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John Steele Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:15 am

Since you are closing the only Buick Dealer ship here in Tucson, does that mean your selling the division to the Chinese? How do you like your oil company buddies now?!

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RB Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:26 am

#32 Jerry Becker asks
Are there any plans for an electric sports (or at least sporty) car? One with more of a performance orientation?

—————————————————————————-

It is an important question, as performance is the one area of vehicle design that everyone cares about and where the advantages of electric are built-in. It’s the aspect where paying more is worth it. In the Volt the performance advantage is covered over, but it does not have to be like that.

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CS Guy Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:26 am

Will you make a public statement of GMs commitment to help us (America/North America) get 100% off of dependence on foreign oil? And, a follow-up, what will that mean for each product line and brand (of the 4 that remain).

PS, if you make such a statement GM will be an instant leader in the fight against terrorism/in efforts towards national energy security/in revitalizing the American and Canadian auto industry/in securing a brighter future for our citizens/in fighting Global Warming perhaps, etc.

And being able to stick it to the oil companies for throwing your industry and your company under the bus recently has got to be good.

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Jim Dunn Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:28 am

Fritz – I have a $39K Volt on order but am concerned about Chevy/GM’s ability to stand behind the 100,000 /8 yr. battery warrenty, since this is a $15-20K cost, and may not be available if GM goes chap 7, in a couple of years.

What assurance is there that we will have access to an affordable replacement battery supplier in the future?

also – why not bring out a Volt II, with only a 20 mi. range for $27K, and triple your sales?

Jim

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Jim F. Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:29 am

Questions concerning the 2 mode hybrid technology:

Will the Chevy Equinox get the 2 mode hybrid option?

With an eye toward fuel efficiency, will the 2 mode hybrid ever be mated with a 4 cylinder engine?

I would love the option of a Chevy Equinox with a 4 cylinder engine and the 2 mode hybrid transmission.

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Zach Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:29 am

What is GM doing to make use of the advantages of Ultra Lightweight Thermoplastic Composites¹ for future use in cars?

¹: Fiberforge Thermoplastic Composite Materials
http://www.fiberforge.com/thermoplastic-composites/thermoplastic-composite-materials.php

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nasaman Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:31 am

Mr. Henderson: Of the two plug-in vehicles GM has announced, the plug-in Vue has enormous potential* in my opinion. Why have we heard so little recently about this exciting crossover and does GM plan to offer it either through Penske/Saturn, as one of its own brands, or (hopefully) both ways?

*NADA retail sales data shows the Vue outsold all other Saturn models COMBINED last year!

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CDAVIS Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:32 am

______________________________________________________
#28 Koz Said:
[Lyle included this statement in his post requesting input for questions to ask you, “He also said it was “not likely” when one commentator asked is we’ll ever see and electric Camaro.” I believe this to be legacy GM thinking anchoring your (our) company to it’s underperforming past. Is this accurate of your sentiments and if so, why do YOU FEEL this way about the possibility of a high power Voltec Camaro?]
—–

Excellent point made by Koz. This is hands-down the best and most telling question that could be asked of Mr. Henderson.
______________________________________________________

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SteveF Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:35 am

Question: Some of GM models have very high quality ratings, others have poor quality ratings. What is GM plans to provide consistent quality vehicle for all models for all four brands?

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CorvetteGuy Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:41 am

#33RB

Respectfully, I disagree. If GM were to open up Deposit Orders exactly the same way they did for Camaro, then consumers would flock to their local dealers to place those orders. That instantly creates a geographic map of where the VOLTs “should be” delivered to first! The goal for GM right now (as I understand it) is to MAKE MORE MONEY! MAKE MORE PROFITS!

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Betty Rhed Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:42 am

Mr. Fritz,

What if any previous experience do you have running a nationalized business?

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Larry McFall Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:43 am

I truly wish that my questions to CEO had any revelance to him however, there is a lot that I would like to know about GM. Mainly, is GM truly changing their mentality and approach to developing vehicles for today’s needs? Hopefully not like the way that GM had spent much of their resources in the past.

Also, is GM committed to taking the lead in producing and promoting the VOLTEC drive train and getting an affordable good vehicle on the road?

Is GM going to think fast enough and inovative enough to prevent undue, unthinking political intervention? The lack of this in the past has resulted in much of what we are seeing today.

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CS Guy Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:43 am

Why don’t you use a lithium battery EV/EREV modified version of the GM skateboard platform to have a common platform for all your models, thus saving $$$Millions if not Billions on parts inventory and design costs.

That way you would most rapidly recoup your development costs on the Voltec platform and at the same time expand EREV to every car and truck you sell. This would require having no more than 4 different versions of the EREV skateboard (small/mini car, medium size car/light truck, large car/luxury, and truck).

You could then put all your design efforts on the things that matter to a car buyer, the look and feel of exterior/interior, handling/performance and safety.

PS, Chrysler made its comeback with the “K” car. Think about it.

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CorvetteGuy Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:46 am

#33RB
#28koz

(Sorry, hit the ‘enter’ key before I was done…)

I totally agree that CA and NY should not be the only states to get VOLTs initially. The cars should go where the demand is. Which also goes to the point (#28 koz) made about selling via Internet. If we can all place our orders online; get ONLY the features that we want; would that not streamline the process for GM? I think so.

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SteveK9 Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:48 am

When will GM get the brilliant and charismatic leader it needs to come back from the dead?

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FRANC Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:51 am

Will the people who signed up on this website to buy a volt get any opportunity to be among the first owners?

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Ray M. Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:52 am

Many of us will now look at GM as in effect the UAW. Many of us from years back considered GM to produce a more durable product than Ford but Ford is going to come out of this much better than GM because it did not go hat in hand to the Democratic administration for a bailout. No matter how techically sound the Volt may be, many will not buy a GM product for years to come!

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Larry McFall Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:53 am

How about a question on, Why hasn’t GM gotten some Public Relations Trucks with copies of the VOLT in them to visit American Towns to provide potential buyers a look at the real thing? I can remember many years ago that GM was real good at this sort of promotion campaigning.

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Herm Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:55 am

We know from hints dropped by GM and LG that the Volt battery is $12k, to buy a replacement from a GM dealership will be higher, usually they make lots of profit on parts so it may be scary..

If they cut the battery in half they could save $6k (maybe).. and thus dropping the cost from 40′ish down to lets say $35k..

They are losing money at 40sh so if they tripled sales at $27k they could lose a lot more .. perhaps you meant $27k including the $7500 fed tax credit?

I think the only hope of lowering the price and defusing the battery replacement anxiety is to lease the battery.. perhaps they could even reduce the cost of the battery by not building-in so much overkill for warranty reasons since it will be leased.
………………………..
#37
Jim Dunn Says:

also – why not bring out a Volt II, with only a 20 mi. range for $27K, and triple your sales?
Jim

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Scott Plummer Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:56 am

Most of my driving is less than 40 miles daily but 4 times a year I have to take a 400 mile trip. Will the Volt be able to drive 400 miles or will the gasoline engine be unable to keep up with the battery drain?

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RLM Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:56 am

Mr. Henderson.
Will you give some consideration to offering early delivery of the Volts to those who signed up for the gm-volt.com waiting list?

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Bill Scott (just use Bill) Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 11:01 am

A number of questions focus on choice and performance; #14,28. 32.33,35.
I am fully supportive of the volt and am aware of the coming competition. I would like to have other than just a small/intermediate sedan. At least a s/i 5 door, station wagon or a small SUV like the Vibe should be made available ASAP as the choices would expand the market and therefore volumn. A Solstice or Sky type electric would also be very desireable and helpful as an image builder.

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RB Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 11:06 am

#43 CorvetteGuy says (to me):
Respectfully, I disagree. If GM were to open up Deposit Orders exactly the same way they did for Camaro, then consumers would flock to their local dealers to place those orders. That instantly creates a geographic map of where the VOLTs “should be” delivered to first! The goal for GM right now (as I understand it) is to MAKE MORE MONEY! MAKE MORE PROFITS!
————————————————————

Your argument is strong, and I am persuaded. The question for GM is whether they would be prepared to support Volt dealers nationally, or at least all those that had orders above some threshold.

With such a plan the question for dealers would be whether they would be willing to take orders if that meant that they would have to make the investment in equipment and training necessary for Volt, a vehicle that, at first, is going to be low volume. I think there is more of a risk than with Camaro. But dealers could decide that individually, if GM would so allow.

Also, with Camaro I think GM said they were limited by state franchise laws as to where they could deliver how many, that is, any priority had to be within a dealer’s allocation. I assume something similar would apply to Volt.

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Bill Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 11:07 am

A number of questions focus on choice and performance; #14,28. 32.33,35.
I am fully supportive of the volt and am aware of the coming competition. I would like to have other than just a small/intermediate sedan. At least a s/i 5 door, station wagon or a small SUV like the Vibe should be made available ASAP as the choices would expand the market and therefore volumn. A Solstice Coupe or Sky type electric would also be very desireable and helpful as an image builder.

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jkh2000 Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 11:10 am

GM has a lot of kahonies to jump into bankruptcy with a smug smile on their faces and billions of taxpayer money in their pocket. How dare they get billions more and then take bancruptcy. Closing dealerships is ridiculous. The dealers are their customers and we as the public are the customers of the dealers. Are people going to buy GM when they have to drive hundreds of miles for warranty work? I think not. GM needs to dump ALL of their gas hogs and take a set of rear view mirrors and see how to pull their head out of their ass. I own a Silverado right now, but wish I didn’t. Bankruptcy should have been way before billions lined their pockets.

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RB Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 11:11 am

#49 FRANC asked
Will the people who signed up on this website to buy a volt get any opportunity to be among the first owners?
——————————————————————-

I don’t know the answer, but a similar question came up with Camaro, regarding GM’s own sign-up sheet. GM said the delivery order had to be in accord with state franchise laws. I gather these require proportional allocations to all the dealers, though I’m not sure about that. GM posted some information on the GM fast blog about it.

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noel park Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 11:16 am

Same question as CorvetteGuy at #15.

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carcus1 Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 11:21 am

Mr. Henderson,

Virtually every other major auto manufacturer and countless startups are bringing BEVs to market within the next 3 years. (Ford has already announced 2). Will GM introduce a BEV of it’s own by 2012. . . or is GM’s focus purely on “Voltec” technology?

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JEC Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 11:26 am

26 StevePA
“What will GM do differently going forward…..”
============================================
Pet peeve of mine. I despise the phrase “going forward”. It is usually uttered by upper management whenever they seem to want to impress the minions. Of course your plan is “going forward”, who would say “And going backward our company XYZ will….”

Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest.
===========================================
Ok so questions for Fritz:

1) Fritz, where do you see GM in 1 year? 5 years? 10 years?

2) Does your vision of GM include the electrification of vehicles in the US and other countries?

3) When you were offered your position as CEO, how long did it take you to accept it? What was your greatest concern, when you accepted the job?

4) Can GM survive if the SUV and truck markets do not revive back to levels seen 2 years ago?

5) Will you be driving a Volt as your main mode of transportation?

6) When will someone outside of GM get to experience the Volt transitioning from electric to range extender?

7) How do you convince someone looking for a new car to buy a GM, with all the turmoil and uncertainty at GM?

8 ) Did Lutz provide you with any advice when you took on this job in the middle of the worst automotive meltdown in history? (Did he offer up his pink tie?)

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Herm Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 11:28 am

K, I have a question..

Is GM considering a lease model for the batteries only when you buy the car itself?

If so, what would be the approximate cost of the car and the monthly payment on the lease, and what terms?

If GM leased the batteries, could there be a cost savings by reducing the warranty requirements of the battery?

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Charles Cooper Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 11:30 am

I WILL NOT PAY $40,000 for a Volt! I can buy 2 Prius’s for that amount of money.Volt will have to retail for a competitive price to be accepted by the American public! thank you.

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ClarksonCote Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 11:33 am

So the commercial says “fewer, stronger models” and what not, but it almost sounds like they’re saying “fewer stronger models”, i.e. the number of our stronger models are decreasing. I think I would’ve probably separated that into two statements if I were GM.

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CorvetteGuy Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 11:34 am

#26StevePA

What will GM do differently going forward to improve its ability to translate the needs / wants / concerns of the car buying public into new products that sell? This isn’t just about producing the good products – already doing some of that with Malibu, CTS, Camaro and Corvette ZR1 – it is also about overcoming the years of anti-GM bias.
__________________________

Here is my solution for this:

I would be happy to be the first “New Hire” for the “New GM” – - – Just give me a VOLT, a Traverse, a Camaro, and a Corvette ZR-1 – - – I would be happy to travel to every shopping mall in North America to show people “how and why” the new lineup of Chevy cars are superior to other cars in their class!

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carcus2 Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 11:39 am

In hindsight, a bankruptcy filing in 08 seems like missed opportunity given the current 60% government owned situation. What is your honest opinion of the administrations intentions in controlling the future direction of GM?

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Texas Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 11:41 am

1) When do you feel peak oil will hit?

2) How sold are you on the electrification of transportation?

3) Do you feel you should limit the company to just vehicles or should you become a major electrification infrastructure company?

I was a bit worried when I saw the commercial. I’m worried because it makes it seem like GM does not even feel we have an energy crisis on our doorstep or that radical change is coming. Did you see how many large and soon-to-be impractical models were shown?

I fear companies like Nissan, perhaps the new Saturn and new companies like Tesla and many new Chinese companies are fully sold on the needed transition and are going full speed ahead. If GM is not on-board, it’s already too late. Again, Mr. Henderson, DO YOU BELIEVE?

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danny Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 11:51 am

A real world question for you, how do you expect to rebound on the Volt when it will be priced thousands of dollars higher than the competition? Volt $32,000 VS Prius $26,000 or Honda insight $25,000.. I have ocean front property in Arizona for sale too.. everyone agree’s we need the electric car but not at such high an expense, as the Insurance costs will be outragous as well…

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Young Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 11:54 am

Any chance of restarting EV1?

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jonboinAR Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 11:55 am

I was just listening to “Blinded By the Light”, Manfred Mann version, on a classic rock station. How about making a rival to the Scion, a nimble, little quick car with little Japanese car styling. make it amenable to after-market upgrading. I don’t know how. This is for the younger set, you know. Call it “Deuce.”

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Rick Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 12:02 pm

Here’s the thing. If in fact the volt will cost 40K, then you are into luxury car pricing. For that price, I at least want a car that looks and feels luxury, even if it’s small. The original design of the Volt was exciting and fresh, while the current design is lackluster.

I understand the Capitalist marketing model. Make a Volt, that everyone buys, then a new model in a few years with added features that will trade in their old Volt for. But GM is so far behind the curve that they cannot afford to start with nothing less than all the bells and whistles. Not only should the Volt look and feel like a car that everyone wants to buy, but it should have a solar sun roof that powers the air conditioning like the third generation Prius will have. A lot of people don’t drive more than 25 miles in a day, so there should be a cheaper version with a smaller battery offered for lower income families with a green concious. The Volt should be the flagship of what the new GM is all about and a step beyond what any other company is going to deliver this Fall.

A lot of people submitted a lot of good questions on this forum. I hope you read them carefully and consider how those questions can help you make the best Volt possible. If not, I fear that GM will last a few years and then burn out. We will see Toyota, HOnda and KIA factories where GM factories once were.

Get this right guys. YOu have to let go of everything you believed about how to make and market cars and step way outside the box and reinvent.

This is America. Don’t let us down.

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jonboinAR Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 12:05 pm

Danny, Danny, Danny. This conversation continually repeats. Think of how flat-screen TV’s began. The first iterations were not exactly affordable to the general public. Gradually, as production bugs and such were worked out, and they were able to produce in larger quantity, they were able to price them more cheaply, and more and more regular customers could buy them.

I’m sure that GM hopes to follow the same pattern with the Volt. If they are able to, then the Volt has a chance to become very popular and GM will have a chance to make money. If the pattern doesn’t work out for some reason, it will fail.

They won’t know till they try, but I don’t think that having the initial iteration priced high represents a problem. It’s just part of it. They’re only trying to sell about 10,000, I believe, that first year. They should be able to do that.

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Max (#3105) Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 12:07 pm

I have driven a hybrid Insight for over 9 years and I believe that at this stage, the Volt drive model is the only way to go. But if we discount tax incentives (haven’t we given the automakers enough already?), then the Volt only costs 20% less than a specialty manufacturer (Tesla S) that outperforms it in every way. It costs twice as much as the new Insight. Almost double a Prius. Assuming a price differential of $18K and an elevated gas price of $3 a gallon (keeps the arithmetic easier) then at 50 mpg (and assuming with my habits, I never used the Volt’s ICE), then I would have to drive the Volt 300,000 miles to match the cost of the Honda Insight, not counting electricity. And with my work from home driving habits, I’d need to live and drive until I am 100 years old. That’s ridiculous.

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Vivek Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 12:08 pm

Dear Mr. Fritz Henderson
How will the new GM be prepared to handle and expand its non-U.S. markets, especially as demand for vehicles grows outside of the U.S. markets.

Ideally, this strategy would entail offering affordable cars to these markets that are built in the U.S., and are able to compete with the likes of non-U.S. automakers.

As a taxpayer now vested in GM, I would like to know if there is a plan to go in this direction. As much as I am attracted to the Chevy Volt, I feel that this car is coming too late to capture its intended U.S. market. It’s time to deflate our debt by reaching out to other markets. Innovation will be very key in doing this, but it may not require producing cars with a 30-40k pricetag.

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GM fan Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 12:40 pm

GM needs this. Chevy is as American as apple pie, baseball, and the stars&stripes! Of coarse I saw this recession coming when the American economic barometer (GM) went down! I would love to own a Chevy, GMC, Cadillac, or Buick as my first car that I get in 1 1/2 years. Unfortunately, the Volt is the only car that fits my criteria, and its waaaaay out of my budget. I hope that GM will get itself restructured into a company that will eliminate Toyota from the average Americans driveway. With that I come to my questions:

What will become of the SUVs of yesterday? When somebody says “SUV” the one that comes to mind is the Tahoe. That stems from the second sentence.

Are you going to bring European diesel technology to America, and if not, why? They’re so much better than gasoline!

What will remain of the GM of yesterday?

What standards are you going to set for the new GM?

Will you make a minivan or wagon again to try and replace SUVs?

Is Camaro here to stay?

Thats it. Thank you. Good luck with reinventing the American car!

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kdawg Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 12:43 pm

When will the Converj get greenlighted? 2011, 2012?

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Donald Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 12:47 pm

The Volt sounds like idea that has real possibilities, the only problem is the reported cost. The average hard working commuter is not going to be able to afford a cost in excess of $40,000. I believe the market could support such an idea if the cost were to be in the mid to upper 20’s. I hope this will be in the offering at some point.

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kent beuchert Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 12:52 pm

Big question : When is GM going to hire someone with executive abilities? We all know that ain’t Fritz. So how long will Fritz’s buddies on the Board allow him to continue Wagoner’s gooney policies of trying to make those who have destroyed GM (your lovely overpaid, undereducated, unskilled UAW “workers”) your good buddies?
I look at that photo of Fritz and think, “Would any sane person allow someone with this face to run a major corporation?”
The expression says it all – “I’m in way over my head.” I thinkit appropriate that the production version of the Volt will have
styling just as bland and blah as its company’s CEO. When will GM learn that styling sells? Look at the Tesla Model S – and its an impractical car, but people are falling all over themselves to buy it.
And then look at the homely Volt. If GM thinks this car will carry it to glory, then GM has just arrived at a new low in automaking ignorance. No wonder they’re bankrupt. I’m amazed it didn’t happen sooner.

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an_outsider Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 12:57 pm

Same as Koz (#28-1) & CorvetteGuy (#47)

When does CTO (construct to order likes computer) online order become a reality?

It may help reduce car inventory cost, frustration not finding what you are looking for and may improve lead time for delivery & satisfaction.

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Garry G Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 1:03 pm

Hi,

I am taking advantage of this opportunity by throwing out three main questions to be answered. I thank you for your time.

A lot of people I talk to barely know much about the Volt, and the ones that know something say to me sarcastic statement’s such as, “what is so great about a gas powered car that drives 40 miles on a charge only to go back to gas till you get to a charge station”? I guess a lot of us are still under the impression that the Volt only has 30-40 miles of charge, till you get home to recharge it.

Also, it has been said that the battery, which has a life of 30-40 miles or so, will recharge itself while you drive, is this true? Example of how I am picturing it: I plan to drive from Northern California to San Diego, and I start off with 40 miles of charge, then drive for 20 miles or so and during this time the battery is recharged by that which I can only call alternators. This happens frequently through my scenario as I envision the Volt to be a 50/50 hybrid.

Also, is it true that I can change out the engine to be a B5 Diesel? I would so love to see a diesel/electric. Why: Because diesel offers power to get up those crazy hills and is cleaner, and electric offers energy savings going down a straight away.

Thank you, and sincerely,

Garry G.

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Dana Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 1:11 pm

My question is : Since we sent the Lunar Rover up to the moon some 40 yrs ago, and it didn’t use any gas to get around, then why has it taken 40 yrs and millions of dollars to get the Volt started ? Also, Since they have had a camless engine out for awhile, that’s why Fiat is trying to hook up with Chyrsler – they have the camless engine in production – which, by the way gets 25% better gas mileage that the ave. car, then WHY DON’T YOU AND YOUR COMPANY have it in production as well?????? I did go visit one of your GM dealerships, just a few days ago, and they had a Corvette with a mechanical blower on the intake manifold. Didn’t they have the blower on cars some 30 years ago???? They do make a more modern type of blower, for your information. Just visit the websight, e – supercharger.com. So, is GM going backwards, or are they just haven’t gone forward in 30 years??????? Or are they just stuck paying people alot of money to act and be dumb?

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Tom K. Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 1:11 pm

My 1984 Camaro will be my trade-in car for my new Volt in early 2011 (or late 2010 if I’m lucky). Will there be special discounts for current GM vehicle owners from GM when they trade in their old GM vehicle for a new one?

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CorvetteGuy Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 1:19 pm

One more….

When will we see a drivable version of the VOLT in Victory Red?

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Jacob Binek Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 1:22 pm

Hello Mr.Fritz,

I am from Oshawa, ON, our city has been hurt alot by GM’s decision to close the truck plant. Does GM have any plans to retool and build something new at this plant?

Thanks
Jacob

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BillR Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 1:24 pm

Fritz,

We’ve seen the ZR-1 Corvette that blows away most exotics at less than half the price. The 2010 Equinox, a small SUV, gets an EPA rating of 32 mpg highway. The Chevy Volt appears to have a great deal of promise.

In a recent statement, you mentioned that GM had vehicles in the pipeline that would “blow us away”. My question: Can you provide a hint as to what to expect that will “blow us away”, i.e. Voltec trucks and SUV’s, 2-mode sedans like the Malibu/LaCrosse, high performance hybrids like a 2-mode Corvette, etc.?

Thank you for your interest and thank you for your feedback.

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Ole EV Guy Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 1:29 pm

Same ? as #24 Brad!!!!! A Th!nk but don’t lease the batteries.

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coffeetime Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 1:35 pm

Ask Fritz if Chevy ever considered “wheel-motors” (like Japan’s Eliica race car uses).

Perhaps you could expand this train of thought beyond Fritz. I’m wondering about all of the consequences – good and bad – that a world-wide conversion to electric vehicles will introduce. I mean, who would’ve conceived that cell phones would become IED triggering devices in Iraq and Afghanistan when they first came out?

For example, let’s talk about auto theft. How many electric vehicles will get “boosted” for their precious cargo ($10K-$15K) of batteries? What will that do to insurance rates? Should you buy stock in LOJN (LoJack)?

What will happen to the thriving 3rd-party auto aftermarket? Headers? Exhaust systems? Custom air filters (K & M)? Since batteries (and underlying electric components such as inverters) play such a large role in electric vehicles, what will be your options when the original battery in your vehicle finally wears out? Will new batteries be so much better in the future that your car’s performance is much improved over when it was new?

What will electric vehicles mean for states that rely upon gas taxes for road construction and maintenance? Will they start shifting taxation to miles driven? Will new roads all be toll roads? What if you drive out-of-state quite a bit? How will it be measured? How will your privacy be impacted if the state can always see where and how much you are driving?

I noticed that Mitsubishi’s iMiEV website states that its batteries can be conventionally charged as well as “Quick charged” (to 80%) in approximately 30 minutes. Will today’s gas stations be replaced by tomorrow’s fast-food (including Denny’s) restaurants with similar quick-charge adapters? Will rest stops feature quick-charge adapters? How much will you pay for power at these locations? Regulated or whatever-the-market-will-bear?

In fact, will today’s gas stations slowly start fading away like the old Fotomat film-processing kiosks? How will the loss of gas stations (many with food marts) manifest itself? Fewer entry-level employment opportunities. Less tax revenue for government. Fewer outlets for state lotteries, many which rely heavily (see California) upon that revenue. Lots of prime retail locations becoming available for other uses.

Think about the gasoline infrastructure. The refineries, pipelines, thousands of fuel semi-trucks, manufacturers of gas pumps, etc. The trickle-down effects of moving from gasoline to electric vehicles are simply mind-boggling!

What about electricity? Will new companies emerge such as commercial power users that are nothing more than resellers to large “virtual” customers, in order to get low night-time rates? In fact, will utility regulation enter a new phase, where tiered rates for high daytime and low nighttime becomes the norm?

I could go on all day, but you get the drift. As a consumer AND an investor, I like to, in the words of Wayne Gretzky, “skate where the puck will be.”

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Robert H. Pike Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 1:42 pm

Re;Karma and GM

There are rumors that the Fisker Karma will use GM fossil fuel/gasoline engines. I am so impressed with the Karma’s lines and concept (hardtop hybrid convertible). Please tell me/us you’re considering a line of similar but more affordable hardtop hybrid convertibles? (Ones for those of us not-so-rich, but ready to invest a little more in an environmentally responsible fun-car)? Maybe something like the Pontiac hardtop line, but with the Lithium technology, and with Japanese/Korean dependability and quality?

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old man Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 1:49 pm

Lyle

Do some of these make you wonder how bad it could be if you asked for some to take crap shots at Fritz?

It pleases me that you will actually be editing this and asking only pertinant questions.

[Even if you consider mine to be unworthy!]

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Michael Burleson Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 1:59 pm

Mr. Henderson,

How do you plan to ensure that from now on General Motors is at the forefront of innovation and does not get stuck in a similar situation 50 years from now?

P.S.
Chrome and fenders still look good!

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frankyB Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 1:59 pm

ME ME ME
What are the conditions to get a green light on a 2nd model using the Voltec technology and what would be your prefered direction, a coupe like the Converj or Small SUV/Cross-over like the Provoq?

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Ole EV Guy Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 2:06 pm

I really like #46 CS Guy’s idea. We need to start thinking out side the reciprocating engine mentality. Too many parts! Even the Wankel or the vapor ware Free Piston engine might need more research to reach their full potential.

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Brian Loughlin Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 2:41 pm

Will GM Daewoo be able to increase the quality of their products produced to compete with Toygota and Honda? The Chevy Aveo did not give me confidence and if they are going to be the source of GM’s small cars they need to make a huge advance. I hope they do as I would love to be able to buy a small quality car from GM and not have to worry if I did it just for patriotism.

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RICH Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 2:42 pm

Well, I would ask why the price of the Volt keeps changing. You have lost me now. Besides, I don’t think I will ever buy a GM car again. Nothing lasts forever. GM is over. They should have never gotten any of our taxpayer dollars. Now I feel GM should give us taxpayers one heck of a discount. Think about it. Our taxdollars went to bail out GM, and now they want us to spend more of our hard earned money on GM product and then pay interest? Get for real. Whatever. Bye bye GM. The last GM product I owned was a 95 Chevrolet and it was a piece of junk. Too many problems too list. Instead of buying an expensive Volt, I will buy a hybrid Ford Fusion and still save money.

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johnmh Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 2:43 pm

My concern is with residual value in an older Volt. Imagine trying to sell an 8-year-old Volt and having to tell the potential buyer that they will have to come up with an additional $15,000 to replace the batteries that are now on their last legs. Seem to me that an older volt will have NO residual value. What you are doing is making a $40,000 throw-away car.

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graycubed Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 3:13 pm

Any chance of adapting the Spark to be purely electric in order to compete with the IMIEV from Mitsubishi for city driving?

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Anthony BC Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 3:24 pm

What is your answer (as in your version, EV2, Sparko, Ampa) to the Ford EV Focus with a 100 mile range (or infinite range if you include a small honda generator in the trunk for people who can’t read the amount of power left in battery meter) coming to market in 2011??

Are you planning on releasing a Volt generation 2 soon with only a 20/25 mi. range for $25K???

GO EV !!!

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Max (#3105) Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 3:29 pm

Why can’t we speak to folks like Infinia (a US company) or Enatec and get a Free-Piston Stirling Engine for the battery charger? As per Dean Kamen’s recently publicized prototype. Simpler, better efficiency, lighter, smaller, less pollution, multiple fuel options, quieter, less maintenance….

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SolaRichard Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 3:38 pm

Here’s a little help for you to sell the new volt. I have designed and built a solar power system to keep my volt charged when I get home from my daily travels. Not much solar is needed to keep the batteries up. My 2.8KW active tracking photovoltaic system is more than enough to keep my Volt number 348 ready to rip. I offer this solar system to GM at no cost. Now that I think about it, perhaps, you could give me a discount on my cost of the top of the line Volt. We can talk. SolaRichard in Tacoma
P.S. Sunshine yellow, Please!

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CorvetteGuy Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 3:48 pm

Mr. Henderson;

Since so much development of the VOLT was done on the Cruze chassis, how soon after the launch of the VOLT can we expect a lower-priced Cruze EREV?

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Bert Nissel Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 3:52 pm

Dear Mr. Henderson
I presently own a 2003 Yukon, last purchase was a 2004 Pontiac GT which got into an accident, so I am down to one car.
I have seriously looked at Hybrid vehicles, and after testing The Prious, Insight, and Fusion I like the Fusion best.
My only problem is that the Fusion is Mexican made, so how am I helping the American economy.
Isn’t it time you make a similar vehicle in the US/ that gives 36 t0 41 MPG in a mid size vehicle made in the USA?
Best regards and good luck
Bert Nissel

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CDAVIS Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 3:57 pm

______________________________________________________
Question for Mr. Henderson:
How will the return of higher gas prices impact the “new” GM?

———————-
Bend Over The Barrel Time Again America!

The AP reports:
“Oil spikes above $70 for first time this year…Oil prices broke through the $70 per-barrel barrier Friday and more forecasters are broadening expectations for an upward swing in crude…Oil prices have been soaring for months despite a massive surplus of petroleum and natural gas…”There’s this feeling of ‘here we go again’ with what happened last year,” Kloza said. “It hurts discretional spending. It leaves people to think about not taking those summer vacations.”

Source:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Oil-prices-briefly-above-70-apf-15449561.html?.v=9
______________________________________________________

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truthguy Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 4:00 pm

All my questions about the Volt have already been asked by the first 101 posters.
So my question is about GM Marketing in general. I could have asked this to Bob Lutz or any high ranking GM Executive.
Why did it take so long for GM to build a sports sedan like the Cadillac CTS? My friend recently bought one and I’ve driven it. WOW. This is the type of car that Cadillac or perhaps even Pontiac should have build over 20 years ago. Cadillac built “boats” while Mercedes and BMW inported these cars that were wildly popular. In particular the 3 Series BMW is an incredible car. It was obvious that the young sucessful car buyer wanted this type of car over the larger vehicles that Cadillac was making. It looked like Cadillac was aiming for the over 65 crowd, a shrinking demographic. And why didn’t Pontiac the supposed “sports car division” continue to build cars that looked sporty and performed like something less than a sports car. Pontiac Fiero anyone? I for the life of me cannot figure why GM (and Ford for that matter) didn’t respond in this area. The Pontiac G8 (an Austrialian inport) is also a car that Pontiac should have had 20 years ago. Why now when it’s too little too late.

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robert m. pesick Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 4:44 pm

By the time the Volt is available a 2011 Hyundai Sonata will have a turbo charged 4 banger in a car that will be larger, heavier, more luxuriuos, superior performance, 35 mpg., and yet selling for $25K verus $35-$40K for the Volt. If gas is $5/gal at that time it will take 7-10 years to break even when comparing the up-front cost versus the annual fuel cost savings.

I now own a 06 Sonata V/6 that has averaged 26 mpg over 28K miles of my driving.

Conclusion: The Volt would prove to be bad financial investment unless the initial cost could be reduced to $25-30K. One can be assured that Ford, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, BYD, etc will not be sitting by watching Volt make history. Once the thrill of driving a new plug-in hybrid wears off, the cold hard financial differences will kill the Volt unless the initial cost can be reduced to compete with the ICE or hybrid midsize competition.

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Dan Petit Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 5:01 pm

Dear Mr. Henderson,

My Question is:

Would GM consider outside contractors for technical writing of service manuals, owners manuals, and technical service bulletins for non-engineers and L-1 advanced techs?

I have written 14 e-books/service manuals in the 1980’s called
“The Auto Parts Datasystem” on Microdisk sold Nationwide to shops, trade schools and governmental agencies. It described failure characteristics and diagnostic procedures, and, field service bulletins in concise abstracts (256 of them within 14 e-books), updated annually.

Pontiac Motor Division sent a team down to Austin to see it in action in an Auto Parts Store back then, and called it “Exceptional and intimidating” (with a positive excitement).

(Library of Congress registry for “The Auto Parts Datasystem” is: TXu 152-197 copyrights 1984 through 1990).

(By 1991 we just did not have technically-sufficient diagnostic equipment for the broad task of scanning all makes and models, until 2002 with the Genisys waveform graphs.
Those waveforms *confirm* 70% of all diagnostics for all makes and models of all processors.)

You can see my credentials if you Google “Dan Petit Texas DPS”
Genisys Waveform Training (The Texas Department of Public Safety are the State Troopers who administer the Emissions and Safety bench tests for annual emissions inspections.) (There are 5 pages to scroll).

I would like to compile servicing manuals to be written in a diagnostic hierarchical sequence that technicians can easily understand. I would like to help provide input to the process for the owners manuals also.

If GM would be interested in a set of approaches that are not as formal-engineering in vocabulary, yet still constrained within the necessary contextual technical-continuity required for teaching the top 5 percentile of technicians, I am interested in providing GM this service for the Voltec product lines.

Dan Petit
ASE-Examined L-1
Advanced Systems Educator
(512) 834 – 2141

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"Rocky" Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 5:22 pm

I wonder why my 1994 Toyota Corolla DX (with 200+k miles on it) is able to get 32mpg …and the new industry average standard of 39.5 (by 2016) is supposed to be such a stretch.

The auto industry should be ashamed of the miniscule strides it has made in the past 20 yrs. and all the stalling it has done to keep from bettering its self.

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Dave K. Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 5:32 pm

Very good questions posted here as well as some salient tough love statements.

The formula for success in the car market of today is electric drive at an affordable price. Once electric drive catches on, we’ll see which car manufactures are left behind.

The obvious spear tip of winning the EV / EREV war is a basic electric car. Something like a Focus, Versa, or Cruze. These will pave the way for the mid size EV / EREV cars and trucks of the future mainstream car market.

Premium gasoline here in Santa Barbara just took another obscene jump higher. The lowest in town is $3.09 (USA) the highest is $3.69 (Mobil).

=D~

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old man Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 5:42 pm

#107 Rocky

Your 94 Toyota with 200,000 miles at 32 mpg beats my 1999 Buick Park Avenue Ultra with 189,000 miles by 2 miles a gallon. Folks just don’t want to believe us. I assume your stating a fact as I am!! Believe it or not but my car does not qualify for the cash for clunkers program. [Both city and highway milage is to high] Go on line and check it out!!!

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Dan Petit Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 5:44 pm

Rocky,
All the auto manufacturers have at least 18 outside agencies (”bosses” if you will) to please.

Internal Combustion Engines have “hit the brick-wall” of the laws of physics. Not much more fuel efficiency can really be extracted out of gasoline engines.

But if you add the fact that we have recently had these miraculous advancements in storing household electricity into these new kinds of terrific batteries, well, there are many more new “laws of physics” that are now “on our side”, and it is all pretty darn exciting for me.

Internal Combustion Engines, for me, have not any further challenge, no matter how many more computers need to be placed to do whatever they need to do. ICE has become a real boring thing. Performance and racing put me to sleep. Practically anyone that knows what wrenches do can throw together a race car and get better and better at going faster and faster. (…Yawn….).

The very highly refined quiet of a drive in a Volt , with what electric vehicles do with the Wind Energy that can be sold to me when I plug it in overnight just leaves me astounded.

This is what was meant to be.

For us all to ride with the wind.

In near-perfect quiet.

Dan.

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Ed M Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 5:52 pm

My number one question for Fritz would be the battery development for the Volt. I would like to know what we can expect in the future (ie power and mileage) and will the current Volt models be able to handle upgrades?

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old man Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 5:55 pm

#107 Rocky

I read what I just posted and it didn’t come out as I intended. I wanted to say that if I can drive my car on a road trip [driving for milage] and get 30 MPG then the industry should be able to get 39+ MPG by 2016

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MDR Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 6:09 pm

Im not so much in worry about the next car this person will produce to make money to go into his pocket, the next scheeme to sell america a car (great its green) that will be cheaply built and mass produced.

Im more interested in where quality went to?

Im more interested in what will happen to the economy of an entire state that lives and breathes GM….What will happen to the thousands of families that are effected by this bankruptcy?. While the CEOs are comming through unscathed, benifits, byouts, healthcare, and retirements are cut from people that have worked in your plants builing your money makers for 30 years plus. When I have several 40 year old men and women come into my retail store asking for job applications because they have lost their jobs at GM after working 25+ years, I have to wonder when we will stop to take a look at the structure we have all helped to create–myself included. When do we all say enough is enough and start treating people like fellow human beings—making others in companies share the wealth so when large companies like this fall, the common working class fellow is not left destitute and struggeling off of state while CEO’s are trying to figure out how to keep their money and create new cars after becoming bankrupt?

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Walter R. Jorgensen Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 6:13 pm

Why don’t you produce and sell the EV1 now while we’re waiting for the Volt?

Do you have plans for offering a more practical vehicle with cargo space and room for more passengers? It seems like you’re starting off with the sports car model.

What’s the best range on a single charge you’ll be able to provide in the next 3 years?

Will you have component upgrades and trade-ins for the Volt and other EV models as technology improves, e.g., batteries, chargers?

How specialized will maintenance people have to be? Are you taking steps now to make sure there’s someone to take the Volt to when it misbehaves?

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Ken Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 6:50 pm

Offer/Provide Buyers a way for GM to accept the Volt deposit (PLUS) a way to record partial down payments on the Volt prior to release/delivery of the Volt to the customer.

Example: a $1,000 initial deposit with the ability to pay timely additional monies to GM that contributes to the Buyer’s down payment (this would lower the amount financed when the Buyer takes delivery of their Volt).

Benefits to allow GM the ability to accept additional partial down payments:
1) Provide GM more up-front money,
2) indicate Buyer’s long-term commitment,
3) show additional Buyer Fiduciary responsibility to the Finance Company,
4) Reduce the final Volt financing amount

Bottom Line:
a “Win-Win” for GM and the Buyer, GM sells more Volts, Buyer is better able to qualify to buy the Volt

(Somewhat similar to Comments # 15, 29, 33, 47 and especially 56)

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Starcast Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 6:57 pm

My simple question:

Most of us (Americans) Prefer to drive trucks (SUVs or PUs) and tow our Boats, Snowmobiles and travel trailers what is being done to improve larger vehicles? Plug ins? Voltec?

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Dan Petit Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 6:59 pm

Clarification to my post at 110

One of the things I was trying to say was that non-factory equipment added to a vehicle nowadays often do not make sufficiently-helpful improvements above what the original factory engineers have installed.

Non factory equipment increases the chances of all kinds of diagnostic problems for “daily-drivers”. High performance racing just reminds me of all those sorts of unintended problems people have when many aftermarket things get installed improperly, and I see that daily.

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coffeetime Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 7:00 pm

johnmh wrote:

“My concern is with residual value in an older Volt. Imagine trying to sell an 8-year-old Volt and having to tell the potential buyer that they will have to come up with an additional $15,000 to replace the batteries that are now on their last legs. Seem to me that an older volt will have NO residual value. What you are doing is making a $40,000 throw-away car.”

Well, the Volt certainly isn’t alone in this category. I paid $20,680 (plus tax and license) for my 2001 PT Cruiser in November, 2000, and it is now worth (according to Kelley Blue Book) $4,220, and that was over a month ago when I looked it up.

I suspect that 8 years after the first pioneers buy a Volt, there will be several 3rd-party battery upgrades that will be cheaper, lighter and provide more power than the stock battery.

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A. Le Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 8:54 pm

Since GM now has some equity in the newly form Parnassus Holdings II LLC, an affiliate of Platinum Equity. They should consider buying as much parts from their own Delphi/Parnassus as possible.

Mr. Henderson, do not support your competition by buying parts from them, example – Toyota and their part division – Denso. Why are you subsidizing Toyota so they can beat you with their cars and trucks? You need a better business plan than what had been done in past. Stop supporting your enemy.

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Unni Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:18 pm

Wondering which all executives are part of OLD GM because bad decisions were not made by machines or brands. Even to be true. I think the Bad GM was supposed to be Winner because mgmt team is with good GM. Looks mostly Rick is also part of Bad GM – all his programs are winners as of now ( CTS, Traverse, Camaro, Volt )

ex: Hummer : World class off road vehicles
Saturn : Fuel efficient small cars.
Pontiac :Sporty Youth Brand : look at Vibe,G8, solstice and the old sunfire etc.

To be true , In my view the bad GM is going to be winner because of new mgmt. I think if they sell Pontiac also then it would have been great.

Why i loose confidence in new GM :

1) the CEO only talks on Cadillac, Corvette and big cars, He don’t know the market of small cars . He never drove them.
2) The marketing Boss : he dont know about hybrids and even he never know that diesel is cheaper than gas.
3) Above 40k cars competing 20k cars. Volt is supposed to compete against Prius/insight in market and volt is at 40k. they dont have a plan to have a range extender only config with say 10 mile battery.
4) No proper hybrids in market – i don’t say PHEVs may be way but the current market needs hybrids. they don’t have 2 mode hybrid sedan or a small/medium SUV.
5) Still they try to sell hybrids at a premium
6) Arrogant dealer network – read the comments even in fastlane about dealers
7) Incapable program management : go to faslane.gmblogs.com and look how badly they manage the Camaro program (just read comments ) . People have only complaints. No push on hybrid/Evs programs : no 2 mode malibus, no 2 mode traverse. no cruze hybrid. Learn how ford markets their cars now ( ex: most patented car ).
9) Resale value/reliability issues on all most all products

list goes on….
Future will say us which was Good GM and which was Bad.

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Radu Seserman Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:30 pm

- Does he plans to buy a Volt?

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iRoc Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 9:42 pm

RANGE EXTENDER:
Will GM be offering options ?

SUGGESTION:
Why not make the range extender an option, define the interface, publish the specifications, setup an authentication program, and open it up to 3rd party manufacturers ?

This Business Model is still used by many successful computer manufacturers (Apple, Intel, Microsoft, HP, Compaq, etc.).

That would provide an opportunity for Fuel Cells (H2, Ethanol, Methanol, Metal-Air, etc.), High Energy Batteries (perhaps swappable), ICE’s (Gasoline, Diesel, Ethanol, etc.), Gas Turbines, Stirling Engines, Compressed Air, and the list goes on …

This would take the pressure off GM potentially picking the wrong technology!

Are you up to the task Mr. Henderson?

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Nelson Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:19 pm

Lyle,
As a common stock holder of 500 shares of the old GM now listed as GMGMQ , I would like to ask Fritz what the new GM intends to do with regards to the new stock when it emerges from bankruptcy protection.

1. Will they declare the old stock worthless and not exchange it for the new stock leaving faithful GM shareholders without a cent.
2. Will they issue the new stock to existing shareholders in a reverse split scenario say 1 New GM share for every 10 Old shares?
3. Will they issue a 1 for 1 share exchange?

I don’t know if this information has been publicly addressed by GM, but I think the choice they make will either make a very large number of common stock holders very angry at GM or solidify their faith in a company that cares for its stock holders.

NPNS!

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StevenT Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:25 pm

I haven’t written in a long time(months) but I have a question to ask, not about the Volt but GM. It’s a given that the Volt will not be profitable for a few years until volume is ramped up and cost is lowered. What is GM’s plan for sustained profitability in the meantime and what types of vehicles will they offer to insure that profitability? I know from what I read that they have a set # of vehicles to sell to remain profitable but is there anything new and exciting in the works besides the Cruze to get excited about? If not will they be able to make money with the same lineup of cars and trucks? GM must offer more than the Volt to keep alive.

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David Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 10:30 pm

I would like to get a Volt however I am skeptical about the long term philosophy and interest of GM concerning the Volt. I am afraid your company will pay a half hearted interest to quality and design in order to do the minimum necessary to claim the PR benefit of a electric car.

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Bill Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 11:32 pm

What are the arrangements for international manufacturing and sales of the Volt (I am particularly interested in GM Holden since I live in Australia)?

I don’t think Holden’s local management have that much interest in anything but big six and eight cylinder cars.

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Nick Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 12:43 am

Mainly I have this to ask:

Why did you change the awesome body style of the prototype to this piece of trash? Then jack up the pricing? GM you lost me, I will shop elsewhere. I feel bad for everyone who lost their taxpayer dollars to these tools. You are not as American as apple pie. Your are the pie crust we throw away.

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Jim I Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 12:54 am

127 responses and no one asked the obvious???

Mr. Henderson:

Exactly when will GM announce the specific trim levels, available options, and sticker pricing for the Volt?

It will certainly settle some major discussions we have on this site!

Thank you.

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Keith Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 1:13 am

QUESTION;

Why dont you build the Volt in Shanghai China where it can be made to USA specs for less than $20,000 and bring it to North America where you will be able to sell it for less than $30,000 .
You would be able to get the volume numbers up where they would count .
GM would make a comfortable profit right from the first one .

The Cadillac Converj could be made in a North American plant and also sold for a comfortable profit for around $50,000.

All the research and development was done here and it is a fully “American” car , made by an American company , for North Americans , just made in Shanghai GM plant .

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sudhaman Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 1:30 am

the cadillac converj . i want to know the cost of it and release date. also if volt battery charge time should be somewhere at 4 hours and not 8 hours

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Dan Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 1:38 am

1. How will GM pay back the billions of dollars of tax payers money? How can that be possible by selling cars?

2. How could GM have let the autoworkers union gain so much control over the company (which ultimately strangled GM)?

3. Would GM had been better of fnot taking any bailout money and filing for bankruptcy in the very beginning rather than taking billions and then filing for bankruptcy?

4. Do you honestly think the governement owning GM is a good thing? After all the government cant even balance its own budget and can only print more money to solve its short term problems.

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sudhaman Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 1:46 am

it should be made in USA and not in mothafuckin china. what respect does USA worker get if it is simply outsourced. it only increases trade deficits and makes china more economically powerful.all the bailout to go to china is not at all reasonable. it should be made in USA and not in china chevy volt will become cheap next year at $32000and $28000 in subsequent years.trade deficits must be curbed we must also export the volt.

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omnimoeish Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 1:55 am

Here’s some important questions for Fritz.
____________________________________________________
Do you realize there is no way on heaven or earth that hydrogen will EVER be cost competitive with EVs. Not for the fuel, not for the R&D, not for the cars, not for the infrastructure, not for the convenience, not for anything. Tell him that GM is embarrassing itself by continuing to dump millions of dollars down the toilet on Hydrogen Equinoxes that will never be even remotely mass marketable.

Why did you stop developing electric vehicles, yet keep building hydrogen vehicles to this day that cost somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 times the price of an EV1, at a time when battery development was advancing by leaps and bounds mostly because of the promise of mass marketing EVs?

Do you have any ballpark estimate for what you are hoping the retail price for the 2nd gen Volt to be?

Have you heard of Kaizen?

No? I didn’t think so because this one ideology is what has made Toyota the reputation for reliability powerhouse it is today. Ask someone who works for Toyota how it works. Learn it, do it. If there is a design flaw with the vehicles, fix it in the next gen. First, go back about 5 years and find out what are the common problems people are facing. If I were you, I would give a fleet of about 100 cars to a bunch of poor college students to drive to school in. Have them put those things through hell and back and find out what broke.

The next thing I would do is dissect some of the trouble parts you have like transmissions out of Japanese cars and figure out what they are doing that is making them last so long. I have lots of family and friends who only buy Japanese and they are getting 300,000 miles + out of their transmissions. I’ve owned cars from the Big 3 and replaced transmissions about 100,000 miles every single time. This kind of crap is destroying resale value which makes people not willing to pay as much, which means you have to operate in the red.

What do you think, Mr. Henderson, was the real problem that has brought GM the $80 billion loss in the last couple of years? Why all of a sudden in 2007 did the crap start hitting the fan? That was actually a good year for car sales. Surely the 2008 economic slowdown was only hastening the inevitable after a year like that.
_____________________________________________________

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Frank Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 2:03 am

Do you have a plan, over the next few years, to get the cost of a Volt down to a level comparable to a new Toyota Prius.?

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Timaaayyy!!! Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 2:44 am

In this rebuilding year for GM, what are you doing to hire the best talent? (to explain the sports analogy: it’s all about who has the best people–gimme Shaq and Kobe or Michael and Scotty and I’ll win; with the best leaders, managers and workers so will GM. Without, they won’t)

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BobbyG Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 3:10 am

1. Will you support a Value Added Tax which pays for healthcare and retirement costs to make GM more competitive (like the rest of the world) even though it makes outsourcing less profitable?

2. Will you shut down your dead end hydrogen propulsion technology and focus on Voltec to keep GM ahead of the pack?

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kubel Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 3:56 am

My questions:

Do you feel the Volt will succeed if gas stays relatively cheap, and how will GM respond should the Volt be released to a world with cheap gas?

Will the Volt price remain at around $40,000, even though the majority of R&D expenses are now essentially dissolved after GM entered chapter 11 protection, and now has far less labor costs due to the concessions the UAW has agreed to?

What is GMs response to those who have analyzed the cost of Voltec components (electric motor, battery, generator, controller) added onto what is essentially a Malibu-cost body and that say the Volt is several thousand dollars overpriced?

What is GMs response to the Administration finding that suggested that the Volt will be too expensive to succeed in the short term?

———

I think, Lyle, if you are going to stick some serious questions to GM upper management, they should be relating to cost- because quite frankly, I’m pissed that I won’t be able to afford one. I honestly think GM is trying to attach the biggest pricetag they can to this car, and I think that price is going to be what kills it.

I’m really hoping Ford will reconsider making an EREV, because I’m confident they can make one far better and for much less cost than what GM is trying to sell us with the Volt.

I think we are being screwed.

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Zach Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 4:07 am

When can we expect to see Voltec technology in larger vehicles, such as trucks?

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Wayne Adams Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 6:39 am

I would like to ask a question. A few years ago when the Volt was a concept, the price was estimated to be around $30,000, with government incentives about $22,500. The price now is $40,000, $32,500 after government incentives. Right now this car is out of my price range. Will Chevy offer a electric car in my price range? My wife is out of work and I had to take a large pay cut. I need a new car and it looks like I will have to buy a Cobalt. I just pray the gas prices don’t sky rocket last last year.

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Red HHR Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 6:40 am

Voltec HHR?

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Xiaowei1 Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 6:53 am

cup holders! how many, and where are they located?

Oh, and will Holden in Australia be building any Volts? this will make them a lot cheaper then shipping them from the US.

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Shawn Marshall Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 7:17 am

Dear Fritz,
How far can you run with an 800 pound gorilla on your back?

Goodbye GM – all is dross,

Will you Please sell the Voltec technology to a start-up or a spin-off – maybe you could jump to that yourself – get some greenwave mania money to carry you through start-up years and get battery R&D money from the same source to help also.
Wouldn’t that make your life much more pleasant? No more Central Committee or local UAW soviet to deal with? Think about it – do a coup – rooting for you and the Volt.

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GeorgeB Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 7:23 am

When can I get a Volt in New Hampshire? I’ve already figured out that I won’t get a first generation Volt so I just put my money into replacement windows for my house. But I sure would like to get a Volt in 2012 or so.

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NZDavid Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 7:48 am

New question:

Will there be a bare bones five seat version II Volt running Firefly batteries?

Cost 15% more than traditional Pb batteries but long life, deep charge capable similar to NiMH.

And a recommendation. GM should look to Voltec doing something no other powertrain is set up to do standard. IE have 120/240 AC power points as standard. Certainly EVERY SUV/Truck aimed at tradesmen should have this feature.

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Todd Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 7:50 am

Excellent article this morning by Michael Leahy of hte Washington Post. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31146562/

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Luke Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 7:57 am

Are there any plans for a Voltec-powered compact station wagon with sturdy roof-racks? I’m hoping that such a vehicle could obsolete both our Toyota Prius and our Ford Ranger pickup truck… I’m short (5′4″), so I don’t want to be lifting lumber or sheets of plywood up on to the roof of a CUV.

Also, will future versions of the Voltec architecture include a power take-off, so that I could use my car to power my house during a power failure? 110V outlets in the interior would be nice for road-tripping with electronics, too.

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Van Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 8:04 am

A Volt dealer in New Hampshire? Perhaps in 2015.

1) Since the Old GM planned on the Volt costing $40,000, can we expect the New GM to produce the Volt for around $32,000, because of all the cost saving changes of your viability plan?

2) What is the size of the gas tank in the first IVER?

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Mark Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 9:05 am

I was extremely interested in this car until the production model was unveiled and strangely it looked a lot like a 1988 Chevrolet Beretta. What happened there? Are you going to continue to let the old curmudgeons at your company continually screw up your innovative work?

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Li Ping Sun Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 10:10 am

My Question,
Since the battery is the big price part of the 40 mile range , I want to know if you intend or have given it any thought to having a Volt with only a 10 mile range that you dont have to plug in to charge up the battery ?

I want a Volt car that gets its power from the gas stations that are everywhere , not from some charging station that I have to search for .

I live in a high rise apartment building and charging up at home is out of the question .
I want a Series Volt with a small battery that I can put a larger battery pack in the future if I want or my life circumstances change and I rent a house with a power plug already available to me .

I could see paying 25,000 for this kind of Volt , but not a 40 mile 40,000 version .
I really dont want to plug in my car , just make it a very good mileage Series hybrid car to compete with the Prius .

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Fred R Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 10:58 am

More a suggestion than a question:
Why not accept advance down-payments on the Volt?

Dealerships could accept the down-payment using a brochure to provide information. The customer would receive a number indicating where he/she is in line and an approximate date of delivery.

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Keith Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 11:02 am

I would like to know,

Since the Cruze got such fantastic reviews as the Volt mules do you plan to continue a good thing and make a pure electric Cruze EV since over 80% of people don’t travel over 40 miles per day anyway .

Seems like an ideal vehicle to compete head to head with the Ford Magna electric car . You know that you would have a winner here in the Cruze EV . Just increase the available range and use the newer batteries that charge up quickly and put the extra range in the former engine compartment with some capacitors from Maxwell .

Have you given that any consideration at all , it seems to me that it would be a natural and a win , win for everybody .

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Satyajit Patwardhan Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 11:11 am

How will the Volt program get impacted due to the bankrupcy?
Specifically:
- What is the new timeline for pilot production and full production of Volt?
- What infrastructure (i.e. home charging or street charging or other) would you depend on for initial release of the car?

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Tim Taylor Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 11:22 am

Toyota had a viable purley electric car (Rav4) in 2002, why can’t GM make a similar car 7 years later? Also, if you only lease the volt, like you did the EV-1, it will be very apparent that you are taking bribes from the oil industry and not trying to make a car that Americans want (every single person I know would buy a pure electric car if it were available, and none of us are interested in buying another ICE car). I may seem harsh, but GM has bilions of dollars of taxpayers money (my money), so I feel that makes you more responsible than ever to make a product that customers want, instead of making cars that the oil industry wants.

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Bruce Fidler Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 12:18 pm

Please think of the “working poor” when setting prices for cars you expect us to buy. Keep in mind that GM has not built such a car since 1994. I know because I own one. (1994 Buick Century) It’s got over 160,000 on the clock and I’m still waiting for a viable replacement. The Volt sounded like a good idea… until you set the price. 40K is far more than I, and the millions of other “working poor” in America, will be able to afford. I guess I’ll have to buy a Toyota or Honda after all. Darned shame too – my uncle worked for GM over 30 years. Sure glad I don’t – I already did my government duty.

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Rashiid Amu Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 1:08 pm

How about All-Wheel-Drive?

How about a small pickup truck?

How about a convertible?

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Joe Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 1:36 pm

Is GM going to have someone like Lee Iacocca to advertise GM vehicles on television? I think Fritz Henderson could successfully do it.

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Steve Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 2:40 pm

Have you looked into the super capacitor EEstor is about to produce? If EEstor’s product can be mass produced your lithium battery is already obsolete.

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THE FYTHELER Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 3:18 pm

As several other commenters have said, I ask! Why did General Motors STOP building, collect and destroy the very popular…limited to California…ALL (GM) Saturn EV1? And “How can you claim your VOLT is the first generation of GM Electric Cars”? With the fantastic AMERICAN advances in battery technology (including Photovoltaic or Solar energy collectors) why are your prices so ridiculously out of the market? Has GM thought to drastically change anything, like buying out APTERA MOTORS and building a brand new shape at lower cost & lower price for AMERICANs that drive in the city everyday?

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Wendell Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 3:31 pm

I bought my first GM car only a few years ago (a Malibu Maxx) and it’s best car I’ve owned. It was affordable, flexible, reliable, and econmomical. I can’t for the life of me figure out why GM decided to quit making it. If they started making it again, I’d buy a second one. Bad decision if you ask me, but that was the “old” GM. Let’s hope the “new” GM is smarter.

The Volt has the chance to change a way the world thinks about personal transportation. Not only can it save GM, it can save the planet. Let’s not blow it by making the first versions so expensive that it can’t gain enough traction to build momentum. So I would ask Mr. Henderson “how does GM plan to make the Volt affordable enough?” At $40,000 a copy (32K with some generous rebate program from the feds), it’s still pricey for the masses which is where it needs to be sold. I’d suggest that a base model should be offered that would be in the $30,000 range, then add options and make your money off those options.

As for options, I have two to recommend. One, offer a solar powered recharging unit. Solar energy could be captured and stored during the day and transferred to the Volt when the driver returns after work. Second, offer a natural gas fueled ICE for the Volt.

I think the only way to sell Volt in the sufficient quantities necessary to make the program a success is to market it as a way to reduce the world’s dependence on oil. Solar and/or natural gas combined with the great electric/battery technology in the Voltec system make a winner. You could market it as a car that never needs a drop of gasoline.

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Philip Boscia Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 3:54 pm

Mr Henderson. I am very unhappy of what has happen to GM , being an American I would love to see GM back on top. I can not understand why did it take GM this long to realize that it had to be a better company to compete in this global arena ??? For years our competetors have been producing better car while the bean counters at GM put profits before it’s customers and CEO’s & stock holders sucked the life blood out of GM. I am 45 and have had my fair share of GM cars but looking at what GM was building until recently did not make sense & some of the car still don’t make sense. I would also like to give you some input on this Volt that will hit the market est cost $34 K +++ for a Chevy who are you builing cars for . For $34K I will buy a entry level Benz or a BMW. The average American needs a 100K mile trouble free car for $20K just like the Japs & the Korean’s have been making for the past 20 Yrs. You really need to look at what all the WW2 vets & baby boomers are buying Honda’s & Toyota’s why don’t GM copy these models just like the competion did to GM. I know your going to say we are building better cars but the trust you have lost is going to take a long time to win back. Please get ads on TV & bash your competion show the public that not only GM but all American cars are better post the consumer rattings in the show rooms STOP with the BS that we need to join together & buy American. Why should I help GM when in the past you were not there for me.

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tBay Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 4:16 pm

HERE ARE SOME GOOD QUESTIONS:

***How do you plan to increase GM’s market share here in the United States?

***Will GM’s four core brands “fill the void/pick up the slack” of the four brands GM is shedding?

***Do you see any viability or purpose in reviving a discontinued brand in the future (i.e. Oldsmobile or soon to be Pontiac?)

***Is there a possibility GM may keep a small stake in the brands it is shedding?

***Do you think automobiles will be relevant 50 years from now? 100 years from now?

***Other than electrification and alternative fuel, what is the future of the automobile?

***Is the Voltec powertrain limited to the Delta II platform? Will we see applications in larger platforms?

***Do you think the new GM can again become the world’s largest automaker?

***Do you agree with other analysts’ views that the industry is consolidating?

***Does GM plan to enter the battery industry in some capacity (perhaps to diversify the company’s revenue)?

***Do you see the potential that Voltec technology can be licensed/sold to other automakers if it’s good enough?

THANK YOU!

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TJ Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 6:34 pm

Once again, a vehicle beond my means,, the rich get richer and the middle class will just dream of a car like this and keep paying $3 to $4 gal for gas,,, take my name off the list, toyota or Ford, here I come….

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James Liljegren Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 9:57 pm

Observation:

A $7500 tax credit for the Volt? So, even if I don’t buy a Volt, as a taxpayer, I’ll be sharing the cost.

Questions for Fritz:

1. When will GM (Government Motors) start building Trebants? And how much of a tax credit will they fetch?

2. Now that the GM and Chrysler bond holders have been screwed, how do you plan to raise private capital? Or do you plan to just continue to feed at the public trough until Trebant sales improve?

3. Obama said he doesn’t want to interfere with GM’s day to day operations, but has made it clear he and the Democrats want GM to a) build small profitless cars rather than large profitable SUVs, b) do no outsourcing of production to China or other countries with lower manufacturing costs, and c) abandon plans to reduce the number of dealerships. So just what decisions are they allowing you to make? Naugahyde colors for the new GM Trebant?

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jwcrim Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 10:26 pm

Two factors will prevent GM from staying in existence for very long:
1. Labor costs (direct and indirect).
2. Engineering competitiveness (being “almost as good” is like a plane flying blind with the nose down 1 degree).

If Washington just keeps propping it up then in ten years we will be producing our own “Yugos.”

The issue of labor costs could be solved by telling Washington to take a hike, dissolving GM and selling it off in pieces to parts suppliers and start-ups (i.e. Saturn style).

The issue of engineering competitiveness can be solved by the same action – the start-ups can attract super-star engineers with stock options etc. with potential GM and Obama couldn’t begin to equal.

If you let GM dissolve this way and if present GM stock holders and creditors accept start-up shares as payment for the assets, then American innovation will have a chance to rise to the challenge as it has in other fields. If you don’t, you may as well close the doors right now and save us taxpayers $100B+.

Do you and GM have the guts to do this?

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Gene G Says:
June 8th, 2009 at 6:41 am

I need a small pickup… but the numbers don’t work in GM’s favor when I compare against your competition. Basic, no frills transportation like back in the late 70’s – early 80’s like the the Chevy Luv would be greatly appreciated!

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Curious Says:
June 8th, 2009 at 8:42 am

Why were the bond holders forced to take significant loss their interests and the UAW wound up not only owning GM but not making any significant concessions.

This is utterly obscene. As a taxpayer I am subsidizing a company whose worst cost imbalance was not addressed in the bankruptcy guaranteeing there will one day be another reckoning.

I was a Volter, through and through, now I want nothing to do with GM, no check that, the thugs that run the UAW for their own benefit and don’t see fit to compete in the market.

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N Riley Says:
June 8th, 2009 at 9:58 am

It is Monday morning and I know this is late, but I don’t have anything I would ask him. All the things happening is turning me off to GM.

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Dan Frederiksen Says:
June 8th, 2009 at 10:46 am

will he build an Aptera, will he build a Loremo, will he build an EV2, will he finally understand that the trick is light weight materials and real aerodynamics

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N Riley Says:
June 8th, 2009 at 10:58 am

You know, I do have a question for Henderson. Lyle, ask him what was he doing while GM was hitting the skids towards bankruptcy for all those years he was in a position to do something about it. Here is a man who has been in the top management position for a number of years. Why wasn’t he doing his job and helping get GM on track financially? So what is new now? Just because he has helped get GM into Chapter 11 his past inadequacies have not been forgotten. Don’t let him say that he did not have anything to do with it or that he was not in a position to effect change. He did and he was.

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N Riley Says:
June 8th, 2009 at 11:12 am

I liked the above video. Now if only GM can do what they say they are going to do. “Get down to business” is good, but they have got to get cost and quality under control. Every car needs to be the best in its class. No excuses, GM. Just get the job done. Do it right and you will own the market again. And then, maybe once you get the government paid back and they no longer own any part of GM, I will buy another GM vehicle. I would say the same for the UAW, but I suspect that will never happen. I don’t want either of them to own any part of GM.

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Priced out Says:
June 8th, 2009 at 1:46 pm

All my questions were answered once I heard the price. Too high, no thanks.

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Mike Wadas Says:
June 8th, 2009 at 7:40 pm

I was absolutely excited to hear about the GM Volt in the beginning, but when I heard the price tag will be around $40,000- my excitement turned to a total disinterest in the car of our future. This saddens me, because most people who have a demand for this kind of car, cannot afford gas. With the Prius around $24,000, the Honda Insight at $19,800, the future BYD that promises double the millage of the volt for more than half the price, and the TATA nano going for around $3,000- How is this car going to compete?

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Fred Carmean Says:
June 8th, 2009 at 8:24 pm

The question I would ask Fritz Henderson is where GM has been for the last 40 years? They have been singing the same old song for 40 years while everyone else was innovating. Their cars still look cheap, they feel cheap, the materials are cheap, the seats cheap and drive just as badly. Yet they have some great cars across the world that they dont sell here!

Management has focused on bonuses for themselves and have been content with lazy, inefficient and overpaid workers who dont give a crap about the product they make–but protect bad workers and stupid work rules at all costs (I worked in a UAW plant). If GM had actually focused on building great cars and really listened to what THEIR customers wanted–they’d wouldnt have lost all of the market share to better products. I would love an efficient, mid-sized car that drives well. They starved the brands that could have helped them with people like me. For example–Saturn because it didn’t have all of their baggage and Saab, which appealed to the people who want a smaller, understated, premium car.

I wish them well, but they will have to make a quantam leap in quality and design before I sit behind the wheel of a GM car again.

They have a long way to go!

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richard somma Says:
June 8th, 2009 at 9:43 pm

Hello Fritz,
I buy a new car every 3 years. In recent years they have all been Japanese. I will do my best to make my next car an American one.
However, I want real fuel efficiency along with quality. I have those things now in my Prius.There is nothing you make now that I want.
I will not pay 40 grand for a compact car, which I hear the cost of the Volt will be. If this is the best you can do, I suggest you fold up your tent and go away.
Rich

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steve Says:
June 8th, 2009 at 10:46 pm

several years ago the former ceo did a news show, dateline or something like that, on the technology of hydrogen. i remember the hour long show had all the info on the new hydrogen car. breaking it down showing the parts and technology. also they went into a building that was powered by a hydrogen generator the size of a refridgerator. i also remember the former ceo say gm had so much money invested in this technology, that if it didn’t pan out, the company would be bankrupt. So my question would be why isn’t this little snid bit talked about now that gm is bankrupt?

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Innovator Says:
June 9th, 2009 at 9:11 pm

I would imagine that in the quest for a leaner GM, a lot of fat could be trimmed from upper management. I certainly takes less management to manage a smaller company.

What percentage of upper ranks are getting the boot? vs say percentage of union employees let go and percentage of dealerships gone.

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Pat Says:
June 10th, 2009 at 6:56 pm

I was one who tried to buy an EV-1 and emailed Bob Lutz about it repeatedly. After the crushing, I swore I would never buy another GM product.
Be careful about what you sware at.
I found a Chevy S-10 EV (1998) on eBay in February and bought it.
I am absolutely thrilled with the truck, but not GM’s pretending it doesn’t exist. Still running strong after 11 years and 41000 miles on it. I drive it from sea level to the top of Mt. Tamalpais (2571′) to work as the fire lookout over San Francisco Bay. Its 26 Nimh batteries are not happy about the climb, but they do it.
By the way, the S-10 is the same power train and electronics as
the EV-1. Less than 50 of them still around.

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Joe Bellisario Says:
June 10th, 2009 at 7:49 pm

I would want to know why GM was not building cars in and for the USA like the automobiles built in Europe. They had plenty of time over the past 40 years to see the direction that auto buyer’s were heading. The joke was that GM had a large storage barn filled with old poorly designed dashboards that they had to use up before redesigning their auto interiors.

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Dr Mark Says:
June 11th, 2009 at 11:33 am

I’ve wondered why GM didn’t just re-market the EV1? Changing body style is trivial, they do it every few years anyway. You guys had an EPA/DOT/CARB certified PRODUCTION car (drawings, assembly and test procedures, etc). Why mess around with the Volt for 4 years? It could have been a NEXT generation electric with the E-VOLT1 breaking ground with the nationwide market! Time to market is everything guys! NiMH batteries are much better than 10 years ago; plus, if battery cost for NiMH is still THE problem, what was wrong with the EV1 series-hybrid (75% fewer batteries) shown at the 1998 Detroit Auto Show? What’s the REAL story, Mr Henderson, tell Mr Obama and he’ll take care of any patent problems with Chevron? Why didn’t GM want to succeed at Plug-Ins?

Dr Mark

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Dr Mark Says:
June 11th, 2009 at 11:59 am

Mr Henderson, Why don’t we hear about the federal gov’t installing compressed natural gas (CNG) pumps at Interstate Service Areas to kick off widespread use of CNG vehicles, of which GM has over 12 models it could market in the US, and DOESN’T? Since these models are already in production wouldn’t it be an instantaneous impact on profitability for the new GM/UncleSam conglomerate to make this simple swtch possible and more appealing to consumers? Doesn’t anyone get it? Americans want to stop importing OIL! That’s where your market demand has gone!

Dr Mark

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Brad Says:
June 20th, 2009 at 4:17 pm

Mr.Henderson,

We have 4 Chevy’s now. I was hopeful to purchase a Volt, but at $40K I can no longer consider the Volt to add to our Chevrolet household. I anxiously awaited the Camaro. After I saw it I decided I may but a Mustang or Challenger – I think they look much more like the steroid cars I grew up with. Hate to move away from Chevy, but there is not much left to keep me as a customer.

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Ardavast Avakian Says:
July 10th, 2009 at 8:28 am

May 10, 2005

Mr. Richard Wagoner, CEO
General Motors Corporation
300 Renaissance Center
Detroit, MI 48265-3000

Dear Mr. Wagoner:

May I introduce myself as a 1981 GM retiree from Chevrolet Engineering, a body designer with an art background. I have always been conscious of esthetics. In analyzing the G.M. auto lineup as well as its styling characteristics (using only the Chevrolet and Cadillac lineups as a tool), I wish to present my thoughts. In reviewing the six Chevrolet vehicle models, it was my opinion that three vehicles could be eliminated for facilitating my conclusions. I used wheelbase and weight as my criteria for studying a lineup of gradual differences. I eliminated the Cavalier, Impala, and the well-styled Monte Carlo, leaving the Malibu as the top Chevrolet vehicle.

CHEVROLET
Vehicle Wheelbase Weight

Aveo 97.8 2,370
Cavalier 104 2,700
Cobalt 103.3 3,200
Malibu 108 3,400
Impala 110 3,500
Monte Carlo 110 3,340

CADILLAC
Vehicle Wheelbase Weight

STS 116 4,000
XLR (convertible) 105 3,647
SRX (SUV) 116 4,200
CTS 113 3,568
Escalade 116 5,500
ESV (large van) 130 5,820
EXT (vehicle/truck) 130 5,879
DeVille 115 3,978
CTS-V (high performance) 113 3,850

-2-

The present lineup of nine Cadillac vehicles has duplication upon duplication and unnecessary overlap, created by an effort to satisfy a mirage of too many desires from the upper bracket consumer. To begin with, the styling theme consists of unrelated, confusing flat surfaces with character crease lines going in all different directions, both for front and back. Most elementary and annoying. It looks like it was created from a block of ice with chisel and hammer — not Cadillac. Just an excellent example of the use of character line, is on the Toyota Camry along the lower doors running from the front of the body to the back, above the rocker panel, and then upwards to relate with the rear door opening and subtly melting away.

To begin with, the quality Buick LaCrosse can be the starting catalyst to success with its sound insulated cabin. Its television ads are excellent. It should be noted that Toyota and Honda are not only quiet within the cabin but also have very low decibels externally. Their engines are inherently quiet unto themselves. Note their vehicles drive off with serenity. That should be the goal for all GM passenger vehicles, except muscle cars. Why does Buick have two SUV’s, Rendezvous ($27,270) and Ranier ($34,265)? Please compare with the Toyota Highlander ($24,280) even though it has a shorter wheelbase. Great care should be given that the vehicles do not overly look like they are going downhill while standing still. The tendency of Art Center influence is for the vehicle to look like an ant eater.

General Motors became successful when five divisions of cars were established in its early years. Each division catered to a different level of income, Chevrolet being the least expensive and affordable through to the largest income bracket Cadillac.

Conclusion:
Suggest eliminating Saab, Saturn and Pontiac. Reverting back to GM’s history of success based upon five divisions, we now base the same formula with three divisions, CHEVROLET, BUICK and CADILLAC. You already have a muscle car in the Chevrolet (Corvette) and Cadillac (CTS-V). Could give Buick a muscle car (like Camaro). Now, having the Malibu the top quality vehicle in Chevrolet (weighing 3,400 lbs.), the GM customer can move up to the Buick LaCrosse (weighing 3,500 lbs.) knowing there is a definitive upgrade in weight and price. Then, similarly, the jump from Buick’s Lucerne to Cadillac’s STS. Might eliminate CTS and the EXT (vehicle with a box). Send the ESV van to GMC, but retain Escalade within Cadillac.

Oh! Where art thou Harley Earl?

Sincerely,

Ardavast Avakian
Boca Raton, FL
ardavast@att.net

cc: Mr. Robert A. Lutz

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Joan Bojarski Says:
July 10th, 2009 at 8:44 am

I would like to ask whether or not you might consider the reintroduction of a very basic small/midsize vehicle at a very low price. By basic I mean some of us are still willing to crank our windows up and down, consult paper maps, use a stick shift, have a basic am/fm radio with only two speakers, etc., etc., etc. I do not intend the elimination of luxury options ……. just the option to NOT have them and still end up with a good, dependable vehicle.

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Tom Savage Says:
July 10th, 2009 at 8:57 am

We are a small research company involved in “Advanced gas flow battery technologies and hydrogen production.” We would like to partner with GM to advance this technology. Please contact me at your convenience.

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TOM HAAS Says:
July 10th, 2009 at 9:42 am

I am 69 and have owned GM cars all my life. The quality over the last 10-15 years has gone down every year. 1998 Venture, 2002 Venture, 2003 Buick Rendezvous, 2005 Buick Terraza. The Terraza being the last straw. 16 Warranty repairs in 50k miles. Only 18k miles on the front breaks (35k on the Rendezvous). I HAD TO purchase an extended warranty to keep the car running while we are on vacation on the road. My buicks were made in Mexico. When the warranty end so will my Terraza at the next major repair. I will look at Honda because of their very good repair record. Many Hondas are made in the US and OHIO. All my life I would never consider anything other then GM. All the e-mails I have sent to Buick have never gotten me any help or satisfaction.

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Karen Says:
July 10th, 2009 at 10:37 am

I need a small car for local trips that is easy on the gas and safe, above all else. I own a Aveo. Nothing but problems and I was temporarily airborne in an accident. Why can’t Chevy build an economy priced, safe car as good as foreign manufacturers? I was advised by my mechanic to buy a Toyota. Would really like to buy USA. Also, with all those layoffs you are planning, sure hope some are worldwide. Would hate to think you took taxpayers money and did away with their jobs.

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Roxanne OShell Says:
July 10th, 2009 at 10:48 am

We have leased GM cars for years and now find ourselves turning in a Cadillac SRX and not being able to remotely even lease a GM car. We have used the GM card and taken advantage of GM money.
Are you ever going to have a competitive lease again so we do not revert to another brand? It is so disappointing.

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Michael Pedro Says:
July 10th, 2009 at 11:19 am

Dear Fritz I have a beautiful 1989 White Caprice Brougham LS that I would like to restore to its orignial condition. At this time I can find all the parts except the opera light. I am told they dont make it anymore. I understand you cant mass produce every part but with all due respect I would like to aquire this part new for my car. More over if you would have continued to make the Caprice and the Cutlass in a high Quaility fashion (Cutlass doors always seem to fall apart) GM would not be in the trouble they are in. One more thing I went to the dealer and inquired about the new camaro and to my disapointment in the automatic you could not recieve the GU4, G92 performance axle which was quite dissapointing

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Gary Morrill Says:
July 10th, 2009 at 11:26 am

When is GM going to:
-provide Rav4 and Highlander type vehicles?
-be cost competitive to the above?
-reduced car weight for improved mpg?
-provide non-hybrid SUV’s that that actually get 20+mpg city/30+mpg highwy?
-I have been waiting for these answers before my next suv purchase, which will be in 2010

My best 2 cars have been/are 1995 Chevy Suburban and especially 1999 Buick LeSabre which gets 18 mpg city/33 mpg hwy.

Looking forward to you response and hopefully purchasing a GM vehicle if a GM employee will actually call me about the above for a “real”, not smoke and mirror, (don’t need to talk to a salesman who is pushing hard to make a sell for his commission/or 3 “layers of salesmen which is so typical now days)discussion.

Thanks you for opening this web site, it is a great start.

Gary Morrill

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Jimmy Doors Says:
July 10th, 2009 at 11:27 am

Fritz, in order to rebuild GM, you’re going to have to get people back like my wife and I. (Otherwise, you’re headed the way of the Hudson.) People who have owned Toyotas for 25 years, because our ‘84 Buick was CRAP, and GM never fixed or replaced it. How are you going to do THAT ? What incentive and guarantee can you give to US, that Toyota or Honda WON’T ?

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Terry Patterson Says:
July 10th, 2009 at 12:21 pm

I believe your message and tone are very exciting, and you seem to be on course. I have two questions: 1) How will you resist market pressures for large and less-fuel-efficient vehicles when gas prices decline and the economy improves?
2) How about filling the need for budget, small, extended range plug in hybrids for city and short-run use?

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Chris Yonts Says:
July 10th, 2009 at 1:21 pm

Now that the U.S. taxpayer has bailed you out to the tune of $30 billion, you had better start making cars people will buy, eh? Please tell me that’s the plan.

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ronald gerg Says:
July 10th, 2009 at 1:41 pm

I Have a 2008 Chevy Malibu LTZ. It Has an automatic transmission, but it shifts like a 5 speed. I am very unhappy with the way my car drives. I have taken the car in to a few different dealerships on numerous occassions for service only for them to tell me the problem is either the way I am driving or simply normal downshifting. I know that is not true because I have test driven 4 different Malibu’s and neither one of them shifts like mine. I am not a liscensed mechanic, but I don’t think I need to be in order to determine the car has shifting problems. I did not know the torque converter had been changed two times before I purchased the car. I asked if they could put a new transmission in my car and they said they could not do it without permission from General Motors. I have been written off by General Motors service department. They have refused to do anything about my car even though their is something wrong with the way my car is sifting. I am asking that you will help me to get my car fixed.

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William J Smith Says:
July 10th, 2009 at 2:46 pm

I have lost all confidence in GM as my car provider. I own 4 Pontiacs: 3 Trans AMs (79/400 SE Bandit, 83 25th Anniversary Convertible Pace Car, 02 Firehawk) and an 06/GTP Hardtop Convertible. I feel abandoned, disgusted, and outright angry with the pathetic demise of Pontiac, “the sports car division”, “the niche brand” – you KILLED pure GM lore and history – Yeah, Pontiac… developer of fuel injection in the Bonneville. Good bye… GTO, Catalina, LeMans, Grand Prix (I adored this car).

You ruined the F-Body with a gross lack of competitiveness in the 80’s and 90’s (given back to the Ford Mustang), you competed against yourself with the Solstice and Saturn Skye, brought back a sham of a GTO (Australian Holden Monaro), failed to deliver upon the proposed 2011 TransAm (which I would have ordered), competed against the Malibu with the Saturn Aura, (North American Car of the Year?).

If I want quality, performance, and styling, I’ll buy German henceforth: a.k.a. Mercedes or BMW. A pathetic commuter car – the FIERO – which caught fire notoriously and which it took GM 3 years to get the P-CAR (code name) fixed. Chevy Vega? Monza? You surrendered performance with an ugly, overweight and stylishly boring Corvette…. Foolish business dealings with the Koreans…Dawoo! The G3/G5 (rebadged Cobalt), G6 (no Honda Accord, for sure), G8 (Australia, again!)… interior styling, quality, fit and finish, options (no bluetooth or ON-Star in the 2006 G6! – inexcusable). It makes perfect sense why there are so few GM products on the road in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I give up, Fritz! End of the line for me.

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M. J. Holmes Says:
July 10th, 2009 at 4:34 pm

Sir…. I am a salaried Delphi retiree who is about to have her pension transferred to the PGBC, while my Union counterparts are having their pensions funded by GM. How Unfair! How outrageous! How Un-American! Many of your would-be customers for the Volt or any other GM vehicle are actually having second thoughts about buying GM, because they see that you aren’t taking care of the employees who worked so hard for your company, and you may not have any intention of really taking care of your customers! The image you are creating by tossing aside your most dedicated, loyal, hard-working salaried employees (now retirees) who made so many concessions during their tenure, will be hard to reverse. What will you say to possible customers who say, “If you don’t care about those who worked for GM/Delphi who loved the company so much, how do we know that you will care about your customers?” The salaried Delphi retirees could be a real asset in the new GM……15,000 retirees who have at least 2 GM vehicles in their family and who can encourage others to purchase GM. We are also the taxpayers who have given our hard-earned tax dollars to keep GM afloat. What do you say about this Sir?

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Paul Milici Says:
July 10th, 2009 at 7:13 pm

While I do not currently own a GM product ( I currently own a Ford F-150 and an Acura MDX), I have owned four Chevrolets, two Oldsmobiles, and one Pontiac. Based on favorable reviews, style, etc. I had given some thought to possibly purchasing a CTS as my wife’s next high-end vehicle. However, because of the government’s involvement with GM and the favoritism shown the union, which I believe was a major contributor to the demise of GM, I doubt that I will ever again purchase a GM product.

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Santo J. Petruso Says:
July 10th, 2009 at 7:28 pm

I have been a Cadillac customer of Arnold Palmer Cadillac in Charlotte since 1987, At times I have had 4 Cadillac at one time for the use of my family. My 2003 Cadillac has required over $14,000. in repair work excluding maintence.The first transmission overhaul at 82,000 miles and the second 28,000 miles later. I do not blame you but I do blame the dealer for not standing up for me. On May 10, I wrote a letter to President of Cadillac. No response! ON or about June 5th I sent a copy to Cusomer Assistance because I had another problem with a very loose hub..Two weeks later I receive a call from a Mr. Reed who advises me in short I do have a serious complaint and he was taking my letter to a staff meeting and somone would call me. Later a man named Ben called and said he would talk to the dealer and call me back in 3 days.. I may add my letter was very detailed in date,time, work and costs.He never returned my call.On June23rd I called mr Reed and was advised my complaint had been transferred to another person and he transferred me to that number wherein I received a message she would return my call in 24 hours. Today, I received a letter from Danaon Lorett in Cusomer Assistance advising me they have not been able to reach me. This is a Corporate Copout because I gave them two numbers and I am retired and home every day.m My claim number is 71-728100625. Currently I have 3 Cadillacs and am wondering if you all really want my business.
I am really heartbroken over the demise of GM and I will never buy a foreign made car especialyy Japaneese because I am a product of WWII in the South Pacific. I pray for you to succeed but first you need to get Government out of your business. They havent been able to run anything well so far.
Santo J. Petruso
10512 Quail Acres Rd
Charlotte, NC 28277
Cell-704-572-0317
Home-704-846-1874
Thank you!!

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+1 Rick H Says:
July 10th, 2009 at 10:05 pm

A few comments for you.

When you put a back seat in a car make sure AN ADULT can sit in it for a 4hr road trip and make sure they can put ALL their luggage in the trunk. I defy you to sit in the back seat of a Cobalt for a 4 hr road trip.

Try making a car that you dont have to be a gymnast to get into to begin with . Move the roof rake forward at least to the middle of the front door if not the front of the front door.

Make a true SMALL pickup not a 3/4 size one (Colorado) that basically costs the same and has the same gas milage as a full size.
For a quick model debut try a lengthened chassis from the Escape.

Cut the extended management structure. I worked at the Tech Center and I had 7 managers on top of me before I got to the group VP let alone the division managers. You dont need one manger for every 2 people doing actual work.

GM in the 60s had a decent design department. Now GM design is just one of the crowd.
Try actual differentiation of brands by styling rather than glued on pieces of plastic.
Stop allowing leather in Chevys, make it an OPTION in Buicks and standard on Caddys.

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Jackie Hamby Says:
July 10th, 2009 at 11:15 pm

Sorry, Fritzy but GM is finished. Too many people pissed of about the screwing you gave every body but the UAW, the main reason GM will not survive.

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JG Arant Says:
July 11th, 2009 at 3:30 am

Dear Mr. Henderson: When is this new GM going to issue us a settlement check from the loss in the class action lawsuit vs. GM (Sadowski vs. General Motors) which is supposed to award 35 million consumers who used DexCool in their coolant reservoirs and ended up paying amounts in thousands of dollars to get major repairs done to their vehicles? See below, Mr. Henderson.

General Motors has reached settlement in a class action lawsuit stemming from alleged defects in Dex-Cool, the GM developed coolant used in GM vehicles since the mid-1990’s. Under the terms of the settlement, those who owned certain V-6 powered GM vehicles may be eligible for payments as large as $800 each.

The settlement applies to as many as 35 million customers and is considered one of the largest products liability lawsuits against any automaker.

Dex-Cool was blamed for cooling system failures, including leaks and clogged radiators.

Under the provisions of the settlement, only those who have paid for Dex-Cool related repairs will receive payments. The amount to be paid will depend on the age of the vehicle at the time of repairs, with the largest sums paid to those whose vehicles were closest to new in age at the time of the repairs. Those who made multiple repairs will be able to claim multiple payments.

The settlement applies only to those who purchased GM vehicles with 3.1, 3.4. 3.8, and 4.3 liter V-6 engines within 7 years and 150,000 miles of new.

We have always bought GM but after this major dent to our wallet, we are shopping around with other car companies.

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Don Says:
July 11th, 2009 at 9:02 am

GM is now a total communist organization, owned by labor unions and BigGov. Commies always produce junk…they have no work ethic. Millions will never buy GM for that reason.

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Daniel Turney Says:
July 11th, 2009 at 10:58 am

What is so hard about making right sized, safe, fuel efficient , comfortable cars. I rented a BMW 3 series station wagon in France.
All the power and luxury you need, a diesel 6 speed. It got 45 miles to the gallon driving on autoroutes and mountain roads for the 1200 kilometers we had it.

The last new GM car I bought was in the 70’s and my back killed me.
An Oldsmobile. I rent cars 40 weeks a year, the Chevys they rent are terrible. The smartest car on the road with supportive seats, decent mileage and great performance is the Dodge Charger which runs as a 4 when the V8 isn’t needed..

The seats, controls , and instruments remind me of my Mercedes.

You still have too many brands. The Germans use numbers and keep a family resemblance. The Japanese and Koreans had ridiculous made up names. Would you rather drive an F150 or a Siverado/Tahoo/Denali/Escalade/Suburban?

We have an abundance of Natural Gas both here and in Canada. Why aren’t we building cars to run LGN?

I hope you succeed. We all need the money.

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George Ringstad Says:
July 11th, 2009 at 1:54 pm

Fritz,
I have been a GM vehicle owner for a good deal of my 65 years. We purchased an 06 Cadillac CTS and are very satifsfied with its performance and reliability. We have supported GM in various ways including buying GM senior bonds which are now worth very little in bankruptcy. Here’s my question:

Why doesn’t GM offer holders of GM debt ( or even equity), the option of buying GM vehicles using the bonds? Seems this would be a win-win situation in that it would jumpstart new orders for GM vehicles resulting in more production and saving jobs at the plants, parts suppliers, and dealers.

For the retail bond holders, who are conservative folks such as myself, it would provide an incentive to stay with GM vehicles in the future. Exchanging for equity in the new company is not an effective option for most of us. In effect, the bondholders and stockholders are being treated more unfairly that the unions and the Government.

I’ve tried various ways to get this idea to the decision makers at GM, the media, Congress and even the Administration but with no response. My various attempts to get this through to GM directly over the last year has not even been acknowleged. Perhaps, now you can do better.

I support the effort to reinvent the company as you plan but some thinking “outside the box” is needed to get things rolling again. This idea would likely be one of the methods needed to get orders placed for new GM vehicles as soon a possible

George Ringstad
9202 Olympic View DR
Edmonds, WA 98020
425-776-6301

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menno Says:
July 13th, 2009 at 6:24 am

How open is the Future of GM?

Are you considering open-sourcing your technology and help to create a sustainable earth?

Are you considering co-development of cars with communities, using digital manufacturing software?

Are you considering more crowd decision rights in the company and democratize innovation?

Kind greetings,

Menno van Doorn

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Former GM Loyalist Says:
July 13th, 2009 at 1:37 pm

Mr. Henderson,

You need to know… you need to go public ASAP without the UAW & Government. My friends and I can’t get past buying a new car from a manufacture that is majority owned by a union and the government. I have over $2,000 rebate on my GM Credit Card but decided it was NOT enough incentive for me to buy from the Union/Govrnment Motors.. Instead I purchased a 2009 VW Jetta TDI (Clean Diesel) this month for my wife. As long as GM is owned by the union and the government you’ve lost me as a loyal customer. I understand there was a poll this month that indicated 49% of those considered historically loyal to GM would no longer buy from the UAW/Government Motors. You need to know… you need to go public ASAP without the UAW & Government before we will look at you agin.

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menno Says:
July 15th, 2009 at 10:19 am

Dear Mister Henderson,

This site is called Ask Fritz, but I can’t see any replies. So my question is:

Are you planning to answer these questions?

If not, I would advise to change the name in ” Tell Fritz” so people know they won’t be answered.

Just a thought, but quite important to know some of the etiquette of social media.

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Jason White Says:
July 15th, 2009 at 11:02 am

Please consider a simple modular pickup HD frame, rolling chassis and electronic connections to include a fully hinged front clip/hood. Give the consumer an ability to purchase this then choose a drivetrain and possibly open this aspect up to private market clientele.

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» What Question Would You Ask GM CEO Fritz Henderson? | GM-VOLT … Says:
July 16th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
JD Says:
July 16th, 2009 at 8:21 pm

I would ak the man why Bob Lutz is back in control of major parts of GM? Why a 78-year-old is taking control when he was working to develop some of the cars that weren’t selling well when he was working before the bankruptsy.

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John Andersen Says:
July 21st, 2009 at 10:48 am

Please don’t kill off the rear-whell drive Zeta platform. It’s the best chassis GM has ever developed. I buy German cars becasue I want the balanced handling of a reer-wheel drive car. I will not buy a front-wheel drive car. If you re-badge the Pontiac G8 as a Chevy it will sell. I will buy it.

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stan bajek Says:
August 2nd, 2009 at 3:56 pm

I was in the market for a pickup truck. After 40 years of loyal GM ownership, I opted for a Ford F150 due to design issues. I am replacing my wife’s Cavalier with another Ford product because GMAC put my company out of business. What are you going to do try to win me back?

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Karen Sakowski Says:
August 20th, 2009 at 9:19 pm

I would like you to explain to me how you can pay the new workers 14.00/hr with no benefits and still charge the same amount or more than you did when you were paying workers 28.00/hr and full benefits. You even increased the price of the vehicles made in Mexico that were at least more affordable for those of us that don’t make the GM wages. So, we the taxpayers bail you out and you increase the price we pay for your vehicles, where’s the gratitude to us???

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oz winslow aldrich Says:
September 20th, 2009 at 9:06 pm

Why is it that such a huge percentage of GM trucks and SUV’s have one front parking light not working – at least here…Do consumers punch them out to make the vehicle look like it’s winking, or is this merely indicative of GM quality control problems? We are old, and won’t be buying one – ever….but will continue to buy other manufacturer’s vehicles.

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Randy Day Says:
October 1st, 2009 at 2:09 pm

Your vehicles are still too high!!! We just got a much better lease deal on a 09 Civic Hybrid than we could on a 09 Malibu!!! Do you really think that people are going to spend $40,000+ for a Volt???? I could buy 2 Insights or Prius’ for that price and have much better/proven cars. Y’all need to wake up. But GM hasn’t done that for decades.

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McIntyre Says:
November 2nd, 2009 at 3:46 pm

Herm: I have no questions for him but I wish him good luck.. also remind him that pissing of the customer with problems and penny pinching warranty issues is what killed GM.. and high cost of course. (Quote)

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What Question Would You Ask GM CEO Fritz Henderson?

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