Is THIS Exactly Why GM Is Faltering? Promotes 35-year Veteran To President

General Motors just can't seem to get its house in order. Although the hiring of Mary Barra was made to be the second coming of Christ, it seems that one of the nation's largest automakers is on shaky ground again.

Like Ford, it has axed a slew of its sedan offerings in an effort to better meet consumer expectations.

But in an all-new reshuffling of its leadership, GM's Mark Reuss will now take the helm as president. Reuss formerly was in charge of product development and has a reputation as being a "car guy." But, something tells me that maybe that's not a strategy GM should employ right now. We know the conglomerate can produce great cars, when it wants to, it just has to turn that approach always.

According to a company-issued statement, GM has noted that the manufacturer will be doubling its resources dedicated to electric and autonomous vehicle development.

So, we've got to ask: Does THIS sound like a brilliant strategy to YOU or is it time for General Motors to start thinking outside of the box — and outside of the auto industry — to bring forward the leadership GM needs?



General Motors Co. said on Thursday that Mark Reuss would succeed Dan Ammann as president, effective immediately, as part of the automaker’s ongoing shift to electric and self-driving vehicles in North America and China.

Reuss remains focused on rebuilding the Cadillac brand and streamlining GM’s product development operations, while doubling the resources, mainly engineering hours, allocated to electric and self-driving vehicle programs in the next two years, the company reiterated...
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PUGPROUD - 1/3/2019 7:00:26 PM

-2 Boost

Safe choice...maybe too safe.

Truthy - 1/3/2019 7:16:20 PM

+3 Boost

Rebuilding the Cadillac brand - again. This seems to be an annual statement. The strategy seems to be rebadged Chevy SUVs and crossovers. How is this any different from Buick?

edwardfrancis - 1/4/2019 2:49:37 AM

+3 Boost

I am not expecting any big changes by bringing in the same kind of folks:

https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ee15d3fe2adbb7eb21f898b35478d5994362b123d6bb37f60b8beea1899f4754.jpg

SanJoseDriver - 1/3/2019 9:01:11 PM

+5 Boost

They need to innovate harder to survive.

MDarringer - 1/4/2019 7:58:11 PM

0 Boost

I'd tell them to innovate intelligently, personally. Any dolt can do things the hard way.

MDarringer - 1/3/2019 9:05:58 PM

+1 Boost

GM is faltering because it has ZERO product vision. Chevy, Buick, and Cadillac are ill-defined in the market. GMC duplicates both Buick and Chevy and should be folded into Chevy and Buick respectively. Then they have ZERO styling direction. There is not one GM car made today that is as iconic as a boat tail Stingray, an Eldorado. or a Toronado. Barra is not active in making the company better. De Nysschen was a very expensive detour.

Arguably in the USA GM should have three brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Corvette with the latter two co-branded.

Truthy - 1/3/2019 9:37:56 PM

+4 Boost

You nailed it. GM cars all have a sameness about them inside and out. Switch the front fascia and tail lights out of Cadillacs and they could be Chevys even though Cady sedans have bespoke platforms. Manufacturing efficiencies are priority. The CT6 had potential to be outstanding and I want it to be. But it looks slab sided and from some angles generic. A lost opportunity.
The Ciel was georgeous, but expensive to manufacture. Less expensive than cancelling the vehicle 2 years after introduction and having the new president saying he is going to rebuild the brand.

MDarringer - 1/3/2019 10:55:12 PM

-2 Boost

I'm still between "company" cars. I could get a CT6 pretty easily but if I were in the market to buy, I'd take the Continental. The Continental truly understands what a premium American luxury car should be even if the SuperFusion derivation leaves the execution a bit lacking. By contrast, the CT6 is a far better engineered car, but literally everything about it is disappointing. The Continental is Rat Pack and the CT6 is Scat Pack (and that is NOT a Mopar reference).

I didn't realize the Ciel was produced for two years.

Agent001 - 1/3/2019 11:51:26 PM

0 Boost

Scat pack lol!

Funny!

They should change their name to General Mediocrity.

001

dumpsty - 1/4/2019 12:34:50 PM

+2 Boost

"...GM cars all have a sameness about them inside and out. ..."

Which is similar to Toyota/Lexus, Nissan/Infiniti, Ford/Lincoln, VW/Audi designs & styling. Why is GM being singled out? bcuz the Pres has personal beef with them? idk...anyhoo...

GM isn't doing anything different from what the other automakers are currently doing. They are adjusting the business to better meet consumer demand. People aren't buying sedans, so they're killing production & focusing on developing technology while maintaining R&D for vehicles that are selling.

And not every product is going to be an iconic design....especially when a good number of consumers simply see vehicle purchases as basic appliances. Except they now want the SUV appliance package.

malba2367 - 1/4/2019 12:02:08 AM

+5 Boost

He was the "vehicle line director" for the Pontiac Aztek.....enough said.

MDarringer - 1/4/2019 7:59:09 PM

+1 Boost

Bingo. This is NOT a good move.

carloslassiter - 1/4/2019 4:33:17 AM

+4 Boost

I haven't even considered a GM product in 20 years - they just don't make anything I want.

dumpsty - 1/4/2019 12:42:21 PM

+3 Boost

vehicle styling & design is purely subjective. all these automakers produce products that accomplish the same thing - start, move driver/passengers from location-a to location-b, turn off.

if the consumer doesn't like the what the vehicle is wearing, they look elsewhere. if the automaker can convince the "right" people that their product is the one to own - then socially - other consumers begin to agree & purchase their own copy.

MDarringer - 1/4/2019 1:13:53 PM

+1 Boost

@dumpsty and subjectively, the masses find nothing exciting in GM's styling.

zlives - 1/4/2019 7:02:29 PM

+1 Boost

idk, 20 years... i liked the solstice

OneOfOne - 1/4/2019 12:32:10 PM

+2 Boost

gm doesnt make anything that people outside the midwest and south wants. their cars are mediocre at best and cadillac is not relevant at all aside from the abomination that is the escalade. they waste so much money on corvette dreck and trying to please car mags. they need to develop a performance engine that can also be utilized throughout their product range. 6.2 liters screams 'unable to engineer' as well as knuckle dragger.

MDarringer - 1/4/2019 1:14:18 PM

-1 Boost

lemme guess...you drive a Tesla

dtmwtch - 1/4/2019 3:47:04 PM

+2 Boost

everything about their products is just 75% there. why does a $28K accord have an interior the equal of a ct6? why does my 8 year old land cruiser driver feel more solid and drive better than my brothers 2017 escalade? Reuss is solid but the company just seems like it cannot compete

MDarringer - 1/4/2019 7:57:10 PM

+2 Boost

This: "...everything about their products is just 75% there..." YES

Truthy - 1/4/2019 10:30:12 PM

+3 Boost

The Corvette is hardly a knuckle dagger and the 6.2 is a sophisticated engine.
I agree that there cars are typically "good enough," but in a very competitive over served market they are still using a playbook from their heyday.

Truthy - 1/4/2019 10:39:26 PM

+2 Boost

MD, my post earlier was confusing. The Ciel was never produced, because it would have been too expensive to manufacture. The finance guys won and we wound up with the boring CT6.
I read a great article a while ago about GM. It used the example of the Pontiac Transport. It was a good looking concept with a good interior.
It was greenlighted for production. But every compromise made, from the change to a narrower one to cheap interior et.al sound up being the abomination that was the production product.
This is GM in a nutshell.

MDarringer - 1/4/2019 10:43:33 PM

+1 Boost

I honestly think that if Cadillac called the CT5 "Seville" and put it out for $40K base with a V8, that it would sell like mad.

Put the Z06's V8 under the hood of the CT6, rename it Elmiraj and price it at $60K and sales would go way up.

Truthy - 1/4/2019 10:51:51 PM

+3 Boost

You are right. Cadillac history is bold design
and V8 power. They need to be bold.

Truthy - 1/4/2019 10:52:13 PM

+3 Boost

You are right. Cadillac history is bold design
and V8 power. They need to be bold.

carsnyc - 1/4/2019 11:53:48 PM

+2 Boost

Part of Cadillac’s problem is their outrageously elevated prices. Fifty grand starting price for a 4 cylinder CTS is ridiculous

mini22 - 1/5/2019 12:39:36 AM

+2 Boost

Well they feel they can get away with pricing because their competitors make 50K 4 cylinder cars. The problem is a lot of their interiors stink and they are cheaply made. Car and Driver just did a comparison between loaded 70K pickup trucks. Silverado, F150, and Ram. The Silverado got a goo write up in terms of performance but its interior was universally panned. Both the Ford and the Dodge had much nice interiors. When you are paying 70K for the top of the line Pick Up truck you should have a high quality interior.

carsnyc - 1/5/2019 10:41:56 PM

+1 Boost

Totally agree with you on interiors but back to pricing, Cadillac needs to understand that it is not 1957 anymore and that they can’t just price themselves like Audi or Lexus, let alone BMW or Mercedes.

malba2367 - 1/6/2019 4:08:30 PM

+2 Boost

They really need some fresh blood in the executive suite. Installing all these long time GM insiders just keeps perpetuating the GM way of old. Nothing against the guy, but he has worked inside this GM bureaucracy for 35 years and it is all he knows (Mary Barra is the same way). There are huge changes coming to the auto industry...if GM wants to succeed they need to ditch their corporate culture, namely design by committee and cost engineering.