Why support General Motors?

General Motors has been a great investment!

I continue to be excited about the future of this business. My enthusiasm comes from what I learn each day here at the store and from the research I do for our marketing. I also get to sit in on manufacturer/dealer conference calls and read their communications to us. Our sales force enjoys sharing the knowledge they gain from their training courses and the Ride-n-Drives they attend where they get to drive and compare the competition. I’ve also had the opportunity to attend the Dealer Meetings in Las Vegas where they revealed future products and future plans to the dealers. Now that was exciting! So I guess you could say I have a unique perspective when it comes to the automotive industry and our local business here in North Georgia. While I doubt my knowledge will prove to be of any significance to your everyday burdens I figured I’d share with you some facts, some observations, and even some downright bias opinions that may or may not get you excited about the future here at Hayes Automotive.

Let’s start with General Motors since they plan to replace 80% of their model lineup in the next 2 years including the next generation pick-ups, Tahoe, and Suburban.  The revolution in quality, fit and finish, and class leading gas mileage that we see in today’s Sonic, Cruze, Malibu and my favorite in the line up the Equinox will be expanded to include the completely redesigned bigger brothers. The new designs are a complete new look that will vault those products to the front of the magazines but what I like most, and it’s proven by our current vehicles, is that we’ll have the class leading fuel economy and other technology to keep us in the customers mind even after they go farther in their research. Like I said… very exciting. And as far as what the new full sized vehicles look like I’ll just say this; we’re moving away from rounded, curvy, jelly bean type edges to strong, sturdy and straight body lines. You’ll like it!

If you want to know how the All New 2014 Corvette C7 looks you’ll have to wait until January when Chevy reveals it. But until then you can get a good idea by looking at this Stingray Concept.

I’ve seen the new Corvette when I was in Las Vegas at the dealer show. I couldn’t take a picture because the good people at GM walked all 1,500 of us through metal detectors to make sure nobody brought a phone or camera into the presentations. But I can tell you it begins with this concept and takes some throwback ques from the 60’s and even 70’s Corvettes. It is sweet! And of course they promised it would be stupid fast.

 

General Motors as a company is in the best shape it’s ever been in and still getting better. Bankruptcy cleaned up GM’s balance sheet and new management is relentless about making GM a simpler company, which in turn, is lowering its costs. GM cut an entire layer of management out of its product development unit, for instance, giving chief engineers more responsibility for product cost, quality and competitiveness. GM is also rebuilding its information technology infrastructure, bringing more tech expertise in-house. They continue to hack away a waste because they can. Labor costs are lower because of the forced re-negotiations with the union. Retiree health care is now the union’s problem. Labor cost is now on par with what the imports are paying. The products they sell are well positioned in the market and indications are that the housing market is picking up which helps car sales. Great timing for GM’s new pickups.

Next issue: Chrysler Dodge Jeep and RAM

The Truth About the Chevy Volt and Fire

OK. I'm tired. Tired of the headlines being what everyone bases their opinion's on. Tired of people trusting what the "talking heads" say instead of doing a little research. I realize that we are busy people. I realize that if you're successful in life it's not because you spend your time micro analyzing every story told by a talk show host or news anchor. I think all I'm saying is quit trusting them implicitly. I mean, I'm a Christian and I don't trust every word that comes out of my pastor's mouth. God gave me a brain. Humans are fallible. Even friends can be wrong. Peer pressure is for 7th graders.


My frustration on this day centers around the mis-representations made about the Chevy Volt. My family owns two GM stores in North Georgia, Hayes Chevrolet and Hayes Buick GMC Cadillac. After the recession we're happy to be the "last man standing". I'm a conservative and as I said before a Christian. I did not vote for Obama and don't believe in many of his policies. We need less Government and more help for small business. The Government loans to GM and Chrysler have been paid back. Where do all the Banks stand on that? The fact that we now offer products that even the critics say match the best offerings from our competitors should be enough to tell you tax paying folks out there that GM and Chrysler was worth the investment. But as the political winds changed we've been met with a steady barrage of politically charged bombs. Honestly, who do you think you're hurting by not considering a GM or Chrysler product now? The media here in Georgia forces one train of thought on us through radio talk shows and news channels: Buying a GM product supports Obama/Democrats/Liberals/Unions. Well crap! I guess you better stop buying Apple products and switch Banks to one that didn't take a bail out. Come on people. This is America. If you don't want to support a business for any reason at all then you don't have to. But at least make it a legitimate reason and not one based on the sounds bites at the edge of your attention span.

So, the Chevrolet Volt. First I'll share the article that got me upset and gave me hope all at one time and then I'll tell you what you need to know about this innovative vehicle.

Article from Forbes:

When Nobody Wants To Buy The Best Car Of The Year

Well, here we go once more! The Chevrolet Volt is again cast in its familiar role as the poster child of President Obama’s socialist meddling in the free automotive market. The trigger for the latest salvos from the rabid, sadly misinformed right is the unfortunate fact that five weeks of Volt production had to be cancelled to balance inventories of unsold cars.

This is pretty much what I said would happen in the aftermath of deliberately misinterpreted NHTSA crash test results and the attendant right-wing furor over this four-wheeled menace to all we hold dear in America: U.S. jobs are in jeopardy because major portions of the American public believe, as Lou Dobbs and Bill O’Reilly claimed, that they “catch fire.”

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After said Fox News turkey, there may well have been some backroom discussions between GM and Fox because, oddly enough, shortly thereafter, quite a few Volt commercials ran on Fox for which I doubt any money was exchanged.

So, the latest update: two nights ago, the imperious, self-glorifying O’Reilly, unquestioned ruler of the “No Spin Zone,” once again kicked the “Volt” around and proclaimed “several have caught fire.”

Let me reiterate:

1) The Volt was largely my idea, and I was its undeniable champion. Work on it was started in 2006. Obama was elected in 2008.

2) No Volt in service has ever shown as much as a wisp of smoke. Not in normal service, and not in crashes. The three Volt battery fires all occurred under extremely destructive experimental conditions. Two of the fires were induced in batteries not mounted in in cars.

3) Those who know me will vouch for my credentials as a conservative and vocal global warming skeptic. I spent 11 years as a Marine attack aviator trained and ready to take out Communists during the Cold War.

That’s the truth, whether “no spin O’Reilly” likes it or not.

Meanwhile, the dastardly, communist Volt’s re badged sister car, the Opel Ampera, was just selected as European Car of the Year by 59 of Europe’s leading automotive journalists. But what do they know? They’re only Europeans! (Incidentally, it’s the first time in history that an American-engineered and produced car has won European Car of the Year. A source of national pride? No … according to the Right-heads, a reason for shame!)

So, the loony right has its jaws sunk into the Volt with all the stupid determination of a terrier who has locked his teeth into the mailman’s butt. And with the same result: painful, but without any useful purpose.

So, if this continues, will we see the Republican presidential campaign centered on the Volt, with catchy slogans like “Vote Republican! Kill the Volt before it kills you!”?Move upMove down

The current insanity is of such magnitude that it wouldn’t surprise me.

Joann MullerForbes Staff

Now it's time for some facts about a vehicle that Americans designed and built that should make us proud.

Chevrolet Volt: Just the Facts

• The 16-kWh Chevrolet Volt battery could power an iPad for 266 days of constant use, and 112 years of nonstop music on an iPod Nano.

• Fully charging the Chevrolet Volt battery five days a week for a year will use an estimated 2,730 kWh – less than a quarter of the 11,040 kWh of electricity consumed by the average U.S. household annually.

• Americans drove an average of 626 miles during the three-day Memorial Day weekend, according to AAA. That trip would require 10 hours of driving and refueling stops in a Chevrolet Volt, or nearly four days in a battery electric vehicle with 100 miles of range and a 12-hour recharge time.

• To travel 1,776 miles from Austin, Texas to New York City in a Chevrolet Volt would require 28 hours of constant driving and stops to refuel. The same trip would take 10 days of constant driving and recharging in a battery electric vehicle with a 100-mile range and 12-hour recharge time.

• To extend the electric range of the Volt, every aspect of the car was optimized for electrical efficiency. For example, the Bose Energy Efficient audio system is 40 percent lighter, and uses 50 percent less energy than conventional Bose sound systems.

• The Volt’s lithium-ion battery pack provides the same 16 kWh energy storage of the lead-acid battery developed for the EV1 four-seat prototype, but is roughly a third smaller and a third lighter.

 Backup

1. Source: iFixit.com

iPad math: 16000 WHr / 25 WHr = 640,  640 * 10 hours = 6400 hours,  266 days and 16 hours 

52 weeks / year and 5 working days per week = 260 working days / year  (with no vacation)

iPod Nano math: 16000 WHr / (0.39 WHr / day) = 41025 days, 112 years and  4 1/2 months (well over a century of nonstop music)

2. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration 

3. Math: 626 miles / 65 mph = 10 hours driving for Volt . 7 battery recharges @ 84 hours = 84 hours of charging. 84 hours recharging + 7 hours driving = 91 hours (3.8 days) for BEV.

4. Math: 1776 miles / 65 mph = 28 hours of driving. 18 charges @ 12 hours each = 216 hours of charging. 243 hours of driving and recharging = 10 days

VOLT FEATURES AND SPECS

The best thing you can do for yourself if you need a new vehicle is research. The next best thing is to work with and support a local dealer that has a good reputation for supporting their customers. Ask around. Find the good ones. Use them to help you make the best decision for you and yours.

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