Why (some) GM products suck

slang · 06-14-2009, 07:47 AM

There was a program in effect at GM years ago that allowed managers within engineering/design/production to drive new GM vehicles as their own for 3 months at a time at no cost.

Every 3 months that manager would take a vehicle from production and see what the final product was like for the customer. Management would be able to see the results from their decisions from each respective department.

In theory, this would give them the opportunity to evaluate how they performed and see any imperfections that would appear in the first few months of a vehicles use.

I believe this was called the PEP Program. The managers would drive the cars for a few months and then the employees had the chance to buy them at substancial discount. In some cases 18% off msrp.

Having worked a short time within the GM world, it seems possible that the top brass would not have a clue as to the aesthetic or mechanical quirks the newly assembled models may have. They don't drive them.

It seems less possible that the middle managers would be completely unaware of model specific errors or quirks becuase they were constantly driving them.

Driving them and being aware of problem issues is also quite different from changing the internal process or systems to solve the problems.

IMO GM is too big, too arrogant and has too many chiefs ( not enough Indians ) to make any significant increase in the quality of the cars while lowering the prices, despite the honest efforts of thousands of committed employees.

GM gone broke? It's about time. Maybe they can re-org to something better.

dar512 · 06-15-2009, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slang

Maybe they can re-org to something better.

Maybe. But it is very difficult to change a culture.

06-14-2009, 07:47 AM	#1
slang St Petersburg, Florida Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 3,423	There was a program in effect at GM years ago that allowed managers within engineering/design/production to drive new GM vehicles as their own for 3 months at a time at no cost. Every 3 months that manager would take a vehicle from production and see what the final product was like for the customer. Management would be able to see the results from their decisions from each respective department. In theory, this would give them the opportunity to evaluate how they performed and see any imperfections that would appear in the first few months of a vehicles use. I believe this was called the PEP Program. The managers would drive the cars for a few months and then the employees had the chance to buy them at substancial discount. In some cases 18% off msrp. Having worked a short time within the GM world, it seems possible that the top brass would not have a clue as to the aesthetic or mechanical quirks the newly assembled models may have. They don't drive them. It seems less possible that the middle managers would be completely unaware of model specific errors or quirks becuase they were constantly driving them. Driving them and being aware of problem issues is also quite different from changing the internal process or systems to solve the problems. IMO GM is too big, too arrogant and has too many chiefs ( not enough Indians ) to make any significant increase in the quality of the cars while lowering the prices, despite the honest efforts of thousands of committed employees. GM gone broke? It's about time. Maybe they can re-org to something better.

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