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Originally Posted by Landshark
you are partially right - it is bland, but most of its competitors aren't. therein lies GM's problem. GM used to lack quality, but recently has upped its QC and interior design to keep up. now it has some decently put-together cars, but they are boring as hell looking. all the Malibu's mid-size competitors - the Accord, Maxima, Mazda6, Camry, Stratus, Ford 500 (ok, forget that one  ), etc. etc. are all at least interesting to look at. |
Now that again, is a matter of opinion. The ONLY car that you mentioned in there that I think is good looking is the Mazda6. Honda took a half-decent looking accord and made it look like a poor attempt at a concept car. The Maxima used to look nice, but now it looks like a full soda can that was left in the freezer too long. Camry? COME ON!! Pretty much the epitomy of BLAH. The Stratus looks like what it is - a hunk of plastic with some chrome. The Ford 500 is just as bland as the car that is was meant to replace, a car which used to hold the title as the most boring car on the planet.
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Originally Posted by Landshark
remember when power steering, AC and CD players used to be options? now they are pretty much expected to be on a new car. today, i think people want interesting looking cars, with projector headlights, some styling theme, blah blah blah. older people, who used to drive plain-ass Oldsmobiles and Buicks, are being replaced by a new generation of oldsters who want more "hip" stuff. that's why GM is junk-bond status now. they just can't put the whole package together. the Corvette can't save the rest of its bore-me-to-death lineup. just my observations and opinions.
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Actually GM's debt rating is not officially at junk-bond status yet. Only one rating agency has put them in that category, and most analysts disagree. But on that point, GM is where they are because they are the biggest company in a very competitive market of companies struggling to survive. Makes sense that the biggest one falls the hardest.
I wouldn't say GM has the most exciting car lineup out there. They are however, improving insanely quickly. in 2000 they had only a couple of all-around great cars. Here they are 5 years later and two entire brands (Cadillac, Pontiac) are full of great cars that people actually aspire to own. the Chevy line is coming around quite well. It takes time for a company of this size to change, but I think GM is actually doing so very efficiently.