by greenthumb-38 » Wed Dec 02, 2015 5:36 pm
My opinions and observations all based on my limited knowledge of GM operations, the "new GM" that is...
1. the vast majority of the "new GM" does not view GM as a car company. In their business school model/s, GM sells widgets that happen to be cars, trucks, and SUVs and their replacement parts and indirectly, service repairs.
2. people do not buy replacement automotive parts like they buy widgets, like toothpaste or lawn mowers or toasters or breakfast cereals, but "the new GM" is applying their widget mentality to the automotive industry, including the parts and service aspects of our dealership operations.
3. market share and "year over year" increases are expected even though, like with GM powertrain, are on a decrease, most likely due to improved quality and maintenance. Pushing a product line that now has a longer life span makes little sense to those on the front lines. Improved brakes, tires, and inherent safety through better built cars and trucks leads to fewer collisions, and the collisions that do occur tend to be less severe, resulting in fewer collision parts sold. another factor to consider is the trend of rental car companies lowering their percentage of GM cars, trucks, and SUVs in their rental fleets. the rental car collision business was significant for decades, until recently for wholesaling GM dealerships.
4. market share of replacement parts in the collision industry has come under the microscope at GM. Instead of lowering prices across the board (across the nation) to be competitive with the recycled parts and the knock-off parts, they are seeking to improve market share in metropolitan areas while holding the profit margins in the rest of the country.
5. While I don't have specific knowledge on this "collision part list price matrix", this program will lower the list price in hopes of increasing market share with collision parts in some areas, not all. GM cannot force the insurance companies to buy Genuine GM Parts, but they can make it more attractive for them to buy GM Parts, hence this program and the GM Rewards program... Yet allows them to hold the profits that they are enjoying in other markets or regions.
6. the other message that I am receiving from this and other programs is that GM is not concerned with those on the front lines dealing with the "end user", dealerships are the necessary evil that must be controlled, have their individual identity removed, and then rewarded when they conform. This is the new GM.
~ gt your mileage may vary... and your emissions may vary too.