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Thursday, January 28, 2010

GM offers $1,000 to unfriend Toyota.









Oh, no, no, no, no. GM... really? You were doing fine. You had been courteous and receptive to courtesy. You had established trust, with the embarrassing truth about bailouts. And now this ham-handed segue with your $1,000 or free financing offer for Toyota owners to switch.

It won’t do...


Much as I love brands that jump on PR opportunities when they become available, I’m not sure GM can claim the moral high ground in response to Toyota’s massive recall here and abroad. Especially when looking at the number of recalls they’ve had themselves over the years vs. Toyota. GM has far more than Toyota over the past 40 years, by about a 5-to-1 margin. (Other American brands don’t seem to fare well either.)

Consider also that recalls by manufacturers happen with most makes for one reason or another. (Stuck accelerator in this case is more than just a faulty cup holder, I realize.) That aside, GM seems to be trying a little too hard to capitalize on safety issues when no automotive brand is accident-proof, especially them. (I own both makes by the way.)

GM needs a reminder that $1,000 means exactly zero when you lie to your customers about how bad things are, and then kill off several of their brands—after people buy their cars. *raises hand*

Yeah, I can see how they might wanna hang their hat on things like loyalty, longevity and quality for a grand.

(Image.)


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