GM's Reuss and Docherty: We Will Earn, Not Buy, Our Market Share

2009-12-08

The way to success for Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac comes down to one thing: sell, sell, sell.

“We need to sell every vehicle we can, customer by customer, dealer by dealer, here, in Canada and Mexico,” GM North America President Mark Reuss said today during a conference call with media. “We’re not setting a metric (for market share) until we do that.”

Added Susan Docherty, vice president of Sales, Service and Marketing: “The old GM tended to buy market share. We’re going to earn our market share.”

That means letting customer demand, not filling plant capacity, drive the decision of what and how much to build.

“We need to be able to flex that capacity,” Docherty said. “When something is hot, we need to be able to put our foot on the gas like we did by adding a third shift to meet demand for the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain.”

Reuss and Docherty spoke to news media for the first time since being promoted to their new positions last Friday. They responded to other questions, including:

60-Day Money Back Guarantee: Since the promotion was launched in mid-September, just 163 of more than 300,000 vehicles have been returned for a refund.

Fuel Economy vs. Content: Reuss said there is “no peanut butter answer” to the question. “Fuel prices are going to be volatile. Finding the balance between good gas mileage and functional use, such full-size pickups used for work, comes down to correctly reading what customers want.

2010 Goals: Reuss said repaying money borrowed from the U.S. and Canadian governments, making the country proud of GM though its products and reemerging as a public company are at the top of the list.

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