GM will cap gas prices for buyers.

You've got to be kidding me.

I shouldn't be surprised that GM has learned nothing and continues to be short-sighted. Let 'em go bankrupt... bring on $6/gal... put Detroit out of our misery. This is INSANE.

 

If it weren't so tragic, it would almost be funny. So they've identified part of the problem: that buyers aren't thrilled to pay $70 to fill the tank. Good for them! One solution would be to make cars that get better mileage... I guess this is another option - that has NO other benefits beyond putting even more gas hogs on the road.

 

That's pretty ridiculous. I love the fact that they mention that buyers won't get a credit if prices fall below $1.99 a gallon......like that will ever happen. It also looks like they will only be doing it for a full year and then they stop giving you credit when you have to start paying for the onstar program. The whole thing is pretty desperate if you ask me.

 

I tend to not hold what yahoo "news" sends as true, if I see it on a more reputatable news site I might hold some merit.

Besides, big whoop, lets say the average driver drives 12000 miles a year, at 15 mpg that's 800 gallons of gas, so if we assume gas prices at $3-3.50, that a whopping $800-1200 in savings for a single year.

The scary thing is this might encourage people to buy more. Should start a class action lawsuit against GM as a result since SUVs tend to take more gasoline which lowers the available amount, which as a result makes gas prices higher (or so the oil companies keep saying). Sue them! Then we'll see some real Prius hate

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MikeSF @ May 23 2006, 09:49 PM) [snapback]260127[/snapback]</div>

So, uh, where are they gonna get the cash to pay for this? They're losing billions each year. I don't see how they could afford this. What gets me is that people are still buying these kinds of vehicles out of want not necessity. Do they really get that much satisfaction driving these things? I had to drive a Cadilac Escalade while I was visiting family in GA (uncle owns a GM dealership). There wasn't anything special about it, other than that it was a pain in the nice person to park.

 

Talk about being somewhat nutty and a way NOT to not reduce our oil consumption. :/

However, it is somewhat similar to VW's free insurance they did last year in certain states http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2004Dec31.html and Mitsubishi's free gas for a year plan http://cars.about.com/b/a/205228.htm. It's a different way of offering incentives w/o causes used car values for those vehicles to fall even further.

Also, it lets they spread out the cost of this incentive over a year instead of all upfront when the person buys.

The ones on the list are either guzzlers (esp. the H2, Suburban, Tahoe and Yukon) or not worth buying anyhow.

I just LOVE the PR spin at http://media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayServlet...=74&docid=26132.

Here's a snippet:
"The vehicles selected for this program were chosen because of their outstanding fuel economy and great consumer appeal. The 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe leads the full-size utility segment in fuel economy and has a two-wheel-drive EPA highway estimate of 22 mpg. The Chevrolet Suburban and GMC Yukon XL have EPA highway estimates of 21 mpg.

GM’s mid-size cars also offer very competitive fuel economy with the Pontiac Grand Prix achieving an EPA estimated 30 mpg highway. That is better than a comparably equipped Honda Accord 6-cylinder (29 mpg highway). The Buick LaCrosse also has an estimated highway mileage of 30 mpg (with standard V6 engine)..."

Regarding the last statment...gee, well, the Lacrosee and Grand Prix have 44 hp less than the 244 hp V6 Accord, so it's not surprising they get better mileage.

 

"Fuel usage will be calculated by the miles they drive, as recorded by OnStar, and the vehicle's fuel economy rating"

They don't make their MPG estimates. More law suits for GM.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(VaPrius @ May 24 2006, 01:56 AM) [snapback]260239[/snapback]</div>

I doubt anyone would win the suits. Nobody ever said EPA mileage ratings necessarily reflect reality.

Read http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/how_tested.shtml and http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml to understand how they're tested and then the figures are fudged downwards.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ May 23 2006, 10:07 PM) [snapback]260054[/snapback]</div>

Not only hasn't GM gotten it. It is clear that they will never get it. Unfortunately, GM will end up going the same way Bethlehem Steel did. Suicide by failure to adapt.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MikeSF @ May 23 2006, 08:49 PM) [snapback]260127[/snapback]</div>

It was the headline in todays San Diego Union Tribune (printed edition) too...
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20...1n24rebate.html

I think the intent is that it will encourage people to buy more SUV's (from GM). You got it completely right about the economics... take a couple of gas-guzzlers off the road and gas will be cheaper. ECO 101.

Here's another scary one: I went to get a haircut last week. This is a place I have been going for years, and so the stylist knows me. I told her I just bought a prius and was very happy. Then she said that she drives a Mercedes SUV and doesn't even know what milage she gets! I told her it's probably 15 or less and she didn't believe me. She wouldn't get rid of it because "she likes to drive high up".

I think the problem that we are fighting with the current gas crisis is that people don't even realize how much they are contributing to it. How can somebody not know thier milage? And yet I bet a large percentage of people dont. If they don't know how much they are using, how can anybody encourage them to use less??

I bet companies like GM bank on this. Now they are creating an incentive to not worry about it, implying that the amount of gas used wont really effect you, because you bought from us... we care. BULLSHIT!

 

Good marketing ploy by GM to reduce inventory of those models.

Apparently nothing prevents buyers from keeping the car a year, then getting rid of it. Whether it's worth it all comes down to a calculation on how much money will PROBABLY be saved on gas, in the context of the overall deal. For some high-mileage drivers, it could be tempting.

GM has probably determined that it will "discount" these vehicles less at the point-of-sale than it otherwise would have (e.g., $2,000 below MSRP rather than $4K) in order to cover the cost of the average "gas cap" per vehicle. Their bean counters have it figured out

 

Don't be too hard on GM, they are just helping the president defend the Ameican way of life: :lol:

“High energy consumption is part of the American way of life. I was elected to defend the American way of life.†GW Bush

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ghostofjk @ May 24 2006, 02:42 PM) [snapback]260476[/snapback]</div>

These are the same clowns that criticize the Prius for not getting 60MPG while claiming their car gets EPA without really knowing.

And what could be more "Family Values" than a Suburban?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ghostofjk @ May 24 2006, 03:42 PM) [snapback]260476[/snapback]</div>

Those were my thoughts. It reminds me of their 'employee discount' sale they had last year where anyone could buy a new GM vehicle at the employee plan price. Just a little comparing showed that the employee discount price was actually more than the invoice price less whatever big rebate they had been offering prior.

Apparently, few buyers did the math because the employee discount was a big hit and was very effective at getting rid of the excess year-end inventory. I suspect that selling vehicles with gas for $1.99/gallon will be a big hit, as well, even though the savings aren't anything special in comparison to rebates of several thousand dollars (even at California gas prices of $3.50/gallon).

I would be very surprised if GM didn't offer the same discount nationwide, where the savings would be much less. The biggest problem with the program (other than the savings not being that much) is how complicated it will be to administer, not to mention the potental for bad publicity once buyers begin realizing that they're not getting as much of a deal as they thought they were.

 

GM appears to be taking a lesson from mortgage lenders. This is just like the "creative" financing that mortgage lenders couldn't help selling to shortsighted people desperate to get into houses. It's the GM teaser rate for gasoline.
Come January 2008, it will be interesting to see how a person will stomach the cost of gas for his/her new GM SUV. If this promotion was the sole difference in whether or not the person could afford to get into the vehicle in the first place then a rude awakening will be forthcoming...especially if gas prices hit $4/gal. or more by 2008. :blink:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JEBster @ May 24 2006, 04:32 PM) [snapback]260540[/snapback]</div>

This reminds me of that recent SUV commercial in which one family is towing a boat and the other family is riding in three separate small cars looking enviously at the SUV family. Then the announcer says something like, "It just makes sense, one family, one vehicle." I thought to myself, uh yeah, if everyday of your life was a vacation like in the commercial, but what happens when you have to go to work and the wife has to go to work 35 miles in the opposite direction--how much sense does the one vehicle idea make then?

 

Is there a limit on how much gas one could buy? You know someone is going to come up with a clever plan to buy the gas, siphon it out of the tank, sell for market rate, rinse and repeat.