CARBIZ

Don't know if it's true, but it is a good idea. Get real world input from real world people. I don't trust focus groups and market studies. Get the real deal.

At the theatre where we went to see Brokeback (in downtown Toronto), I'd say 1/3 of the audience was female and (educated guess) straight. I saw a lot of hot guys with their "sisters," or dates - who can tell? The star power of the two leads is roping in the female fan base, regardless of any sex scenes with another guy. This has got to be one of the higher grossing "chick flick/date" movies of the year.

Agreed, but Toyota has a stranglehold on the media. Buying a Prius at this stage in the technology is more about APPEARING to do the right thing, rather than actually DOING the right thing. Diesels are the same thing: unless you travel 50,000 miles a year, you won't get your money's worth.

sciguy, Brokeback has done $30.8 million as of this weekend in 6 weeks in only 683 screens. It started out with 75! It's average per screen, according to Box Office Mojo, is $8,480, which is more nearly triple box office smashes like King Kong. Hardly a flop for a limited release movie that only cost $14m to make.

Gee, I have no idea what my user name means.........

I have to admit the movie gave me a lump in my throat, but then as I've studied history I realize that what happens in the movie has happened throughout history. It only makes my blood boil that this history has been swept under the carpet (and actually destroyed in many cases!). I saw it won at the Golden Globes last night. I would love to see it sweep the Oscars just to stick it to the Christian (and Muslim) rights groups. When I was 20 years old, I sat through a private screening of Making Love, put on by the studio. That movie made me cry, but only because I was so happy to finally see something (other than Boys in the Band) that at least attempted to treat gay people with some modicum of respect. Brokeback is amazing and will probably go down as a groundbreaking movie as well, but I just wish once JUST ONCE Hollywood or somebody would make a major theatrical release involving gay characters (who aren't just side kicks) that has a happy ending. Perhaps 40 years ago gay people led melancholy lives (although in the movie, the latter part of it takes place in the mid-70s and I couldn't understandy why they couldn't just move to New York or California, for Gawd's sake!!!), but that doesn't have to be the case now. Usonia, use what you have learned as a growing experience. There is a treasure trove of insight into yourself to be learned from what you have just gone through.

yeah, it happened to my sister's Silverado, too. Could be that is has been knocked in the past and was just holding on. My sister's had scuffs on it from where it has rubbed against somthing - wall? another car? one of my nephews? I don't think the mirrors are as bendable as GM claims.

It CAN matter a great deal where your oil changes are done. Just had a customer call up from a Canadian Tire. The guy has a 2003 Venture that has never seen the inside of a dealer, but now Can. Tire claims he has no coolant and the intake gasket is cracked. I told him to immediately contact our service department while I was inwardly shaking my head. This is why Toyota does so much better than us: their customers are programmed to bring the vehicle in every 3 months. This guy has done his own oil changes (perfectly legit under GM's warranty guidelines - but a big mistake in my view) and the van has never been to a dealer. Now, a small leak has turned into a big headache and he better be able to prove that all warranty maintenance has been done for the past two years or he may have a problem. The guy probably saved $5 on each oil change..............

Yeah, something immediately jumps out when reading the names of the accused. In Ontario, our local watchdog, OMVIC, releases newsletters thoughout the year about the fraud charges they have laid and convictions they have gotten, and reading through the lists of names is quite an eye opener, too. As delicately as I can put, none of the names are Scottish.

It will be interesting to see if MITI allows cheap Chinese cars into Japan.......

It is a double edged sword. VW, GM, etc. are tripping over themselves to get a piece of the Chinese market. Like it or not, it is THE market of the future. China already has more than 300 million middle class people - more than the entire population of the U.S. You do realize that with 4 times the population, China only has to achieve 1/4 the per capita output of the U.S. to overtake the U.S. as the world's largest economy - and here on C&G we're worried about Toyota over taking GM! Undoubtedly, China will one day vehicles to reckon with, but at least China is allowing (for now) foreign auto makers into their own domestic market - something that Japan has blocked and prevented for decades!

But part of the problem is that there are too many dealers fighting over diminishing market share. The problem is particularly acute in this area. Dealers that used to sell 200 cars a month now barely do 1/3 of that. Sometimes, desperation breeds desperate tactics, like "destoying the price," and low-balling - tactics that benefit no one in the long run. Lower MSRPs will hopefully curtail those behaviors, but the worst dealers won't be deterred. Also, the customer themselves can be partially responsible when nasty tactics are played out. Here are two of my favorites: 1) The customer goes to several dealers to see what they can't buy the vehicle for. (They make up a ridiculous number so the dealer throws them out, then they go to the next one and up it a little.) 2) The customer huffs: "My buddy bought (fill in the blank) car for Xthosuands less than that!" Two is my favorite. People have short memories. People love to brag and embellish stories, and with time the embellishment becomes reality. My favorite way of dealing with those people is to offer them $1,000 cash if they can bring in the bill of sale from their buddy and show me that he/she paid what they claim they paid. I've never had to pay out yet.

True or not, it doesn't matter. MITI would block any visa applications for their lawyers when they want to go to Japan for discovery. And an army of lawyers to tie it up in U.S. courts until somebody else comes up with a hydrogen powered hovercar that Toyota can copy.

Wow - ladies, I thought I was sensitive! We all agree GM has problems - you should hear what my therapist says about me! LOL Razor, you have pointed out one thing which I believe needs emphasis. GM has always sold around 4-5 million units in North America. Obviously, however, what has happened is that GM used to do that in a time when the American market was only 10 or 11 million units. Now, the market is up in the 17 million range and GM is still selling nearly the same actual number of vehicles. Anyone who is in their (ahem) 40s or older will remember a time when Datsun, Toyota, etc. were a joke. Even VW was only bought by hippies or people down on their luck. That clearly is not the case any more. Most of the imports build decent, even desireable products. Against this backdrop, it is impossible for GM to hold onto 40%. I think it is safe to say North America is going to become like Europe and South America where no one manufacturer holds onto more than 15%. I would hope GM can hold its share at 20%, but I am not holding my breath. If this comes to pass, GM will have to pool its international resources and start building more universal vehicles like Toyota already does. A Corolla is a Corolla the world over. A Cobalt is not a Cobalt; infact, Chevy barely exists in Europe. This GM must address. If GM can hold onto 20% of a 20 million North American market, well, the end result is all the same - as long as Toyota doesn't get more than 15%, I would be happy.

This is a double edged sword, but I am with VenSeattle on this one. A lot of people comparison shop window stickers when the dealers are closed, or via the internet. If you look at the window sticker on a Corolla and a Cobalt, they are close (in this market) but only a few potential customers would know that the Cobalt price can be much lower, due to package credits, etc., while Toyota rarely moves off that price and if it does it isn't by much. A good salesperson (ahem, like me) can point this reality out, but if we are closed there is no one around to explain that. Lower sticker prices can help this. HOwever, as the employee pricing showed us last summer, customers already believe the dealer makes THOUSANDS of dollars on a Cobalt anyway, so with lower sticker prices, they still want to haggle that. Not a pretty prospect. Personally, I prefer it this way: I'd rather get the customer off price anyway. I hope GM knows what it is doing. If we can get through 2006 and more product comes our way (hybrids, RWD platforms, more crossovers, etc.) then we MAY some day be able to stay off price, like Toyota does now.

I will be working the Auto Show this year - OH JOY! It can be kinda fun - take off your name badge and raz the folks over at Ford. I remember a few years back a guy was sitting in the Windstar, loudly bitching that it didn't have 4 doors when the Chryslers did. Even though he was trashing Ford, he was starting to piss me off. I figured he was a Chrysler mole. I tore him to shreds in front of his audience when I asked him how many trannies he had put in his Chrysler van..... but I digress, and yeah, Co Op at GM. No offense to the 20 year olds out there (puts on flame retardent suit) but we have a coop student and he is driving everyone nuts. Filling out lots of reports and graphs for the General Manager, and generally ratting eveyrone out. Nice kid, but really, just a kid. It is good for him to watch and learn, but the first thing you need to learn in business is street smarts and politics. HIs enthusiasm and starry-eyedness (if that is word) is refreshing, but some of the old dogs around here want to punch his lights out - not me, I just chuckle to myself and try and remember when I was like that. I just hope he doesn't become the General Manager in a few years. Oops. Maybe I should start some serious butt kissing now, just in case.......LOL

97, maybe my point wasn't clear: of course, Buick won't sell 135,000 Enclaves and they don't need to. Chevy should have a minivan and so should GMC, but it makes no sense to have 4 off the same platform that all look the same and that all overlap in price. Regardless of what the whiny dealers want, the consumer is confused and the competiton is laughing. Gone are the days when a person will drive over to the Pontiac dealer after finding out they can't get a Vibe at the Chevy dealer - now they just drive over to Toyota and get something else. This silly rebadging of the same vehicle over and over again is hurting sales, not helping. It also pits dealer against dealer. When a Pontiac guy tells the customer the Montana is better because of more sound insulation, better ride, etc. (which is total BS), then it just muddies the situation. The Enclave is a serious step in finally differentiating Buick from Pontiac and from Chevrolet - the way it should be. I understand development money has been tight and that it takes time: my point is that I am glad to see it is finally happening and I HOPE it isn't too late. There are 41 GM dealers in the GTA and 12 Toyota, yet they both have 16% market share each. Blood is in the water and, of course, the dealers are going to whine - they should be! You have dealers who used to sell 50 cars on a Saturday (not so long ago) now lucky to sell 50 in a month! I am encouraged to see GM getting its act together, but just today spent some time with the new Civic and I am depressed.

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. Shuffling the deck, once again. They are desperately seeking positive PR, but it is always about PRICE, isn't it? Up here in the Hinterland, they just jacked the rates and dropped the residuals on most everything - now I have to call a customer back who was in last night that his Colorado lease payment will go up $9 a month! Do you think he will believe me that it is his fault that he didn't sign last night and that GMAC is the culprit, or will he go around slamming dealers publicly because we are all a bunch of crooks? How does a customer understand that in 12 hours the payment he was quoted will jump $9?

Personally, I believe this is good news. Toyota is finally starting to show its true colors. Conspiracy theories aside, the media eventually is going to clue in that Toyota has never been the Friendly (green) Giant and has always been after GM's throat, as any good multinational corporation would do. It is about time that the media and General Motors wake up and realize that Japan Inc. is a juggernaut, sponsored by MITI and backed by the Japanese government, unlike Washington that believes in Free Trade on the one hand, but does nothing to ensure that other countries are playing by the rules, too.

GM has to get this type of thing sorted out and FAST. Vehicles like the Torrent, Pursuit and Terraza are just embarassing. Toyota and Honda must be laughing at GM...all the way to the bank! The Enclave is a great looking vehicle and is perfect for what Buick should be. More importantly, (so far) it looks like nothing else GM builds. Any idiot can see that it is better to have one Enclave than 4 crappy minivans off the same ancient platform.

O.C.,: hate to break it to you, but the combined Sierra/Silverado outsells the F-150. Hmm, where should I begin? Several plates of metal combining the tailgate. The tailgate is so heavy it needs a torsion bar to assist in the opening and closing. I am 6'2" and can't reach the floor of the bed over the sides of the bed. The bed is made of three pieces of metal welded together, instead of one with no seams. Dontcha just love those 4 bolts right in the middle of the bed of the Ford? Ford always lies about their payloads and tow rating because of their heavier weight. Confuse consumers with GVWR and GCWR and they'll get away with it. My personal favorite? You still have to get out and turn the front locking hubs in the super duty! Oh, and the steering box in in Front of the front hub - great place for getting whacked by a rock when on a construction site! Face it, with last year's redesign, Ford barely caught up to what GM had done in their 1999 make over: bussed electrical systems, hydroformed steel frames, etc. Ford makes them cheap and sells them cheap. I will grant that their interiors look nicer, if you want to spend $40k (Canadian) for the upgraded one. If GM is listening at all, they will make sure the redesign of their pickups include fixing their interiors!

I'm 29 and a few months....178 of them.

This is the most encouraging sign I've seen yet the GM is moving forward. We don't have to copy the Japanese to be state of the art. There was a time when American design was leading the way, and I believe when you look at this car - especially the interior, you know you are looking at an American car.

None of this matters if the press doesn't report it - and they won't. I guarantee the Toronto Star won't mention it. Sigh. It is good news, though. When I was in Brazil, Chevy was everywhere.

PC in front of clients, unless they start it first - like the Macedonian woman who started bashing how many Muslims are in Toronto and how she left her country because of the ethnic nightmare it had become. Not PC with my co-workers. We have all nationalities, all ethnic groups ( I am male, white but am gay, so there!) represented and we all have a HOOT trashing each other. NOt PC at home or with my friends. F**k 'em if they can't take a joke, is my attitude. I have no patience for PC, anal, repressed types.