Zipcar CEO Reveals There's a REason GM Went Bankrupt

[LongTomH]

Run time: 03:16 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WjuXTwzRO8   Posted on YouTube: June 04, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: June 06, 2009 By DU Member: LongTomH Views on DU: 3722

 
"Scott Griffith, CEO of Zipcar: We have never bought a GM or Chrysler product. What we do is we survey our members, we ask them what kind of car do they want to drive. And when we hear back what they want to drive, if we dont have it, we consider it and look at it. We have never had a request for a GM product. Thats unfortunate, but thats the way it is."

[bbinacan]

1. Interesting. n/t

[Unca Jim]

2. So a small group of urban people...

who want to rent luxury and "fun" cars haven't requested much beyond Mini Coopers and Psion XBs.

There's a surprise. :eyes:

The meme "american car companies don't build cars people want." is about as old and misinformed as "nothing is made in the US".

(I understand *you* might not want to buy an american car and *you* might see a lot of chinese consumer goods in the stores you frequent, but that doesn't make either statement true.)

That said, GM should be making more fuel efficient cars, and will after reorganizing.

[LongTomH]

4. I try to buy American myself - when I can!

The issue here is that GM IS out of touch with the buying public! The sample was 300,000 users - that's not exactly 'small.'

By the way, IF I'm ever able to buy a car again - and that's a big IF - it will have to be a used clunker. That'll be all I can afford.

[Unca Jim]

6. I understand all that, really, I do.

The thing I object to is making a sweeping generalization based on personal experience or a narrow sample. 300,000 unique uses of a fleet of 5,000 cars obtained over nearly ten years is a pretty small sample compared to all new car sales.

I had two GM cars and they were both fine, but when my wife was looking for a new car their Cobalt didn't meet our needs as well as the Scion we eventually bought. Everyone buys the car which works best for them that they can afford.

Obviously people bought a lot of GM cars and trucks, because until recently they were the #1 manufacturer.

Again, I agree that GM needs to focus on building the cars that people are asking for.

I'm #5 on the Volt waiting list in my area, but with a daughter on the way a new car seems unlikely next fall. Maybe if Obama makes sure all kids have health insurance and subsidizes daycare a little more I'll still buy it! Chances are the 1996 Toyota will have to last another few years...

[pauldg0]

14. Strange thing is....

...I can't believe the sample could be that high????

I don't believe this guy and his dis-info.

[pauldg0]

13. I don't believe that number.....

...that is too high to be true!!

This seems like dis-information to me?

Common you guys get a life!!!

[Celtic Merlin]

33. When you are able to buy a used car...

May I recommend that you consider a used Toyota.

I've never purchased a new car from a dealership. I've always driven used cars.

I currently drive a (used) Toyota Sienna. The odometer reads over 220,000 (not a typo - two hundred twenty thousand miles). It has its problems, but the drivetrain is in perfect working order.

So even when you buy 'em used, the Toyota seems to wanna just keep on going.

Celtic Merlin
Carlinist

[ATLBobby]

5. ZipCar is responding to it's client base...

Why the derogatory comment about city people, Jim? GM hasn't focused on this market, so why is it a surprise that city dwellers don't desire GM cars? ZipCar is for people who only occasionally need a car and have limited or no parking. A Yukon or Silverado isn't appropriate here.

As well as fuel efficiency considerations, ZipCar also looks at reliability. While they have improved, GM and Chrysler do not match Toyota. Consumer Reports did not recommend a single Chrysler vehicle this year.

I moved to Boston from Atlanta. In Atlanta, I drove 12,000 to 15,000 miles a year. I brought my car with me to Boston. In the three years I've been here, I've driven less than 1,500 miles a year, because I walk, ride my bike or take public transit most of the time. It costs me a HUGE amount of money to park and insure my car. And if I were to buy a new car, very few of the GM models appeal to me or meet my needs.

[Unca Jim]

8. I'm a city person...

there was no derogation intended. I was merely pointing out that the sample was narrow and specific. I also don't see why 300,000 unique uses of a fleet of 5,000 cars obtained over nearly ten years is a significant sample compared to all new car sales.

I didn't suggest that Zipcar needed to buy GM, I suggested that this one small group not buying GM was not as significant as the OP seemed to suggest.

GM makes many small, fuel efficient cars that are reliable. They don't just make giant SUVs.

I wasn't telling you or anyone else what car to drive, how much to drive, or anything else. If GM cars don't appeal to you don't buy them. If groups or companies don't like GM cars they shouldn't buy them either.

I just said that this narrow sample was not an indication of why GM restructured.


Oh, and as a huge electric car dork I am on the Volt waiting list, but only because that car would meet my needs of not using any fossil fuels and still getting around a city with dismal public transportation. My current 1964 VW bug conversion took *way* to long to restore and convert to allow me to want to use it as a daily driver.

[liberation]

10. Busines 101

If GM had enough demand to cover their offer, they would not be bankrupt.

Maybe all those red herrings help you cope, but that does not change the fact... that among other things, GM is bankrupt because their cars were not popular. The american auto makers thought, at some point, that planned obsolescence and designing cars under the assumption that these vehicles were going to be a continuous revenue stream even after the purchase point. In other words, some Automakers decided to squeeze their customer base... that sort of provides some magnificent sort term profits. But that also destroys your brand.

I have been very very very frustrated with the American cars I have owned. Never mind the reliability, but the ergonomics and design have been appalling up til recently, heck even perfectly reasonable platforms from Opel (or other foreign subsidiaries of American autos) get completely f'ed up when they reach American show rooms. For a while I was under the suspicion that Homer Simpson was in charge of some of the design bureaus for some American auto manufacturers...

[DainBramaged]

15. "GM is bankrupt because their cars were not popular." Quote

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:



That statement alone shows your utter lack of knowledge of the forces at work. GM and Toyota are #1 and #2 in the marketplace, selling about 10,000,000 cars EACH worldwide last year, and Toyota beat out GM by a few thousand cars by increasing their fleet sales to rental companies in the US. And the rest of your response is as completely without basis in fact as the rest of your post. One car has been imported from Opel in the past 25 years, and its a Saturn Astra, and if you think it's fucked up, it's identical to the European version except for additional weight because of the necessary equipment to meet American crash standards, and the lack of a diesel. And if you think it's fucked up looking, the Prius must look like angel food cake to you.



Toyota got a 'halo effect' from the Prius, which amounts for about 5 %, FIVE PERCENT, of their total sales. Their corporate fuel economy in THE SAME as General Motors, and their line up is biased to heavy, inefficient gas pig suv's and trucks. Hard to believe when you have blinders on, but maybe next time you'll do some research before spewing so much shit across the Internet.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DainBramaged]

26. Your solution is simple, click the ignore X and take a shower

But your unnecessary personal attack is what makes YOU what you are, not me.

OH, and my beloved English Bull Terrier lived to be nearly 15, but died last July 14th. And having dogs over the past 36 years, except for tripping over them while they slept, I never once kicked one. Sorry to burst your bubble once more.

[elleng]

23. 'your utter lack of knowledge of the forces at work.'

I sure hope you're not a salesperson or teacher; YOUR utter lack of knowledge of how to persuade people of your point of view is blatant.

[DainBramaged]

25. I don't try to persuade anyone, just correct utter the ignorance here about GM

Those of you who have become clones of the Japanese can't be persuaded, but the amount of disinformation about GM on DU is simply amazing. Most of you never let facts get in the way of your happy confusion.

OH, and when I WAS a salesperson, I made a shitload of money. So I guess your assumption made an ass out of you and not me.

[MindMatter]

29. I buy several thousand cars a year

The Chevy Malibu is as good as anything that Toyota puts out. Their whole line-up is good these days.

I'm not saying that GM is perfect. They carried a lot of burdens that became impossible. They had WAAAAY too many dealerships. They have an extremely heavy burden of pension benefits compared to the companies that have entered our market more recently. They wasted a lot of money carrying product lines like Buick, Olds, Pontiac, and GMC that were essentially redundant and offered little distinction.

And then they met George W. Bush. The Bush economy became the breaking point, but they were sick before Bush finished them off.

But their problems had very little to do with the product they were putting out. Their products are very good these days. This guy has an agenda and it isn't very well hidden.

[crazy homeless guy]

36. "GM makes many small, fuel efficient....

cars that are reliable. They don't just make giant SUVs."

I moved from the midwest, where I drove a lot, to a west coast city, where I don't own a car. I do a car sharing programs called City Car Share, which is similar to Zip Car, only non-profit. Most of the cars are Scions, but they do have Prius's, a few Mini's, and a truck or two, but mostly Scion's. When I travel, I rent cars to drive. I usually wind up with a Cobalt, because I rent the cheapest car I can find.

They are both low end cars, and I will tell you head to head the Scion feels better from build quality to road response. Bottom line, if something is better, it is going to win out. This is the basic reality of the economy we live in. Just saying something is better, doesn't make it so. Go test drive these cars, and form an opinion based on behind the wheel experience.

[Unca Jim]

38. My wife recently bought a new car...

and ironically the Cobalt and the Scion Xb were the two finalists. I test drove them both with her. We, too, liked the Scion better and bought it. The Cobalt was fine though, they were comparable.

Again, I'm not saying GM doesn't need to work on their offerings, only that the OPs implied point that a small group not buying GM is why they are faltering seems unlikely.

[Blue Meany]

7. In my area all the zipcars are Prius...

[tomm2thumbs]

3. things they are a changin'

[guidoo]

9. The way I see it

The way I see it, both GM and Chrysler were putting their efforts into the wrong markets. I'm not saying

that GM doesn't make any good cars just that they relied too much on their SUV/Truck line to carry them.

And then to generate excitement for their cars they reached back to muscle car era with the Chevy Camaro and

Chrysler with the Charger. Both fine cars...but they are expensive and consume lots of gas. Meanwhile the

likes of Toyota and Honda etc are coming out with hybrids and other cars that appeal to the consumer for

whatever reason ( think Scion ) and are much more affordable. In the end it was more an issue of responding

to market demands and capitalizing on those demands.

[DainBramaged]

17. Toyota is considering dropping the Scion line because it's sales have declined so rapidly

since the first couple of years. And the designs are no longer popular with the 18-25 year olds they targeted. If you do just a modicum of research, you' find the articles referring to this.

OH, and FYI, Toyota has MORE gas pigs than GM, just go to the Toyota home page and see for yourself. And maybe in the future, before you too spew incorrect drivel, you'll check your facts.

PS, know how many MPG the Land Cruiser or Sequoia get?????? Can you say Hummer?????


http://www.motorauthority.com/scion-sales-drop-for-16-consecutive-months.html

Scion rethinking its brand in face of weak sales

The current staples of the brand, the redesigned xB and the 'new' xD very closely resemble the original entrants, the xB and xA. The tC coupe is set for a full redesign in 2010, but has received a few minor updates since its 2005 debut. With five-year model lives and iterative designs that evolve the same basic look, however, Scion isn't sticking to its original plan. With at least 16 consecutive months of sales decreases, the Scion brand is troubled at a fundamental level, with analysts comparing the brand to General Motors' Saturn nameplate, which many have credited as a distraction from GM's more established brands.

[MindMatter]

19. And let us not forget

Toyota is losing money big time too, and they have the advantage of a lot of plants in hillbilly land where the labor laws are virtually nonexistent and they have extracted lots of recent tax abatement that our own US auto makers don't get.

[DainBramaged]

20. Too much information and the Toyota lover's heads will explode

[Confusious]

11. I've siad it before, I'll say it again, and I keep saying it

We cannot continue with this car culture. It screws the poor, it saps the middle class, the only ones who win are the oil companies.

[Fovea]

24. 100% agreement

The automobile will never die.
But it should get in the back seat for how America moves itself.
We *so* need a national passenger rail system with its own track.

[LongTomH]

34. I agree partly!

You said: "The automobile will never die!" I have trouble with the word 'never;' but, I think we need a more diverse transit system with innovative mass transit options (Anyone looked at monorails recently?) and car share / ride share / park-and-ride options.

I work for an airline-related company; but, I agree that we should have more high-speed rail systems, beginning with the East Coast / West Coast high traffic areas.

By the way, I got the link for the OP from Michael Moore's YouTube channel; he had the video up on his webpage for days. Mike is suggesting that GM convert from making cars to making mass transit and alternate energy systems.

[Fovea]

35. While it may never die, it is going to become the red headed step child

There is an ecological transit niche for it that will be virtually to eradicate.
Automobile users will cope with a lower Level of Service (LoS) and greater variance outside urbanities.


Moore is so spot on here. What it would get us beyond lots of jobs
is infrastructure we could use into the future. It is the obvious idea
but MoDOT always makes the tripe face when i show up to meetings.

air travel will change quite a bit.

[MindMatter]

30. 9,000,000 cars a year ought to be plenty

I agree with you. This downsizing of the auto industry is a good thing. 9M new vehicles is more than adequate for our transportation needs. And half of those ought to be electric in the next 5-10 years.

[pauldg0]

12. This is far out.............

....the last ten times I rented I have requested American cars. My collegues request U.S. cars. This is only one man/one CEO. This man just hates Detroit....the interviewer should get more samples than that.

[MindMatter]

18. Probably because Detroit wouldn't underwrite his flight of fancy

He is using more exotic cars, not because they are better for his customers but because:

a) Detroit has enough trouble negotiating a fair deal with the well-proven rent-a-car industry that can buy 1,500,000 cars a year

b) this is a flim-flam that depends on exciting gullible investors, and it is a lot easier to con those people if you tell them about the great fleet of Beemers and Mini Coopers they are buying.

[MindMatter]

16. Complete, unadulterated bullshit

Out of 300,000 requests, there wasn't one mention of GM. Right. Very believable.

But why would anybody listen to this schmuck anyway. It is a hopeless business model he is flogging. Cars that are cleaned only once a week, but could have 25 renters in between? I don't think so.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_36/b4098062937966.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/09/02/profits-absent-as-zipcar-grows/

The guy talks like he knows something, but he is just a snake oil salesman. This will implode just like all the other houses of cards brought to us by con artists like this guy.

[elleng]

22. For those 'skeptics' and others who might want to LEARN something:

Zipcar is a for-profit, membership-based carsharing company providing automobile rental to its members, billable by the hour or day. Zipcar was founded in 1999 by Cambridge, Massachusetts residents Robin Chase and Antje Danielson. On October 31, 2007 Zipcar merged with rival Flexcar.<1> By 2009 Zipcar has become the world's largest car-sharing vice, sharing 6,000 vehicles between 275,000 drivers<2> in 49 U.S. cities, Vancouver, Toronto, and London, <3> representing almost half of all car-sharers worldwide.<2>

1999: Antje Danielson conceives of for-profit US car-sharing company based on existing German and Swiss companies.
1999: Robin Chase recruited to direct finances.
2000: Company formed.
June 2000: First Zipcars hit the road around Boston, MA.
September 2001: Washington, D.C. office opened
February 2002: New York City office opened
July 2005: Zipcar secures $10 million in funding led by Benchmark Capital.
August 2005: San Francisco office opened.
May 2006: Toronto office opened.
May 2006: General Electric's Commercial Finance Fleet Services (NYSE: GE) gives Zipcar $20 million in lease line financing.
September 2006 Toronto market is named fastest growing new market in company history
November 2006: London office opened.
April 2007: Vancouver office opened.
July 11, 2008 Zipcar announces it doubled membership in past year, including the Flexcar members it acquired, and now has 225,000 members<12>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipcar

[trumad]

27. Great thread--

sorry---I don't see the implosion of this company---I see it growing and growing rapidly.

[MindMatter]

28. Then wouldn't you expect it to actually make a profit at some point?

They have over 200,000 users, so that can't blame lack of critical mass.

They have thousands of vehicles, so that can't blame lack of fleet buying power.

They merged with the only other significant company in their market, so they can't blame competitive pricing.

They have been doing this for 10 years, so they can't blame startup costs.

If this guy is so damned smart, how come his company hasn't shown a single profit in any of the 10 years they have been pushing this crap?

Instead of telling us how the consumer doesn't want GM, it looks to me like the consumer doesn't want what *HE* is selling.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

[jmowreader]

31. Okay Scott, let me ask you this...

Your members are import-loving hipsters who live in very dense urban areas. Why in FUCK would they ask for a GM product? Of course they're going to ask for Mini Coopers and Scions.

Oh, and Scott? If you want your company to actually be profitable, quit trying to enroll college students and go after the Professional Driver market. We have money for your service and we would really like to be able to take a 20-foot vehicle to the supermarket instead of a 70-foot one.

[madmom]

32. Here in Ohio (the heartland) we have no public transportation. I currently drive

a Jeep Cherokee, because it was used and what i could find and afford at the time. Prior to this I drove a Chevy Blazer, when I traded it, it had over 200,000 miles on it, very few problems after the initial "new car" problems which were all made right by the manufacturer at no cost to me. With the kind of weather we get in the winter and the fact that my family are all 5'10" or over we needed a bigger vehicle. GM worked for us for years. Point being if we had public transportation I probably wouldn't own a car either but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.:shrug:

[pauldg0]

37. Amen Sister......

....the average working person in this country will not seek out a mini coup or what ever the hell this joker is pushing.

I swear this message is planted by anti labor!!! They get the American Autoworkers down so they can beat them some more and think we're they will get on their bandwagon.

I feel we've already been exploited and kicked and now these goon repukes' want to take our pants down and rape us on top of it.

By the way all my American cars bought in the last two decades hardly had problems and all reached 200,000 miles.