[Apple Pro Underwear]

WTF?

Where did this come from? Not the sale itself, that shyt has been going on for ages. BUt why "Employee discount" all of a sudden?


First GM, then some others... now Saab.

[ManOfSteal]

I want the "CEO Discount" + free shipping...

[Ω]

I think it is valid. What sort of statement are you sending if you work for Ford but drive a Toyota?

[ghporter]

Read the ads that say "at the employee discount price!" as saying "with a special marketing gimic."

The Detroit auto makers used to discount cars for their employees-particularly when the employee would pick the car up at the end of the assembly line. It saves the company shipping and inventory costs, and it's one of those "feel good" concessions that doesn't really cost anything.

As for Ω's point about the "statement you are sending," when I lived in the Detroit area about 25 years ago, it was not safe to drive a non-Ford to work in a Ford plant. The plant in my home town, Flat Rock, had more than a few incidents of people's non-Ford cars being pretty badly bashed up during their shift. It did not matter if that car had been the only thing available for a poor person just to get to work in, either-that's one of the downsides to how the UAW worked then. I knew a couple of people who would drive into town, park, and take the bus to the plant because of this. It sucks-badly-but it is what happened then.

Today, that same plant is a joint Mazda-Ford concern where some cool cars are built. I don't know if there are any similar issues there today, but there's a culture of "supporting the boss" that's pretty strong in that industry.

[Chuckit]

I think he means car manufacturers offering to give normal people the "employee discount" as a sale.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by Chuckit

I think he means car manufacturers offering to give normal people the "employee discount" as a sale.

Then see the first sentence in my post-it's all marketing, and the supposed discount is probably as much of a discount as employees get (NEVER trust auto marketing to tell the truth about a 'sale').

[Kerrigan]

Saab is owned by GM, it is just part of the whole GM-wide employee discount.

[ghporter]

Yep. That's marketing for you. If it had been Ford, you'd see it popping up for Jaguars, too!

[Ω]

Originally Posted by Chuckit

I think he means car manufacturers offering to give normal people the "employee discount" as a sale.

Then why did he not say that! Not all of us are up with the current marketing trends in the US.....

[Apple Pro Underwear]

I understand it's a stupid marketing gimmick... AKA Sale. My own company does the same ********.


But I guess why did it get so popular over let's say... "Summer Sale" or "Inventory Clearance"?

If it's working for these biatches, look for it to crossover onto other things like electronics or something.

[ManOfSteal]

Originally Posted by Apple Pro Underwear

But I guess why did it get so popular over let's say... "Summer Sale" or "Inventory Clearance"?

Hey, it's working...it caught your attention long enough to actually think about it and post something about it on the 'NN after-all.

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by Apple Pro Underwear

I understand it's a stupid marketing gimmick... AKA Sale. My own company does the same ********.


But I guess why did it get so popular over let's say... "Summer Sale" or "Inventory Clearance"?

If it's working for these biatches, look for it to crossover onto other things like electronics or something.

It didn't get all that popular; only one company's doing it.

[Gankdawg]

Originally Posted by ghporter

Yep. That's marketing for you. If it had been Ford, you'd see it popping up for Jaguars, too!

Not necessarily. The GM promotion excludes Corvettes (and some other models IIRC).

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by ghporter

Read the ads that say "at the employee discount price!" as saying "with a special marketing gimic."

It's not a gimmick. You are actually paying what is called GMS pricing which is What you'd pay if you were a GM employee buying from the dealer's stock. Now if you could get GMO pricing (order the car and wait for the factory to build it) then you'd be saving about 18% off MSRP. I think GMS is about 8-10% off MSRP depending on the model.

GM is actually losing a little bit of money on some cars during this promotion. They would rather do that and keep the factories going instead if idling thousands of employees with temporary layoffs.

Don't believe it's true? Go to this site and make sure you click on the "I qualify for GMS Price pricing:" option to search the inventory of a dealer that's local to me where nearly everyone qualifies for GMS pricing because nearly everyone works or is related to a GM worker.

As a GM worker, most of us see this promotion as a double edged sword. We're pissed because a contract perk doesn't mean much anymore, but we are happy because we don't have any plants idle because of it.

Unfortunately the sale has been very effective end some GM plants are having to force their workers to work Saturdays. I have had to work the last 2 out of 4 Saturdays. I am not happy about it, but it's better than getting an unemployment check.

So, you can think it's a gimmick, but you'd be ignorant to do so.

[OwlBoy]

Yeah, all the ad's are starting to annoy me

-Owl

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by OwlBoy

Yeah, all the ad's are starting to annoy me

-Owl

Me too. I wish they would have marketed their cars a bit more instead of these commercials.

They are pretty lame commercials.

[TubaMuffins]

GM is sinking hard, they need sales badly

[wdlove]

My wife's current lease is up and so she needs another car since she's a visiting nurse. Volvo also has a employee discount sale. They want to clear out the 2005 model prior to the arrival of the 2006. The salesman said that we are paying the invoice price the same amount that they are paying for the car. Some distrust on my part. Probably will sell the car for less three weeks from now, which makes me angry. The sale and purchase of a car is just a con game in my estimation. The buyer looses.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by Railroader

It's not a gimmick. You are actually paying what is called GMS pricing which is What you'd pay if you were a GM employee buying from the dealer's stock. Now if you could get GMO pricing (order the car and wait for the factory to build it) then you'd be saving about 18% off MSRP. I think GMS is about 8-10% off MSRP depending on the model.

I'm not saying that the money issue is anything but what they're saying. It's just that it is still a gimick people into the showroom. And sure, anybody could walk in and buy a car for what it would cost a GM employee to buy it from the showroom floor-but that still just gets them in the showroom. I believe many auto workers are savvy enough to resist the undercoating pitch, avoid the options that just make the car more expensive, and so on, but the majority of car buyers are downright dumb about what they buy in a car, and those people will wind up paying a 20% or higher premium because of all the options they choose. THAT is the point of the gimick: reel 'em in with the promise of a lower cost, but hook 'em with all sorts of junk they don't need. "Clearcoat sealer and underbody antirust coating: $1250." That's the point of all of it-selling stuff we don't need when we go to buy something we DO need.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by ghporter

when I lived in the Detroit area about 25 years ago, it was not safe to drive a non-Ford to work in a Ford plant. The plant in my home town, Flat Rock, had more than a few incidents of people's non-Ford cars being pretty badly bashed up during their shift. It sucks-badly-but it is what happened then.

That's sad, very sad.

Originally Posted by ghporter

Read the ads that say "at the employee discount price!" as saying "with a special marketing gimic."

The Detroit auto makers used to discount cars for their employees-particularly when the employee would pick the car up at the end of the assembly line. It saves the company shipping and inventory costs, and it's one of those "feel good" concessions that doesn't really cost anything.

Ha, I like it much better with my company. Being an OEM tier 1 supplier, we get discounts for DCX, Ford and GM

-t

[Ω]

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...l=969048863851

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...ck=1&cset=true

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Ω

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...l=969048863851

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...ck=1&cset=true

From the first article you linked to:

GM said June sales jumped 41 per cent to 558,092 vehicles as buyers responded to its promotion, which began June 1.
...
GM reported the best single sales month since September 1986, with truck sales up 68 per cent, led by full-size pickups, which rose 102 per cent.

:

[OldManMac]

This is a Catch-22 situation. GM has to offer rebates and special pricing to sell cars, yet when this causes an increase in sales, they make almost no (or very little) money due to discounting. The American public has gotten used to getting "deals" on almost everything it buys (it's part of our "I want something for nothing" culture), so when the deals are stopped, the sales drop. It's just another sign of the continuing erosion of market share of what was once The Big Three (Daimler/Chrysler are now number 5, and Toyota just passed Ford for #2 spot, and will soon eclipse GM as the world's biggest automaker.)

[Ω]

Originally Posted by Railroader

From the first article you linked to:
[/b]:

Sorry, I was being lazy.....

[Railroader]

I have a feeling that car manufacturers will lower prices on cars. You won't see the same year to year price increases.

Here's something I thought was kind of interesting: GM is actually making more profit per car with the Employee Discount for Everyone than they did with the huge rebates and 0% financing.

And yes, they are still making a profit on each car sold.

[anthonyvthc]

Even if they are selling cars at invoice prices, don't most car dealerships make the majority of their money on financing? I highly doubt that most of these sales are being payed for in cash. GM has got to be making some loot.

[budster101]

I want a manufacterer's discount on a nice SUV.

[nonhuman]

Originally Posted by anthonyvthc

Even if they are selling cars at invoice prices, don't most car dealerships make the majority of their money on financing? I highly doubt that most of these sales are being payed for in cash. GM has got to be making some loot.

Most dealerships make the majority of their money on post-sale service.

[ghporter]

I read something over the weekend about the popularity of GM's new program. A lot of people like it because it reduces or eliminates price negotiation. I have always HATED that aspect of car buying, mainly because I have the intense suspicion that the salesmen are trying to cheat me. I have actually had one guy try the "I'll ask my manager if I can go lower" bit, and I just walked out of the showroom. Blew his mind! I DO NOT play that game. A lot of marketing and sales is manipulation, pure and simple, and the higher the price of the item, the more likely the salesman is to try to manipulate the buyer.

If cars were simply PRICED, instead of expecting everyone to negotiate and haggle, I think car dealers would be a lot more profitable, and car salesmen would no longer be near the bottom of the "professional respect" ladder.

Personal 2¢ worth, nothing more.

[budster101]

I want to buy a car like I buy a computer.

Car Max pretends this is their model, but it's a used car!
I want a fair price on the car and no haggling.

There needs to be an APPLE car manufacturer. It just works, and if you need to open it to work on it, there aren't any cables and crap in the way. Modular. Modular. Modular..

Ahhhhhhhh.
One main CPU.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by budster101

I want to buy a car like I buy a computer.

Car Max pretends this is their model, but it's a used car!
I want a fair price on the car and no haggling.

There needs to be an APPLE car manufacturer. It just works, and if you need to open it to work on it, there aren't any cables and crap in the way. Modular. Modular. Modular..

Ahhhhhhhh.
One main CPU.

I've come close to that with Hondas, and the dealer I buy them from. My dealer has a "One Simple Price" policy and they stand by it. They include the little things other dealers will nickle and dime you for, and they simply don't play any games.

Honda cars are wired for everything you can put in them, so if you get a car without a stereo, you can put one in just by installing the box in the dash and the speakers in their designed locations; the wires are all right there. They don't change internal details like electrical cables or oil filters just for the new year model. In fact, I've worked on the drivetrains of a series of Civics that spanned about 10 year models, and used the same tools, the same shop manual, and even almost all the same parts. I'm nto saying they're perfect, but they are sure a lot easier to mess with than a lot of other brands.

[budster101]

I'm thinking of getting a parsed down Pickup, so I can add what I want later, when i can afford it.

Need a vehicle, now that I got a job, well part-time job... freelance ain't cutting it.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by ghporter

I read something over the weekend about the popularity of GM's new program. A lot of people like it because it reduces or eliminates price negotiation. I have always HATED that aspect of car buying, mainly because I have the intense suspicion that the salesmen are trying to cheat me. I have actually had one guy try the "I'll ask my manager if I can go lower" bit, and I just walked out of the showroom. Blew his mind! I DO NOT play that game. A lot of marketing and sales is manipulation, pure and simple, and the higher the price of the item, the more likely the salesman is to try to manipulate the buyer.

If cars were simply PRICED, instead of expecting everyone to negotiate and haggle, I think car dealers would be a lot more profitable, and car salesmen would no longer be near the bottom of the "professional respect" ladder.

Personal 2¢ worth, nothing more.

Saturn has always done this. No haggling no matter how much you want to. The only room you have to negotiate is the amount of money they are going to give you if you trade in a car. But then if you are trading in a car you can expect to get raped on that.

[alphasubzero949]

GM is a sinking ship. If they actually want to profit, they should stop selling selling the same pieces of junk under different badgings. The Pontiac and Buick divisions are about to go the way of Oldsmobile.

[budster101]

I hope GM fails. The rest of the MFRs would stand up and pay attention to what we want.

Quality, and a fair price. They aren't providing it!

[Lancer409]

Originally Posted by ghporter

I read something over the weekend about the popularity of GM's new program. A lot of people like it because it reduces or eliminates price negotiation. I have always HATED that aspect of car buying, mainly because I have the intense suspicion that the salesmen are trying to cheat me. I have actually had one guy try the "I'll ask my manager if I can go lower" bit, and I just walked out of the showroom. Blew his mind! I DO NOT play that game. A lot of marketing and sales is manipulation, pure and simple, and the higher the price of the item, the more likely the salesman is to try to manipulate the buyer.

If cars were simply PRICED, instead of expecting everyone to negotiate and haggle, I think car dealers would be a lot more profitable, and car salesmen would no longer be near the bottom of the "professional respect" ladder.

Personal 2¢ worth, nothing more.

i agree, but isnt this how saturn does things? (doh, just realized after reading the rest of the posts, that this was already mentioned...)

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by Lancer409

i agree, but isnt this how saturn does things? (doh, just realized after reading the rest of the posts, that this was already mentioned...)

This was apparently one of the best ideas GM had with Saturn, and it's one way they have developed a loyal customer base. Without the BS involved with salesmen trying to get you to pay more than they are eventually willing to take, buying a car can be fun-and fast! My last two Hondas were from the dealer I mentioned. When we got the last one, I had not actually planned to buy a new car when we went to the dealership to start looking at prices. I explained that, and they offered to evaluate my trade in and make me an offer on it. I did NOT get raped on that car-far from it! And after about 90 minutes, I drove home in a brand new car. It was WONDERFUL!

[Lancer409]

any subaru dealers in the bay area to recommend? I'm looking at purchasing a Subaru in the coming months .. (haha .. go ahead and point out I have "Lancer" in my name, and how I love the Evolution)... Mitsubishi doesnt make what I need ATM, so I'm going with Subaru. *sigh*

anyways, any dealerships you know of that you guys can recommend? Any where they'll let me testdrive the car with a friend instead of the dealer riding shotgun?

[alphasubzero949]

Originally Posted by budster101

I hope GM fails. The rest of the MFRs would stand up and pay attention to what we want.

Quality, and a fair price. They aren't providing it!

Ain't gonna happen in your wildest dreams. ASS-UVs, minivans, and pickups are their bread and butter. Just look at a manufacturer's sports car lineup - any one. Pick one. Tell me if you can find something cheap, under 2700 lbs, and with at least 200 bhp that isn't FI. Power? That'll cost you in price. Lightweight? That will cost you with an anemic powerplant. They're not paying attention to that market; what makes you think that they will pay attention to anyone else?

Oh wait, they'll make floaty suspensions for the old farts who don't want to feel any bumps in the road...