Oh For Christ’s Sake
Given the enormous and ongoing discrepancy between GM’s execs’ statements and on-the-ground reality you’d think the media would understand that nothing, nothing GM says should be taken at face value. Nope. Automotive News [AN, sub] kicks-off with the PR pleasing headline, “As Malibu soars, Impala sinks amid GM cuts to rental fleets.” Showing some semblance of journalistic integrity, AN lists the Impala-related damage and ties the model’s downturn to the up-tick in sales of its logical competitor. “While January sales of the new Chevrolet Malibu mid-sized sedan rose 57.9 percent from January 2007, sales of the larger Impala fell 30.6 percent… The Impala had been a hot seller. It finished 2007 up 7.3 percent to 311,128 units.” Chevrolet Spinmeister Terry Rhadigan provides the usual tut-tut, pish-posh, no worries Mate: “We’re still doing the methodical reduction in daily rental, and that is reflected in that Impala number. Huge progress is being made. You’ll see some decline in numbers, and don’t be alarmed. It’s all part of our strategy.” Oh really? So, Terry, what exactly are those Impala fleet numbers? “Rhadigan would not give the Impala’s retail and fleet sales totals.” Clearly, Woodward and Bernstein don’t have nothin’ on AN. Anyway, Chevy store own John LaSorsa ends the piece by backing-up the suits. “The Malibu has such style it’s pulling in an import customer.” Well, that’s one…