Why Words Matter -- Absolutely Nothing To do With the Oil Industry

Update

When the note below was posted, I was not aware of the rest of the story. This is very interesting.  Below I note that GM sold only 603 Volts in January. Well, it turns out, the Nissan Leaf fared not much better, having sold only 676 Leafs in January, down from 954 in December.

Also, this is very interesting:

GM sold about 7,700 in 2011, below GM's target of 10,000. GM abandoned its sales target of 45,000 for 2012 last month, saying it would match "supply to demand."

"Supply to demand." --- Almost sounds like they are ready to phase this automobile out.

And:

Reuss said that when GM restarts production in February at its Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant, it will build Volts in a "very reasonable" volume. He said there is some pent-up export demand.

Nissan, in the article, is said to be looking to double sales of Nissan Leafs this year.

Original Post

Don sent me a couple of notes today.

In one he noted that Ford pickup sales increased eight (8) percent in January; a good barometer for the economy.

In another note, Don said GM's USA sales declined six (6) percent in January, and sold 603 "coal burners."

This was my reply to the GM sales figure:

You know, if you are a bean counter at GM, they have to be asking, why are we spending all this money on a losing proposition, that even the dealers don't want, and has now become the punching bag of vehicles in the US?  [The CEO's phrase, "punching bag," not mine.]

It's interesting: Japanese auto companies beat the American car companies on "quality" some years ago.

Now, the quality is less of an issue. 

The new issue could certainly be "relevancy" or "vision" and when Americans start associating "punching bags" with GM, the company had better take that perception seriously.

When I think GM, I think "punching bag"/Volt. 

And that's why the GM CEO, #1 salesman for this government-owned company, never should have used that phrase.