General Motors has announced that effective next February 1, the Mr. Goodwrench moniker for service and parts will be discontinued and replaced by the car line +"Certified Service (e.g. Chevrolet Certified Service, etc.).
Sounds like "back to the future" or "deja vu all over again" to me. That's pretty much what the various GM car lines called their service and parts organizations before Mr. Goodwrench came along. According to GM Mr. Goodwrench was adopted 37 years ago, but it doesn't seem like it's been that long to me. In any event, I say "hooray". I always hated this Mr. Goodwrench thing. It sounded so trite and childish I never thought it would last a year, let alone the 37 that GM says it did-----just one of the more foolish brands that some Madison Avenue "genius" sold to GM.
It just goes to show, though, how "cyclical" that things can be. 37 years ago service and parts branded as "Chevrolet Certified Service" or "Chevrolet Super Service" were deemed "passe". Now, they're apparently right in step with the times.
It makes me wonder about something else, too: over the course of the last 20 years, or so, GM decided that being in the parts manufacturing business was just not the way to go. So, they spun off, sold, or outright closed virtually all of their parts manufacturing operations and turned to outside suppliers for their parts needs. In other words, they abandoned vertical integration, the pillar of their success from the beginning.
I wonder how long it will be before someone at GM decides that what they really need to do to become a profitable and successful company again is to start a new concept called "vertical integration" and start acquiring parts manufacturing operations so that they can control costs and quality and make a profit at all levels of the manufacturing. And, if they need any help in figuring out just how to do that, they won't need to go far-----just dig out some of the books on their shelves describing how GM's original brain trust did it almost 100 years ago.
As they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Sounds like "back to the future" or "deja vu all over again" to me. That's pretty much what the various GM car lines called their service and parts organizations before Mr. Goodwrench came along. According to GM Mr. Goodwrench was adopted 37 years ago, but it doesn't seem like it's been that long to me. In any event, I say "hooray". I always hated this Mr. Goodwrench thing. It sounded so trite and childish I never thought it would last a year, let alone the 37 that GM says it did-----just one of the more foolish brands that some Madison Avenue "genius" sold to GM.
It just goes to show, though, how "cyclical" that things can be. 37 years ago service and parts branded as "Chevrolet Certified Service" or "Chevrolet Super Service" were deemed "passe". Now, they're apparently right in step with the times.
It makes me wonder about something else, too: over the course of the last 20 years, or so, GM decided that being in the parts manufacturing business was just not the way to go. So, they spun off, sold, or outright closed virtually all of their parts manufacturing operations and turned to outside suppliers for their parts needs. In other words, they abandoned vertical integration, the pillar of their success from the beginning.
I wonder how long it will be before someone at GM decides that what they really need to do to become a profitable and successful company again is to start a new concept called "vertical integration" and start acquiring parts manufacturing operations so that they can control costs and quality and make a profit at all levels of the manufacturing. And, if they need any help in figuring out just how to do that, they won't need to go far-----just dig out some of the books on their shelves describing how GM's original brain trust did it almost 100 years ago.
As they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
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