Dear Juan,

Your comment is like many we’ve received since the announcement of the discontinuation of the Pontiac and Saturn brands. The first thing you should know is that the decision to phase out these brands was not easy. Like you, many of us at GM are proud Pontiac and Saturn owners. Both brands have a rich history and a portfolio of which we are all proud.

Our company faced substantial financial hurdles during the economic downtown of the past year. To survive and continue to develop vehicles under any brand, GM had to assess which brands were profitable, and unfortunately, Saturn and Pontiac were not.  As part of our restructuring efforts, we spent considerable time formulating Pontiac portfolio scenarios to allow the brand to be sustainable and profitable in the long term. But after careful evaluation, these scenarios were not profitable. In the case of Saturn, we had high hopes for the Saturn under new ownership, but an agreement to sell the brand fell apart. With no other buyers on the horizon, we made the decision to initiate an orderly wind down of the brand. Both of these brand dissolutions came down to the survival of General Motors.

I want to underscore an important fact often overlooked: many of the same engineers, designers and other individuals behind the Saturn and Pontiac brands are now working on our four core brands – Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. Within our product portfolio across brands, we feel there are vehicle options for every lifestyle and every budget that leverage the same design, quality and innovation that Saturn and Pontiac vehicles have embodied for these many years.

If you currently own a Pontiac or Saturn or are considering the purchase of one, your vehicle’s warranty will be fully backed by GM, and you can receive service at another GM dealership. If you have any questions, please contact Pontiac Customer Assistance at Pontiac Customer Assistance Center at 800-762-2737 or the Saturn Customer Assistance Center at 1-800-553-6000.

Thanks,

Dear Lori - we are working very hard in all of these areas.  The current success of our latest product, the 2010 SRX, shows that customers are responding.  We back the reliability of our products with a comprehensive 5-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty,  4 years of roadside assistance and courtesy transportation, a comprehensive bumper-to-bumper warranty and 1 year of OnStar services.  All of our future product programs build on the success we have had with the CTS and SRX from a performance and design perspective.  The CTS V-Series takes Cadillac performance to levels no other brand achieves and we have been leading the way in Hybrid technology for fullsize utilities with the Escalade Hybrid.  As you point out, with our average prices 10-20% below our European competitors, we are in a much better position to offer great value to the customer.  Thanks for your continued interest in Cadillac.

Thanks for your comment, Michael.

We understand that the dealership experience can be a source of frustration for some customers.  While historically, our Chevy, Buick, GMC and Cadillac dealers do extremely well in JD Power’s Customer Satisfaction Index survey done every year, we know that GM will not succeed until all customers feel that the experience they have at our dealerships is second to none.

We are doing a number of things to assist our dealers so they can provide everyone who walks into a GM dealership with the very best customer experience.

—We are undergoing the largest retail reorganization in the history of our company.  Ultimately, each GM brand will have its own consistent appearance and offer the same amenities.  We will be remodeling entrances and reception areas, as well as adding features such as Wi-Fi Internet access.  So, no matter what dealership you visit, your sales and service experience will be consistent.

—In 2009 alone, GM dealers logged 1.3 Million hours of training and spent millions of dollars to develop 38,000 well trained technicians armed with the latest tools and equipment to properly diagnose and service your GM vehicle.

—Our sales staff regularly counsels with our dealers on the importance of great customer service, especially the delivery process which is one of the first impressions we can leave with a customer.

—We regularly review dealer performance.  We have independent firms that survey our customers regarding dealer performance.  And, we have a dealer reward programs to recognize the very best.

—We really do evaluate the thoughtful comments, concerns and suggestions that have been posted on the Tell Us site to give us insight on what we are doing right and where we can improve.

If you feel you had a poor experience, we want to hear about it.  Please contact our Customer Assistance Center at 1-866-467-9700.

Hi Mark,

Thanks for your question. As you may have noticed, we changed the name of the site to “Tell Us” in early December. The “Tell Us” name represents the fact that we have more than 20 GM leaders and subject matter experts providing answers to consumer questions and suggestions.  We believe the “Tell Us” name reflects the entire company’s commitment to consumers.  I hope that background is helpful.

Thanks for your interest!

Mary Henige Director, Social Media & Digital Communications

Thank you for the question.

We want exactly what you want – practical and affordable electric vehicles - and GM has an aggressive strategy to get there.  As I’m sure you’re aware, the Chevrolet Volt, GM’s first electric vehicle with extended range, will launch at the end of this year.  The Volt will travel up to 40 miles on pure electricity and then move into an extended range mode where an engine generator will produce electricity to drive the wheels.  In charge sustaining mode, the Volt will be able to travel more than 300 miles before needing to refuel.  The vehicle can be recharged using a standard 110 or 240v outlet.

The Volt will be the first in what we hope to be a robust portfolio of electric vehicles.  GM is aggressively working on the key technologies needed to bring electric vehicles to market – batteries and electric motors.  In electric vehicles, think of the battery as your fuel tank and the electric motor as your engine.  We want the development of batteries and electric motors to become a core competency for GM so that we can continue to lead in electric vehicle development.

We opened our state-of-the-art battery lab, or as we call it Alternative Energy Center, this past summer and last month we became the first U.S. automaker to produce lithium ion batteries for automotive applications.  The first battery rolled off the line at GM’s Brownstown Township, Mich. battery manufacturing facility on Jan. 7.  And, this past week, at the Washington D.C. auto show, our vice chairman, Tom Stephens, revealed GM’s electric motors strategy and announced that we’ll develop motors in-house and produce the motors for our hybrids at our White Marsh, MD, facility.

I encourage you to visit www.voltage.com, become a fan of the Chevrolet Volt on Facebook and follow GMblogs.com to keep abreast of GM’s vehicle electrification initiatives.  It’s a very exciting time for GM and we truly appreciate enthusiastic customers like you.