GM Employees Can Now Give Away One Employee Discount

DETROIT -- General Motors Corp., hoping to boost demand amid a drastic downturn in the U.S. auto industry, will offer employee discounts to nonemployees on a limited basis.

GM Sales Chief Mark LaNeve rolled out the plan in an email to employees late Thursday. Employees can give one employee discount away between now and the end of July, a GM spokeswoman said.

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Read about the auto industry trying to turn around poor sales:

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::Sean-Paul Kelley: Is Our Long National Obsession With Cars Finally Ebbing?

Comments

[Tom95134]

End of July? That's only 4 days!!! ROTFLMAO. Besides, who would want to buy a gas guzzler and even if you did, where are you going to get it financed in 4 days. BFD!!

[iambusto]

shorting the stock would probably prove to be more beneficial than those discounts !!
GM is just circling the drain !!

[DRaymond]

This is clever marketing. Compared to just saying 'employee discounts for everybody' it turns the enire employee base into one great big sales force with the idea that they have a sweet prize to give to one of their best friends.

It is also usually the case that the employee discount is in lieu of other rebates and dealer incentives. GM no doubt looked at what size of a rebate program it would have to offer and realized that the 'employee pricing' would actually cost the same or less.

[Tom95134]

You're right about the employee discount being off full sticker price. No other discounts or rebates can be applied if you opt for the employee discount.

[Paul]

I wonder what value GM will assign to this on their balance sheet?

Zero?

[letsgetsmart]

Oh, yes those discounts. When you receive one of these, you are told to speak with the fleet manager only when you go to a dealership so you get a supposed wholesale deal with out the sales staff involved. Yeah, right! The fleet manager is always busy or not on the lot or was beamed up by martians. As soon as you tell the sales staff that you have one of these the game begins. You say, I have an employee discount and they say ok go pick out a car. You say, no I want to speak with the fleet manager and they tell you to go pick out a car because you have to do it that way first. If you knuckle under at this point, you are on your way down the sales chute. The auto industry is full of these delightful games. If you tell them that you have a finance background or knowledge, they get angry and want you to leave. Honor the client is not in their vocabulary.