It's NOT a good day when you have to issue a recall on a new vehicle and it is ESPECIALLY painful when it's the most important product to your company that you've ever made.
First the public announcement...
GM has announced a recall (no charge to customers) of 800+ Sierra and Silverado Trucks out of the 40k already sold that have left the gate with a faulty airbag issue.
No big deal right?
Well, if it wasn't the most important product you've made since bankruptcy and if it fails you will probably go out of business, no.
But for THESE products that are under pressure like you wouldn't believe from the leader Ford and and a charging RAM, it MATTERS. You DO NOT want this kind of stuff happening. Because truck buyers want TOUGH and INDESTRUCTIBLE more than anything.
Now, what we're hearing in private...
One of the first review vehicles for the media didn't end happy. A writer from Autoblog was left STRANDED at a mall parking lot and the truck had to be towed. But you didn't read that there now did you? And you probably won't because they have big ad dollars riding on their favorable or generic opinion. Even when you read their recall article they are dancing GINGERLY around how they present it.
We just got an email from our friend Chris Paukert from Autoblog regarding this situation...
"You are correct in noting that a contributor, Jeff Ross, recently experienced a problem with a 2014 GMC Sierra loaner that resulted in the vehicle needing to be flat-bedded away. We have asked GM for more information as to what caused this problem (and what the resolution was), but we have yet to hear back. Jeff posted this on Facebook page and it will be written into his review of the vehicle when it's published, but we are still looking for context as to what caused the problem. "You didn't read that there now did you?" because the review hasn't been published yet.
In specific, we take issue with your insinuation – it's a cheap shot – and worse, it's inaccurate: "And you probably won't because they have big ad dollars riding on their favorable or generic opinion. Even when you read their recall article they are dancing GINGERLY around how they present it." We take the separation of advertising and editorial very seriously, and your allegation is irresponsible and unfounded. If we were so concerned about ad dollars, would we even publish a story about this recall at all? It wasn't a large number of vehicles, and frankly, we could have passed on it altogether without raising any eyebrows. But we prefer to err on the side of completeness, so we covered it, and covered it fairly – not "gingerly," just with a responsible amount of context. Similarly, it would have been irresponsible to mention Jeff's issue with his vehicle in the recall story, as we have no idea whether they are the least bit related. Finally, as far as our "favorable or generic" opinion goes, we don't soft-pedal on our coverage for anyone, GM included (I direct you to Zach Bowman's recent scathing review of the 2014 GMC Acadia for reference).
We would appreciate a retraction/correction/update to the story."
We at AutoSpies.com appreciate stand up people and we're glad Chris took the time to respond and that they will disclose that when the review publishes.
And we weren't taking a cheap shot but maybe we jumped the gun a little bit because the MAJORITY of the autro press is in the tank.
VERY few outlets you read really have YOUR best interests at heart because of the MONEY and we're REALLY sick of it. As long as these media outlets get their trip invites and their ads, THEY KEEP QUIET.
Plus, it's been some time since the Autoblog incident occurred and it's not live yet. Normally their turnaround is much faster on the news/review side.
We'll give them the benefit of the doubt that it will get reported as I know a few of the Autoblog team and SOME have always been reasonable and respectable to us.
We hope the rest of the way for GM goes smooth but our gut feel tells us if these issues aren't corrected immediately, Ford and RAM will gain even more momentum in the biggest game on earth.
If you forgot what the new GM trucks look like, take a look at our shots from the gallery...