Pink Slip For Mr. Goodwrench

Mr. Goodwrench

The iconic symbol of GM’s dealer service brand for 37 years is set to be scrapped Feb 1. At that time “certified service” brands for each of the four remaining GM nameplates – Chevrolet (NOT CHEVY - see my post “GM’s Chevy Brand Blunder”), Buick, GMC and Cadillac.

The company is attempting to focus its marketing on the individual brands rather than the General Motors corporate brand (aka GM, aka USA Motors).

This unfortunate decision is the direct result of General Motors never deciding on who Mr. Goodwrench was. All we had was a name.

Mr. G Saves The Day

Over the years Mr. What’sHisName morphed to action figure style – see below right.

Then he became a she – below left. Huh?

It’s unfortunate that General Motors (aka GM, aka USA Motors) proved incapable of defining who Mr. Goodwrench was, what he (or she) stood for and why that was good to great for its customers.

It’s especially unfortunate as Consumer Reports, Oct 27th, reported “General Motors showed the most improvement. GM had 69 models with average or better reliability, up from 21 last year. GM’s top-ranked brand was Chevrolet at 17, up from 25.”  While this is encouraging #17 is a long way from #1 so anyone buying a General Motors (aka GM, aka USA Motors) vehicle is going to need someone like Mr. Goodwrench on a first name basis.