Faces of GM

Parked: Ann’s Last Post

September 2, 2010 at 3:24 pm

It’s been a good run…Days: 81

Double shot espressos: 52

Dropping my laptop down the airport escalator: 1

A very handsome stranger picking up the dropped laptop: 1

Friends made here at GM: lots and lots

This is it. My last and final entry for Cruzin’ with Ann. I’ll be honest with you. I had no clue at the onset of this how much time and effort it takes to write and keep a blog up-to-date. Not to say that I haven’t enjoyed writing this series, cause I really have, but I’ll be sure to carve out more time to write should I try to do this again in the future.

As promised in my previous blog entry, I have lots and lots to tell you about Project Outreach: San Francisco Bay Area! We spent 3 days and 4 nights there and boy did they have us booked solid. The entire first day was a tour of the market. We started off in Walnut Creek (Project Outreach Central) and explored the East Bay. The East Bay is typically known as the most industrial area of the market and a little “rough and tumble”, if you catch my drift. Then we headed to Marin County in the north peninsula, just missing Napa and Sonoma (bummer). Here you’ll find some of the wealthiest towns in the country, the ridiculously picturesque Muir Woods and beautiful coastlines. Then we crossed the lovely Golden Gate Bridge and headed into San Francisco city proper for lunch.  After that we headed down south to the Silicon Valley. Geographically it’s a huge area. Throw some traffic into the mix and it makes for one long day on a tour bus.

On day two we split up into smaller groups and each group visited two dealerships. My group (Hi Karen! Hi Jeff! Hi Jon!) went to Moore Buick/GMC in Los Gatos and Putnam Chevrolet/Cadillac in Burlingame. We spent a couple hours at each dealership and boy do I have a whole new respect for the dealer side of the business. They really are in a unique position because in one respect they essentially are the GM brand in the consumer’s eyes. But in another respect they operate independently of GM but yet we rely on them to sell our products. How does one manage all that? Heck if I know, but this relationship would definitely fall under the “It’s Complicated” status on Facebook.

We spent the last day at Dublin Chevrolet/Cadillac/Buick/GMC for a big open house event. Can I just say, that is truly an amazing dealership! Size wise it’s probably equivalent to the country of Monaco. Actually, on second thought, I take that back. It’s definitely bigger than Monaco. This place is truly massive. There was a ride and drive event, face painting for the kids, BBQ lunch, prizes and gifts, etc. But the biggest draw was the Volt. People from all over the bay came to see it, touch it, poke it, prod it, peek under the hood, sit inside and take a picture (as did I, see picture above).  Right next to the Volt was of course my personal favorite new Chevrolet (no offense to the Volt folks), the Cruze. The Cruze also got lots of nice traffic and attention from guests, some of whom weren’t familiar with the car but were impressed with its styling and presence. The dealership staff said they were especially excited about the Cruze because they were confident these babies are going to fly off the lot.

The big cheese in charge there is Inder Dosanjh and he is a wicked cool guy (and a supporter of Cal Football woohoo!).  I think what I loved the most about Dublin Chevrolet is that the folks there really represent the future and potential of GM Brands on the West Coast. They are so enthusiastic about the product and optimistic about the future that it’s almost contagious. Even though they know they have a big hill to climb, they see it is as only room to grow. They do recognize the domestic brand baggage on the west coast, but they have a good perspective on it.  One team member there put it quite nicely, “We can’t turn this into a cultural war. The younger generations just aren’t interested in that. They just care about who has the best car and who can walk the walk. Besides, good competition brings out the best in everyone.”  Touché, my friend.  Touché.

It’s quite fortuitous that I got to attend this particular Project Outreach; it just coincidentally worked out that I got to go home. But having had the chance to go back to California at the end of my internship just seems like an appropriate way to wrap things up. Everything I learned and observed this summer gave me an entirely differently perspective on a place that I thought I knew so well.  It’s not that I love home any less (it’s truly an amazing place), but it definitely opened my eyes to how everybody else sees California.

I only have a few hours left in my internship. I’m finally starting to get the hang of this automotive industry thing, of course this happens just as I’m leaving. While I’m excited about heading back to school and diving back into my books, there so many things that I am going to miss from my internship. For example:

• The hysterically witty, insanely talented and wickedly smart Chevrolet Communications Team
• Learning about new cars and breaking news before anyone else!
• Having coffee with various folks at GM and picking their brains about the auto industry
• Toffee cookies at Au Bon Pain. Seriously, they are so good.
• The River East Parking Shuttle. As a devotee to high heels, this has been my saving grace.
• Last but not least… writing about and sharing my experiences and with you

At the beginning I was really only hoping for a couple hundred readers. I never really thought it would turn into anything like this, so I want to extend a most sincere and heartfelt thank you to anyone who tagged along on this lil’ dog and pony show that has been “Cruzin’ with Ann”.  What a ride it’s been.  Usually I like to celebrate the end of something great with a cocktail and a toast, but as I’m writing this it’s not quite happy hour yet (and I’ve noticed that people to tend to frown upon drinking before noon).  So instead I’ll raise my literary glass and toast to you, good health and all the future endeavors of GM.

<3,

Ann

Tweet