GM Cutting One More Job: Mr. Goodwrench
Published November 09, 2010
| Associated Press
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General Motors is asking Mr. Goodwrench to pack up his toolbox.
The mechanic who served as the symbol of GM's dealer
service brand for 37 years will be scrapped as of Feb. 1 in favor of
"certified service" brands for each of GM's remaining four remaining
nameplates, the company said Tuesday.
GM dumped four brands as it went through bankruptcy protection last year and now sells only Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac.
The Detroit automaker has been focusing its
marketing efforts for the past year or so on brands rather than the
corporate name because customers know the brands better than they know
General Motors.
Mr. Goodwrench started in 1974 to give a
common identity to service for all of its dealers and brands. The
character started out as a friendly looking mechanic
in a crisp light-blue shirt and evolved into a drawing of a brawny man
in a striped work shirt hoisting the brand's blue G-shaped logo.
Mr. Goodwrench became well-known over the
years, but was disconnected from GM and its four brands, said
spokeswoman Pamela Flores. The new strategy, she said, will link buying a car with service so people have a good ownership experience.
Steve Hill, vice president of customer care and after-sales services for GM, said the move "is more than a name change."
"It is a declaration of our commitment to our customers," he said in a statement.
The company said the change will come with
increased service adviser and technician training and more work on
customer satisfaction, with hopes that the customers will return to the dealers for service.
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