Goat to Hero: GM Manages to Grab Half the "Best Launch" Awards from Edmunds.com

(MoneyWatch)  General Motors is starting to gain some traction in its effort to put its image as "Generic Motors" in the rearview mirror. The timing is good, since GM is getting ready to take itself public again.

Surprisingly, GM won awards from Edmunds.com last week for five successful new-product launches in the last year out of 10 possible spots. That's especially good news for GM, because creating distinctive and attractive new products and matching them up with the right brand names is something that's been troublesome for the company, even though it may sound simple. The poster child for GM's troubled new-product pipeline was the notoriously homely Pontiac Aztek and its slightly less-homely sister, the Buick Rendezvous, back in 2001. However, the company has launched plenty of other lookalike GM cars and trucks since then. GM has been known for parceling out cars to its many brands in order to maximize sales volume, whether they fit the various brands or not.

That's how GM ended up with non-sequiturs like Pontiac, the quote-unquote "excitement" division, selling minivans; the "import-fighting" Saturn division selling imported cars; the "premium import" Saab brand selling U.S.-built SUVs. As part of its bankruptcy restructuring last year, GM dropped Pontiac, Saturn, Saab and Hummer.

The winning models for GM for the Edmunds.com Launch Breakthrough Award were the Chevy Camaro, the Chevy Equinox, the Cadillac SRX, the Buick LaCrosse and the GMC Terrain. All share parts and development costs with other models spread across GM's worldwide operations, without looking too much alike. Not only that, according to GM several of its new models are retailing for thousands of dollars more than the models they replaced.

GM would never phrase it quite this way, but one of the main things it needs to do is "accelerate the development of new products our customers want and value." GM wouldn't phrase it that way because it's a phrase from Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally. It's a key element of Mullaly's simple business plan for Ford, which fits on the back of a business card. "One Ford," another keystone of Mullaly's plan, refers to Ford's need to get its worldwide divisions on the same page. In parallel with its new-product efforts, GM is engaged in exactly the same thing. The Edmunds.com awards are a sign GM is on the right track, but higher retail prices are the ultimate praise.

Related:

• Good News! That New Car is More Expensive
• Camaro Wins Edmunds 2010 Launch Breakthrough Award
• Ford's Mulally Keeps It Simple, Stupid; Results Show It Works