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GM made a great pitch - but was it an apology?

By Lauren | December 9, 2008

Yesterday, General Motors took the unusual step of publishing a full page ad in Automotive News in which the troubled automaker acknowledged the mistakes that have put it near collapse.  General Motors confessed that it had disappointed the American public with substandard quality, lackluster designs, lack of focus on the U.S. market, an unfortunate bias in its product mix toward pick-up trucks and SUVs, and commitments to its employees that it could not satisfy in the globally competitive market.  Now the news media is commenting, favorably and otherwise, on General Motors’ “candid apology.” 

Trouble is, General Motors didn’t apologize at all.

The Automotive News ad is an intelligent, well-written argument in favor of General Motors’ request for a $18 billion federal loan.  It describes the company’s past mistakes, explains what has already been done to correct them, and describes General Motors’ plan to finish turning its operations around.  It’s a great lending pitch, but it doesn’t say anything like “we apologize” or “we’re sorry,”  and it’s not an apology.

In fairness, maybe it doesn’t need to be.  General Motors’ bad business decisions may have put it on the brink of bankruptcy, but that doesn’t mean the automaker owes the general public an apology.  (If anyone deserves an apology here, it’s probably the company’s shareholders or the employees whose collectively-bargained benefits may be about to disappear.)  General Motors’ humility is to be applauded, as is its candor in publishing the turnaround plan that it will present to Congress.  The ad was a clever gambit, and it will undoubtedly help make the case for General Motors’ loan request.  

Just don’t call it an apology.

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Topics: Apologies, Business Ethics, Social Ethics, business communications, ethics |

One Response to “GM made a great pitch - but was it an apology?”


  1. Dodgeblogium » B-Day COTV Says:
    December 18th, 2008 at 3:07 am

    [...] presents GM made a great pitch - but was it an apology? posted at The Business Ethics Blog, saying, “The media are calling it a candid [...]

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