At the New 'Design-Driven' General Motors, Smiles on Wheels

And the early results of GM's product push are two consecutive months of new-vehicle sales increases -- August and September -- at a time when vehicle sales at rival companies, including Toyota, are declining.

Indeed, a year ago, few people would have thought they'd be reading the following passage in Automotive News, the Detroit-based trade journal:

"Market leader General Motors saw its U.S. sales rise 0.3 percent in September. GM cited a strong start for the redesigned Cadillac CTS, and strong sales of the Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia, and Buick Enclave crossovers."

Note the reference to "market leader." Especially, note the reference to Buick, once thought to be a moribund GM vehicle division. It appears that Buick is being saved by the Enclave, generally touted as being one of the best-designed crossover utility vehicles in the U.S. market, and now a genuine sales hit.

Today's GM is "a design-driven company," said Gary White, vice president of GM North America, speaking to journalists here. "Ultimately, the best way to develop brands is for them to have the best cars and trucks possible wear their badges."

To reach that goal, GM has ended its storied intra-corporate bickering, transformed its once disparate product-development operations into one global team "and put the creative power back in the hands of our designers to make beautiful vehicles that will ultimately strengthen all our brands, all around the world," White said.

Gee, go figure -- giving vehicle designers and developers the right to do what they were trained and hired to do in the first place. It's no wonder those people are smiling . . . and eager to talk to the media about what they are doing -- without overseers.

That's different. That's progress. That's the new GM. May it long live.