What's an hybrid car? Take this fine SUV, or get the h outa GM's
showroom
copyrighted by the los angeles times 2005
www.latimes.com
GM to Stop Los Angeles Times Advertising
LOS ANGELES (AP) - General Motors Corp. says it will stop advertising
in the Los Angeles Times, at least temporarily, because of dealer
concerns over ``factual errors and misrepresentations'' in the
newspaper's articles and editorials.
The newspaper, which is owned by Tribune Co., will review coverage that
prompted the complaints from the world's largest automaker, said Times
spokesman David Garcia.
GM spokesman Brian Akre would not identify which stories or editorials
the company objected to, but said it had been a series of reports over
the past several months. ``We made our objections known to the Times
and we prefer to keep those private,'' he said Friday by telephone from
Detroit.
He said the decision was made this week because of ``strongly voiced
objections from our dealers in Southern California regarding factual
errors and misrepresentations in the Times editorial coverage.''
``We recognize and support the news media's freedom to report and
editorialize as they see fit,'' Akre said. ``Likewise, GM and its
retailers are free to spend our advertising dollars where we see fit.''
The ban covers corporate advertising, not individual dealer ads in the
classified section, he said. The company did not say the cancellation
was permanent.
``There are ongoing discussions, which is all we can say,'' Akre said.
``This is an extremely rare occurrence.''
Garcia said in Friday's editions that the newspaper ``will look into
any complaints GM has about inaccuracy or misrepresentation and will
make any appropriate corrections.''
On Wednesday, the paper published a column by auto critic Dan Neil that
called GM, which has struggled recently with sluggish sales, ``a morass
of a business case'' and called for the ``impeachment'' of two
executives. Among other criticisms, Neil said GM ``utterly missed the
boat on hybrid gas-electric technology'' while speeding up production
of SUVs.
Neil won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for criticism, cited by the judges for
``one-of-a-kind'' reviews of automobiles blending technical expertise
with ``offbeat humor and astute cultural observations.''
When asked about columns by Neil, Akre said, ``It was not any one
column or story.''
Neither GM nor the newspaper, which has a daily circulation of 900,000,
would say how much the automaker spends on its Times ads.
There are eight GM lines doing business in Southern California:
Chevrolet, Pontiac, GMC, Cadillac, Saab, Hummer, Saturn and Buick.
Akre said he didn't know how many dealers had complained.
Tribune shares fell 65 cents to close at $38.87 in Friday trading on
the New York Stock Exchange, near their 52-week low of $38.51.
© Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information
contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or
otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The
Associated Press.
04/08/2005 16:50
APO
