Metal Mover

Bill Lovejoy helped get America, and General Motors Corp., rolling. Now it's up to John F. Smith to keep the hammer down.

Smith, no kin to GM's chairman with whom he shares the same name, on Jan.1 succeeded Lovejoy as group vice president for vehicle sales, service and marketing. At GM, that means he's the guy charged with keeping the metal moving. And to be successful, Smith needs to keep GM's 7,200 dealers charged up.

Lovejoy, who retired at 62 after a 40-year GM career, is credited with reviving GM's relationships with dealers after an aborted attempt in 1999 to drop financial support for 900 dealer marketing groups.

He's also considered a hero at GM where, under his guidance, the “Keep America Rolling” 0% financing strategy launched soon after the 2001 terrorist attacks invigorated the industry's slumping sales. Some experts say the campaign helped boost sales by a million units.

GM has pushed low interest rates and rebates ever since, joined by most of its competitors, and Lovejoy's successor sees no let-up ahead. “‘Zero’ in some form will be out there in 2003,” he tells Ward's.

Asked how dealers will react to his new spot as the top “factory guy,” Smith replies: “Many of them grew up with Bill. My hope is their warm feeling about GM will go on unabated. Over time I'm sure I'll get to know them in perhaps the same familiar way Bill did over 40 years. But I don't have 40 years (he's 52 now). If I work at it until I'm 65 I'm not sure I could come quite as close as to where Bill is leaving them today.”

Although he personally knows far fewer dealers than Lovejoy, Smith says he doubts that many dealers have missed face-to-face time with him or members of his team.

Smith occupies the sales hot seat at a time when GM — despite its incentive onslaught — continues to struggle for share in an increasingly crowded marketplace.