Automakers Discover What They Don’t Know About Moving People
The future of transportation means mastering apps and customer service.
The Maven car-sharing service has taught General Motors that dealing directly with customers is hard—and managing a fleet of borrowed cars is harder.
Photographer: Michael Nagle/BloombergGeneral Motors Co. usually isn’t the place for direct feedback from drivers. Want to purchase a Chevy Malibu or get your Cadillac Escalade fixed? Deal with the local dealer, not the automaker. That’s what makes Maven, GM’s car-sharing app, a warning about learning to please customers.
Consider this one-star review by a user, identified as Jose Z., who complained that the app timed out when he tried to reserve a car: “Nice try GM,” he wrote on Apple Inc.’s iTunes Store, “but you’re trying to play in the wrong field. Stick to big trucks and dealerships, not tech and user experience.”