What's an hybrid car? Take this fine SUV, or get the h outa GM's showroom
copyrighted by the los angeles times 2005
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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.
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04/08/2005 16:50=20 APO