Posts Tagged ‘Chevrolet’

Chevrolet took a huge swing at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show with the introduction of its new Volt MPV5 concept.  Based on the Volt platform, the SUV is roughly seven inches wider and taller than the Volt sedan.  It production model will likely carry the same Voltec system – engine generated electrical power.  The added weight of the vehicle will be interesting to see how this affects range and performance.

The look is extremely consistent with the Volt – a good thing – and shows the promise of great things from GM.  One striking thing you can see from the concept car is its extremely low rocker cladding, making this crossover more wagon-ish than SUV-ish.  The lithium ion battery packs certainly have a lot do do with the lower floor.

While it doesn’t take a trend forecaster to know this vehicle was coming, it is comforting to know that GM is spending our government funds wisely.  They have built another smart package and they are clearly addressing the growing needs of the consumer.  I for one, don’t really see myself in one of the plenty smallish EVs on the road.  It will take a product like this to get me over the hump to buying electric.  Yes, I did money down on a Nissan Leaf, but that’s because another better opportunity is not in front of me yet.  The world hopefully changes in the next 6 months.

I’m not a hug fan of the rear, but I get why the designers needed to make it so vertical, almost van-like.  To make it truly a cargo carrying crossover, they needed to create as much cargo space as they could.  Without much flexibility in the wheelbase, all they could do is maximize rear height.  It’s doesn’t kill the car for me, but i do wish they had the ability to get a few more inches out of the wheelbase and give the designers more flexibility in shaping the rear.

The introduction of this vehicle at the Beijing Auto Show is a sign of the times for GM.  As it has spent considerable energy in China the past 15 years, it is clearly showing the world the importance of the region by showcasing a vehicle that has very American proportions.  But if they’re going to win in China, they’ve learned that they must give it’s premier show the respect by launching a future core product there.  I like the thinking as it also shows they are going to get out of their current crisis by being a world brand.  And their press release accentuates this point:

“Rapidly growing demand for personal transportation across China is creating new environmental and energy security challenges,” said Kevin Wale, President and Managing Director of the GM China Group. “GM is committed to finding and adopting solutions, which include the electrification of the automobile. The world premiere of the Volt MPV5 concept in Beijing demonstrates GM’s desire to make China a global focus of its advanced technology strategy.”

To see the full press release, go here.  You can also view all car reviews of various GM vehicles at Honk.

GM is launching a new grassroots marketing campaign to reach out to minority groups across the country.  Dubbed ‘Ride and Drive,’ the campaign is designed to get people behind the wheel of GM vehicles without requiring a trip to the dealership.

Representatives from the company show up at places where large minority groups congregate and then let people look around and go for a spin at their leisure.  In some cases, GM is even offering incentives to take the cars out for a test drive.

The ride-and-drive events are so far being met with success.  A recent event had GM reps attend one of Detroit’s largest churches, the Hartford Memorial Baptist Church, after a Sunday service.  Parishioners were invited to test drive several Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac vehicles.  GM even went so far as to offer free inspections of child car seats by their own safety experts.

In an interview with the Detroit Free Press, Pastor Charles Adams explained that the event demonstrated GM’s commitment to minority causes.  He added, “We are encouraging our church members to take care of their community by buying locally. This is an ethical purpose that is beyond profit.”

At a similar event held in Los Angeles, the automaker reached out to the Korean-American community by showcasing the new Chevrolet Camaro, which was penned by Korean-born designer,  Sangyup Lee.  GM served up tasty Korean bar-b-que from a well known local food truck while patrons chatted with company representatives.

GM spokeswoman, Carolyn Normandin explained that the Ride and Drive events are, “helping to change the public’s perception of our brands,” and are giving people the chance to experience vehicles, “firsthand, on their own terms.”  Last week, Normandin hosted another event at a Detroit coffee shop where patrons were offered a $5 coffee card in exchange for spending a few minutes to sit inside the new Buick Lacrosse and learn about its key features and options.

GM’s Ride-and-Drive events are so far proving to be a great way to gain exposure to markets that are often difficult to reach through traditional advertisements.

Normandin notes, “We know some people have never been in GM products before, particularly for a division like Buick/GMC. We know one way to help people fall in love with our products is to get them into our products and get them exposed to it.”

Earlier this afternoon, Nissan began taking reservations for the upcoming 2011 Nissan Leaf, due in showrooms in December of this year.  Nissan hopes to fill 25,000 “pre-orders” in the next few months, practically assuring itself a successful launch.  As of this week, they had 115,000 people signed up to receive exclusive information about the car, including special invitations to order the vehicle prior to public launch.  And while Nissan is somewhat hush-hush today about the general responses they’ve received today, it seems that Twitter is showcasing that excitement with dozens of people tweeting their reservations. View the latest Nissan Leaf tweets here

Not wanting to be left out, I decided to reserve my very own 2011 Nissan Leaf.  And while I’m not totally sure it’s a car I want to buy in December, I wanted to “feel” what it would be like to *maybe* get one.  I was a little (very little) excited to get the email inviting me to drop $99 and my name for a place in line to buy one.   The invite was was supposed to arrive between 1pm-6pm eastern.  My email didn’t arrive until 5:30pm est, so I must have been on the bottom of the barrel, dirt bag list. Maybe they do a lottery again for who gets to buy and when.  Good old back of the line.  The email looked like this…  oooooh, I have a place in history.

I clicked on “Reserve Now” to see what was on the next page.  Nissan asked me a bunch of irrelevant survey questions, then presented me with a form to fill out.  I entered my name, ID, password, address, etc.  Next came the the “qualifying questions” :

Pick a Color – Ummmm, silver.

How Far Do I Drive? Well we know this is a qualifier.   Better say it’s 50 or less or I won’t make the cut.  I drive 20 miles so it’s the truth

What Type of Driving? Okay, keep it mild or they won’t let me go nuts on the car.   I’m a short commuter.

Where will the car be parked? This is a big qualifier.  I better say my own garage (which is true) so I can get my own charging station.  I bet this one places where on the order list you go.  Shouldn’t they ask “what type of set up will you have in December 2010?”  The car delivery is a ways off, so why not ask what people will have.

Qualified   We’re a good fit. While the questions were pretty intuitive, it’s good that they made sure their early adopters had the right set up and expectations going in.  Okay, now I have to fork over $99.  I can get my cash back any time.

Ahhh…. my official confirmation number (I changed it in photoshop) .  We are now standing in line for our Leaf….  Now, I don’t get the vehicle for 7 months+.  I’m not even sure I really want it by then.  Seems to me the Chevy Volt is much more up my alley.  Frankly, it’s far better looking and I have comfort in knowing that GM has a longer standing history in electric vehicle (EV) technology.  To me, the Leaf is homely and not very cool.  After a few years, I may just be the fool who’s driving around in a tin electric tin can with junk range, while all my friends are whizzing by in Teslas and Fiskers.  Hmmm….  My wife and I will decide what to do as launch gets closer, but for now, I’m happy to be in line.  I need to go to Chevroletvoltage.com and see if I can reserve one those bad boys.

As the butt of many jokes (“No Va” = it doesn’t go), the Chevy Nova is famous for the urban myth, not the car it was.  The reality is that the Nova sold fairly well in Spanish-speaking countries.  I can’t believe I bought that urban myth as a kid (as did Ivy League marketing professors across the country. ha!). The car was pretty cool in its first generations (we’re talking the 60s and early 70s).  My grandma had a Nova from the early 70s and I loved it. But like many American cars, the gas crisis forced Chevrolet to change the car into a funky, ill-proportioned, and downright boring hatchback.  The product folks certainly didn’t get a lot of help from the marketing folks either.  Check out the ad below.

Did you know the Nova was a go anywhere, do anything car?  I didn’t!  The creative minds at Chevy’s ad agency had a vision to position Nova as a car that can be a moving van, family hauler, camper, and even a luxurious party date.  The camper image with the bear “presenting” the car has got to be my favorite!  Ta-da! And the moving van image? “Hey, let’s call up Chuck to help us move this piano. He’s got that Nova”  Brilliantly silly and ridiculous.

The camper image reminds me of another do-it-all car brought to us by GM – The Pontiac Aztek.  Not sure why they couldn’t bring the cuddly black bear back for another appearance.

Luckily, GM is starting to get its products right again.  The new Chevrolet models are some of the best we’ve seen in ages,.  Let’s just hope none of them don’t aspire to be anything they’re not.

Chevrolet’s Great Engine Warranty

Hyundai, who made a name for itself by offering the longest warranty in the car business, quickly revealed that a great warranty is the secret sauce in changing the way people think about a brand’s quality.  But Hyundai was not the first car company to leverage this tactic.  Back in 1975, Chevrolet knew it had one up on their competitors.  Their amazing Dura-Built 4 cylinder engine was “so amazing and durable”, it boasted a warranty that was 11,500 longer that the 4 cylinder warranties offered by Toyota, VW, and Datsun (that’s the old name of Nissan for the youngsters).  It’s almost a it comical to think that Toyota and Datsun actually gave warranties of 12-20,000 miles on their engine, but they did. These cars are so classic.  I wonder what people would say about these new cars today?

I love this ad for a lot of reasons.  First, I love how they shot the cars in the Mojave Desert, with all its dried up dirt, to drive home the point that it can even last in the desert with not a gas station, human, or restroom stop in site.  It’s just you and your Monza!  But have no fear, the car won’t let you down.

Second, is that it reminded me how cool it used to be that we all described engines in cubic inches, not liters of cubic centimeters.  Since when did we Americans start to care about the metric system and why do we use it for wine, booze, soda, and engines? I loved those days when people talked about their 302 Boss and the 426 Hemi.  America used to be so proud of those big numbers.   Now, we talk in 3.0 and 4.6s.  I liked the big numbers better as it’s simply more American. Maybe Government Motors will push this initiative.

Third, I love how we used to be limited to an “engine warranty” rather than an entire powertrain warranty, which may include the transmission and drivetrain as well. Certainly, this progression of quality and competition over the consumer has benefited all of us.  This ad really reinforces this truth.

Finally, I like the fact that there was no fine print, so they had to be pretty descriptive in the main copy. In fact, advertisers seemed to use the main body of copy as the fine print. Today, there’s so many stipulations and restrictions that we have three areas of text…. the main headline, the copy, and the little print that tells us they may have quite possibly misled us with all their above statement.

Note: Hyundai’s 100,000 mile warranty is Non-Transferable

Speaking of warranties and disclaimers….

A Hyundai buyer recently told me how excited to find out he was buying a 2010 Hyundai Sonata.  He was especially gushing about his warranty and that he will never have to worry about his car again.  Yes, that’s a bit bold, but he was excited and so was I.  And while I was very congratulatory, I had to quickly warn him that her 100,000 powertrain warranty does have a small wrinkle in it. The big 100,000 warranty that is so well advertised is(a) for the powertrain only; and (b) the warranty only covers the original owner.  If you sell the car, the 100,000 warranty is reduced to 60,000 miles – which is the same as their still fabulous bumper-to-bumper warranty.  He didn’t know this, but was still thrilled.  After all, he felt amazing about his purchase and deserved a new car.  You can read his and other consumer car reviews on various Hyundai cars on Honk! Yes, I dropped in a shameless plug