The use of automotive journalism in car commercials never ceases to fascinate. For example, do consumers really consider Audi over BMW because Audi won three straight Car and Driver comparisons? Has an ad built around the winning of a Motor Trend Truck Of The Year ever “moved the needle” for an actual buyer? More importantly, does Autoblog Dot Com take actual decibel readings before declaring the Chevy Cruze’s interior “Lexus Quiet,” or is that just, like, their opinion? This is, after all, one of the most prominent uses of an automotive blog’s work in car television advertising to date… and for all the advantages that car blogs hold over the buff books, old-school, scientific testing isn’t one of them. On the other hand, at least our online colleagues aren’t quoted stooping to the level of Automobile Magazine, which apparently compared the Cruze to a Cadillac. But are Cadillacs “Lexus Quiet”?
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value is really determined by the checkwriter. those who can afford a CTS may feel the Malibu a better return for dollars spent and acceptable to their self image. blogs and mags aside, tho helpful indicators, those signing on the dotted line decide for themselves. the Cruze will succeed or fail based upon it’s own merits as seen by buyers.
Thanks. Interesting read.
For example, do consumers really consider Audi over BMW because Audi won three straight Car and Driver comparisons? Has an ad built around the winning of a Motor Trend Truck Of The Year ever “moved the needle” for an actual buyer?
Ssshh, don’t interrupt the circle-jerk. If nothing else, the flow of money keeps people employed and out of trouble.
“an affordable car that you might need but you won’t want…which won’t impress anybody at all, because it’s just not that desirable.”
-TTAC
I saw the ad on tv and there’s another problem with it that’s not visible on the clip. They flash the “$24,000 as shown” on the screen. That’s going to scare away a lot of people. They may want to re-shoot the ad with the $19,995 version.
$24K? Ouch. Why didn’t they use a $19,995K vehicle? It would look pretty much the same.
At MSRP, even an LS is noticeably more expensive than a base Corolla or Civic. Beyond that, the Chevy invoice for the car and for the options seems to be noticeably closer to MSRP than is the case for the Corolla. Invoice to invoice, the Cruze seems much more expensive, which suggests to me that the Corolla has either a greater edge in real pricing than the Cruze or that the Toyota dealer network doesn’t have to work overtime to screw the customer in order to make any money on the sale.
Or does Chevy do something to help the dealer out and the inequality isn’t as large as it seems?
Look at EVERY new car commercial. ALL CAR MANUFACTURERS do this, featuring the fully equipped car, announce the “starting at” price then note somewhere in the fine print the “as shown” price.
I guess I’m missing something here but apart from another opportunity to bash the Cruze and by extension GM, what is the point of this editorial?
I’m quite sure I’ve seen some of GM’s competitors show economy cars in their ads “nicely equipped” for a small premium over the base. A very small premium.
This is supposed to be an economy car. In fact, on our HD TV, it looked like the price as shown was $24,725. The base car is $16,250 or so. A base Corolla is $15,400, if I recall correctly. $24K is way out of “economy” territory.
And a $19K vehicle would look about the same. There’s no need for a $24K car and a scary price.
I have to agree with Jimal. All auto manufactures do this, usually showing the top of the line model and advertising the base price.
KixStart, 24k is probably too high for many economy cars, but the Corolla can be optioned to more than 24k MSRP.
At least using Internet auto journalism seems a bit more honest than touting an intentionally-misleading, we-won’t-mention-we-paid-for-this, “Consumer’s Digest Best Buy.”
With specific reference to citing awards, it may depend somewhat on what publication is behind the award. I know several retiree-types who don’t make a move without checking Consumer Reports. A good friend defended his purchase of the Ugliest Truck In Human History (the Avalanche) partly by resorting to the Motor Trend award.
It works the other way, too, though. Anything that wins either Autoblog or Car and Driver accolades is instantly viewed with extreme suspicion and prejudice, in my book.
My opinion is that many car auto publications, online and print, don’t review many aspects of cars with scientific data and it becomes opinions only. It would be interesting to know if any auto publications actually review the interior measurements of a car when compared to specs from a manufacture before saying one is more roomy than another or feels cramped when compared to X model. I am guessing that many do not.
“For example, do consumers really consider Audi over BMW because Audi won three straight Car and Driver comparisons?”
Sounds reasonable to me. A Car and Driver reader may have driven the previous generation A4 and found the regular suspension to be horribly unsettled and the sport suspension to be horribly punishing, while his test drive of the BMW 3-series left nothing but good impressions. Since Car and Driver had never been fond of that generation A4, when the new one comes out and actually beats the BMW in a comparison, the same reader may be more inclined to test drive one than if the Audi either didn’t appear in C&D or lost badly to the BMW again. It shouldn’t contribute much, if anything, to the decision to purchase an Audi, but it might contribute to the decision to consider purchasing an Audi.