I know it’s early in the day, but GM’s spinmeistery has ascended to new heights. When contemplating the failure that is GM’s California eBay experiment, GM’s vice president of US sales displayed a Glengarry Glen Ross-like inability to face the music. The facts: despite Automotive News‘ [sub] not-entirely-accurate assertion that the GM-eBay hook-up “lets consumers in California buy a new GM vehicle on the eBay Motors Web site” (every US state requires consumers to buy new cars through a dealer), the program has converted only 50 out of 16,000 listings. In total.
Oh my God. You blew it up! You really did it. Damn you all to hell! Well, actually, I don’t think anyone is THAT bothered about Buick’s future these days, as the sales charts indicate. Still, it’s a shame, isn’t it, that the once-mighty doctor’s brand has become the dictionary definition of amorphous. I mean, a compact Buick? Why? During her live webchat in the FastLane, Buick/Pontiac/GMC supremo Susan Docherty offered no explanation for the company’s plans to introduce not one but two models below the LaCrosse, in both size and price. Chevy overlap? Well I never. Nor would the Old GM vet answer the question “will future production vehicles will be designed for Buick and not simply rebadges from other brands?” But the badge engineering question simply refuses to go away, for some reason. csmcars asks “Susan, GM has eliminated a lot of redundant models in its recent restructuring. Why continue to have both GMC and Chevrolet versions of so many truck models? Will GMC trucks be further distinguished from Chevy trucks? Or will Chevrolet become more of a car-focused brand?”
Sigh. On one hand, you have to give the brains behind Moller Skycar (guess who) credit for not giving up. On the other hand, enough already. The dream of personalized airborne transportation is a fund-raising MacGuffin. The company’s latest salvo in the BS wars: Moller Skycar Goes to War! Or, as the press release puts it, “Moller is pleased to announce today that its Skycar technology has gained ground within the military for its use in high-tech, demanding battlefield applications like those in Afghanistan.” Apparently, one Lieutenant Colonel James Thomas, 304th SB, 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, recently issued white paper entitled “Winning an Asymmetric War with Skycars.” Google loves the story, but offers-up no such report or background on Col. Thomas. Still the press release, quotes from the heretofore unknown document:
Dodge doesn’t compete in NASCAR to test new technology. Nor does NASCAR highlight fundamental attributes of Dodge vehicles the way, say, Subaru’s rally competition does. So why stick around when resources are so tight? “NASCAR fans love performance and Dodge fans love to win,” explains Michael Accavitti, Director of Dodge Brand and SRT Marketing at Chrysler Blog. “It’s always been a match made in heaven and we intend to remain involved in the NASCAR sport for the foreseeable future.”
Allpar reports that Chrysler is dropping its lifetime warranty offer in favor of a five year, 100k-mile powertrain warranty (in addition to the standard three year, 36k mile bumper-to-bumper warranty). Unlike the lifetime offer, the new warranty will be transferable. Will it be enough to rescue ChryCo’s plummeting resale values? It couldn’t hurt, although the lifetime offer also helped Chrysler sell a deal (and who buys a Chrysler for the car?). Another change is that SRT vehicles now qualify for the new warranty. All of which is a bit strange considering that under the lifetime deal, Chrysler actually reduced its warranty cost projections.
While Automotive News [sub] trumpets the fact that “Cadillac Joins Lexus atop Study of Customer Satisfaction,” our experience with all manner of stat house slickery behooves us to dig a little deeper into the subject. [“league table” here.] While we eagerly await Mr. Karesh’s analytical evisceration, I’d like to share some relevant facts. First, although the “see there IS a perception gap” study is called the American Customer Satisfaction Index™, it hails from the University of Michigan. Second, it’s a racket. The academics behind the index charge companies a $35K “corporate subscription price.” If you don’t work in automotive, no problem! The ACSI covers 44 industries! Oh, and the US government. Third, methodology (as above) . . .
Ahem . . .Automotive News [sub] reports that VW is seeking a new ad agency, after four years with Crispin Porter & Bogusky. “Our goal of rapidly increasing our volume in a mature market requires the Volkswagen brand to evolve into a more relevant mainstream choice,” explains VW VP Marketing Tim Ellis.
The Volkswagen brand needs to inspire our base of enthusiasts as well as reach out and captivate those in mainstream America. Therefore, we are re-evaluating all areas of our business and after careful considerations have decided to take the necessary steps to ensure we have the right agency partner in place.
After all, VW is kind enough to dumb down its product line (cough) for America’s benighted mainstream. The problem must be the ads!
Just as GM is prepping a green themed “230” Volt hype campaign, comes word from Automotive News [sub] that green is so 2003. “For all the talk about green vehicles,” intones the industry rag, “blue is the new color of choice to embody clean driving.” Did you think that Mercedes BlueTec and VW/Audi’s “AdBlue” names came from the blue tint of their diesel-emissions-treating urea fluids? Nope. “The color blue is associated with freshness, dynamism and lightness,” say VW flacks. And according to Hans Tempel, president of Mercedes-Benz Japan, “Blue perfectly encapsulates the cool, clear sky of a world unsullied by greenhouse gases.” Gagging yet? The best eco-chromatic marketing analysis awaits post-jump.
Folks are a bit confused by these mysterious ads. The giveaway is the music, which reveals the spot to be part of the Volt campaign, but what is 230? It would seem that 230 could well be the Volt’s EPA MPG rating, a number which will be useful only to GM’s relentless hype campaign. After all, no single portion of the EPA test cycle is longer than 11 miles, meaning EREVs get their own testing method (summarized after the jump). But as Ad Age puts it, “why run a teaser campaign for a car that doesn’t go on sale until next year — and one that’s been known about for some time? After all, the marketer has been beating the drum for the car for more than a year.” Because that’s the Volt Way. Meanwhile, 230 MPG? Really?
It’s been a while since Ford had a halo car. The GT got the sighs of admiration but was more of a monument to Ford’s past than to its present. If nothing else, the F-150 Raptor gives Ford trucks a Baja 1000-competitive glow (3rd place in Class 8, “race prepped”). Besides, it actually attracts paying customers. Like . . . the government! “Multiple sources reveal” to pickuptrucks.com that the US Border Patrol is considering the purchase of “at least 10” of the $38K base trucks. The one catch is that Border Patrol wants “work truck” interiors instead of Ford’s standard “class leading” finery. Can’t you see Howie Long rolling his eyes about that one? But hey, Ram and Silverado are both built in Mexico (among other places), so at least the Raptor is the least irony-charged full-sized border guard truck. Still, is “the immigration issue” as easily solved as a factory offroad special?
Automotive News [sub] reports that GM Ad Czar Bob Lutz is large and in charge of the nationalized automaker’s ad campaigns. The combative former Car Czar has a favorite ad [this one] and . . . a plan! From now on, New GM will—
— Change the way it works with its agencies. Lutz will take an early and active role in directing the creative work.
— Shift to more product-driven advertising.
— Give vehicle designers a powerful influence over the look of advertising.
— Develop viral ad campaigns that rampage through the Internet. “It’s got to be a funny story; it’s got to be humorous; it’s got to be unexpected,” Lutz says.
— Conduct high-level weekly meetings to decide budgets and spark marketing ideas. The meetings will include brand leaders; Ed Welburn, the global design chief; Chris Preuss, the head of public relations; Betsy Lazar, the executive director of advertising and media operations; and a top finance executive.
And if that doesn’t do it, nothing will! Just kidding. I’m no Ad Czar, but even I know something is better than nothing. If only just.
Ford’s taking a page out of its own history (and Hyundai’s playbook), positioning the refreshed Ford Taurus’ talents against significantly more expensive competition. According to The Detroit News, “In one spot, the Taurus and the $67,000 Infiniti M45X have their radar systems challenged by an obstacle course and a pair of aggressive drivers. It is designed to show the [$26k starting] Taurus’ blind-spot detection system, which the Infiniti doesn’t have.” Passive construction aside, props to Bryce G. Hoffman for getting Infiniti to play the dozens with The Blue Oval Boyz. “We’re flattered that Ford would pick us,” Infiniti spokesman Kyle Bazemore to the DetN. “But features don’t tell the whole story. The M45X is a world-class luxury sedan. Our entry-level Infiniti G beat the Taurus in a head-to-head test by Edmunds.com.” ZING! Point – counterpoint on Lexus after the jump.
You may recall that GM’s Marketing Maven spent forty-minutes or so “crapping” on GM’s current ads before jetting off to Montserrat. After sipping a Piña Colada and walking in the rain, Lutz returned to assure GM’s nervous ad agencies that the status remains quo. (Quel surprise!) Automotive News [sub] reports that the former Car Czar “has no immediate plans to review or fire the automaker’s advertising agencies even though he publicly criticized a recent Buick ad campaign.” Apparently, Maximum Bob declined to specify a deadline for the mad men to get their shit together. But he “acknowledged GM needs to move fast — within the next three to six months — to improve the public’s perception after it spent 39 days in federal bankruptcy protection.” Now why they’d have to go and mention that? Jeez. Anyway, three to six months is a pretty big window from which Leo Burnett and friends will not get defenestrated. And boy, do we have some primo Lutzisms after the jump.
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