“Their overriding challenge is: How do you manage eight different brands?” Well exactly. Dan Gorrell, founder of consultant AutoStratagem, understands that there’s only so much GM can do to promote any one brand or model when there are eight (minus HUMMER seven) hungry mouths (with over 40 models) to feed. No news there. The General’s inability to to trim its American ambitions has long passed the point where they can do much of anything about it (i.e. close or sell brands)– at least without without declaring C11. So the wind-down of what was once the world’s largest automaker continues on all fronts. Advertising Age reports the damage: “General Motors Corp. plans to cut its digital-media budget after dramatically increasing it in the past few years, the automaker’s North American marketing chief told Advertising Age.” Cutting as in no replacement. The Academy Awards are gone. GM Style at the LA and Detroit auto shows is gone. The Super Bowl is gone. So how much of GM’s $2b+ ad spend is left? GM’s Marketing Maven is characteristically cagey. “Mr. LaNeve said last week that GM has already implemented more than half the ad spending cuts it planned for the remainder of 2008. When asked where the reductions were, he said, “It’s 100 things. It’s a consolidation of promotions and getting out of some. It’s production, media, agencies, outsourcing contracts, structural costs and people.”

Forget the Colbert Report, the real comedy arrives when Maximum Bob comes in contact with uncontrived Canadian earnestness. George Stroumboupoulos gazes deep into the Car Czar’s eyes and asks him “what happened to the North American auto business,” with all the bewilderment the question deserves, Lutz fumbles around a bit before hitting the punchline. Not enough taxes! Seriously folks, the lack of European-style taxation and investment in mass transit created a “Darwinian Environment” in which people demanded large V8 vehicles. But Mr Lutz, didn’t Detroit benefit from cheap gas? And what do you say to those who accuse automakers of colluding with Big Oil? “If there is a conspiratorial relationship between the oil companies and the automobile companies, could we see our 50 percent please?” deadpans Lutz. Ba-doom-boom! Anyway, GM does sell small, high-technology, high-efficiency cars– in Europe. ‘Cause Americans won’t pay for them. Having “just looked at the numbers,” Lutz said the average Swiss transaction price on GM products was $42k. Switzerland? When George confronts Lutz with his “global warming is a crock of shit” quip, MB lashes out at his quotee and insists he must “plead the fifth amendment.” “You’re in Canada!” George reminds MB, and then draws the Czar into his sunspot rant. Up next: Vegas! [Thanks to emro for the link]

OK, I was a little pissed that I missed buying www.thetruthabouttrucks.com when I set up shop as TTAC. Ford scarfed the url, and they’ve done not much with it. But today I read that Ford analyst George “No Pictures Please” Pipas is using the TTAT tagline for his presentation on the new F-150. As I have a subconscious stimulus – response pattern for Powerpoint-style pdf docs that induces something roughly akin to total body catalepsy, I’ll leave it to our Best and Brightest to play “spot the spin.” My takeway: Ford research reveals that 38 percent of pickup truck buyers either are or are considering leaving the genre. Oh dear. Anyway, with F-150 models ranging from $21,320 (good luck finding a stripper) to $44,860 (what are you nuts?) and a lot of standard kit vs, the competition, Ford can legitimately claim to offer “the most pickup for the money.” You know; if you discount used. Or discounts. And Ford’s going to hype the Hell out of its SFE (Superior Fuel Economy) F-150, which gets 15/21. Is that enough to swim upstream? Doubtful. To paraphrase ELO, the best FoMoCo can do is to hold on tight to their share.

Ford F-150 PR presentation here

History records an era when a Cadillac was a no-compromise choice for well-heeled individuals seeking perfection. I remember the original import-fighting Seville’s refreshing blend of global proportions with acres of unabashed Cadillac style. What followed—neglect and shameless down market downplays– left Cadillac oblivious to its former “Standard of the World” designation. So it’s no surprise that the latest STS, nee Seville, doesn’t deserve to wear the crested wreath.

The Wall Street Journal reports that General Motors has canceled plans to build the seven-seat Orlando stateside, or bring a foreign-built version to The Land of the Free. “The canceled Chevrolet vehicle, code-named the ‘Delta MPV7,’ was originally intended to be built in Hamtramck, Mich., beginning next year, according to the auto maker’s recent agreements with the United Auto Workers union. The MPV, or multi-purpose vehicle, would have been based on GM’s compact-car architecture, but capable of seating seven people.” The program termination leaves the U.S. factory SOL, hoping to score Volt production (via federal low-interest loans, of course). The United Auto Workers (UAW) can’t be too pleased about recent developments, having acquiesced to GM’s “two-tier” wage system, increased health insurance co-pays, etc. in their last contract. “In recent months, the auto maker has suspended plans for several new models that GM told the UAW last September it would eventually build in North America. These suspended model programs include a new generation full-size trucks and sport-utility vehicles; large, rear-wheel drive luxury cars; and a redesigned flagship sedan, known as the Aura, for the Saturn division.” To be fair, that is one ugly-looking thing. And did GM really need another model? More interestingly, was the Orlando a head fake from the beginning?

It’s bad enough that VW decided to “create” the Routan, a rebadged version of Chrysler’s Town & Country/Dodge Grand Caravan minivan “built” for the U.S. and Canadian market. Now they have to try and sell the thing. WardsAuto caught-up with Bret Scott, product planning manager for Volkswagen of America. Scott began with a counter for the minivan’s terminal– as in a declining market share in a declining market– unhipness. “If they can get over the philosophy of owning a minivan, which we find a lot of people do, if it’s a cool Volkswagen, we think they’ll get into it and they won’t get out of it.” So what makes the Routan the Hotel California of minivans? German engineering! Well, some German engineering. Done in America. Presumably by Americans. “I think the biggest challenge for the Routan was not to turn it into a (more sporty VW) GTI because the temptation was very great. We wanted to make the purest Volkswagen minivan, but there are some hard and fast rules in the minivan segment that have to be followed with regard to chair height, comfort and off-center feel. VW engineers fiddled with the steering for more of a European touch and tweaked the standard suspension tuning, achieving 15% more stiffness than the equivalent Chrysler vans.” But why did VeeDub ditch ChryCo’s Swivel ‘n Go and Stow ‘n Go unique selling points, and still decide to charge more for the Routan than the Chrysler and Dodge products? Pass. Thankfully, there is an expiry date for this madness. “Under contract, VW will source minivans from Chrysler for five years.”

First, Toyota decides it needs a U.S. luxury brand. It builds an S-Class killer, then repackages its mass market products for upmarket tastes. Then ToMoCo decides it needs a U.S. “youth brand.” It imports quirky, customizable, low-cost Japanese market vehicles; then sells them to older people (and repackages them for their in-house designers’ college professors). Now the world’s largest automaker’s talking [again] about launching a Prius brand. “You could have a series of derivatives under the Prius brand name that would allow you to market product at a much lower cost,” Jim Lentz, Toyota’s North American sales chief, told the Reuters Autos Summit in Detroit. “There is a definite desire for us to do that.” Internally or externally? Or was this announcement simply designed to steal some thunder from GM’s Volt-shaped one hundredth birthday bash? After all, on the same day that GM said they wouldn’t make money on gen 1 of their plug-in electric – gas hybrid Hail Mary, Toyota said they’re aiming to sell 175k Priora stateside this year. Before the Ole Miss Prius factory comes on line. “Overall, Toyota aims to sell more than 1 million hybrids per year globally by early next decade, and would need to sell more than 600,000 hybrid vehicles of all types in the United States to meet that target, Lentz said. “To do that effectively, I think we need dedicated hybrids and I would prefer them under the Prius name,” said Lentz. So what happens to the hybrid Camry, Highlander, LS, etc.?

Episode 11: Creamsicle

As I stated in my post on the new Ford Fiesta, I’m a big fan of the current gen Ford Explorer. As Frank reports in his latest By The Numbers, the gas-hungry SUVs sales have rolled-over and died (so to speal). They’re down by 53.9 percent in August, off by 37.8 percent year-to-date. From a marketing point-of-view, Ford has walked away from the Explorer. When was the last time you saw an ad for one? Ford’s media site has just 11 pictures of the ’09  model, three of which show the sat nav head unit (the new gas cap also receives an honorable depiction). And yet the Explorer a profitable vehicle for Ford (still). It’s a safe, practical, comfortable, reliable, versatile machine. And it’s cheap (high 20’s to low 30’s for the V8). Is that so hard to understand? Or communicate? My suspicion is that Ford can’t launch a balls-to-the-wall “wouldn’t you really rather be driving an SUV?” ad campaign when it’s busy lobbying for umpteen billion of your tax dollars to, at least in theory, build plug-in electric hybrid diesel-powered E85-compatible hydrogen fuel cell gas sippers. It’s a shame, because the Explorer is exactly the kind of highly-evolved, maximum brand equity vehicle Ford should be building. And selling.

Pontiac G8 vs M5

Is TTAC’s influence spreading like butter on toast? David Welch of Business Week seems terribly underwhelmed by GM’s “Facts and Fiction” website. He believes that, in theory, it’s a good idea. In practice, he gives GM a right, royal kicking. “But the site itself is mostly unconvincing.” he writes, “In one entry, GM scoffs at the notion that the company ‘still doesn’t make cars that people want to buy’. As proof, GM cites that sales for cars like the Chevy Cobalt are up 10% this year. Malibu sales are up 32%. Yawn. Most of the company’s new vehicles have won praise from the motoring press. Why not refer to a good review in, say, Car and Driver?” Ouch! But wait, there’s more! He then questions GM’s version of events, ass-kicking style. In the “GM didn’t anticipate the shift towards fuel efficient vehicles” section, he points out that while the Saturn Aura and Chevrolet Malibu are good cars, they came to market AFTER the fuel jumps. “When GM got in trouble in 2005, it spent extra money to rush its large SUV’s to market, not its cars.” Even Toyota get an honourable mention, “And the company didn’t make a push to get advanced hybrids to showrooms until it had lost the technology image game to Toyota. That’s reaction, not anticipating.” His pièce de résistance: GM’s so-called evidence to support their claims. “There are five of them (websites and blogs) and all come from the company’s PR staff.” It’ll be interesting to see Bob Lutz’s reaction to all of this. “Business Week? It’s a crock of shit!”

Scion is still pushing the individualist, customized youth brand schtick. The melodramatic ad above– which one can only hope is meant in a tongue-in-cheeck tone– once again flogs the tuner car image and notion of a Scion owners’ community. There’s no question that Scion’s lineup has some character– even if the linch-pin xB was diluted beyond recognition last year. But pursuit of the Fast and the Furious set is so five years ago. A company with clever small cars, small engines, decent MPGs, practical hatchbacks, and low no-haggle MSRPs should be selling itself as just that. Or, to quote former Scion exec and current Lexus exec Brian Bolain, “If we could relaunch Scion, I wouldn’t ever have called it a youth brand, because it’s a kiss of death.” So why didn’t the ad department get the memo?

Get this. Under GM's Employee Pricing for Everyone sale, a buyer can cash-in any GM Card towards a new purchase/lease. That is, unless you're are a GM employee/retiree. No really; they're excluded from the program. In fact, if GM discovers any such transaction later, the dealer is faces a "chargeback" for the card dollars and all other applicable incentives. An MI dealer tells us that "even if you deliver the car without a code and just use GMS pricing that anyone gets, you lose." Meanwhile, The Detroit News reports that GM is going after employees who transferred their employee discounts to non-employees. Before the Employee Pricing for Everyone sale, of course. "The automaker… simultaneously filed three lawsuits alleging fraud as the company cracks down on employees, retirees and widows giving discounts to nonrelatives, according to court documents. Along with other recent lawsuits, the automaker is suing for more than $450,000 plus costs and attorney fees." Or more. "It was unclear Friday how many cases have been filed nationwide and a GM spokesman did not know how often the automaker files such cases. GM's lawyer, Michael Clawson, could not be reached… The timing of the lawsuits, three of which were filed on or after Aug. 20, the day GM extended the employee discount to everyone, is coincidental, company spokesman Tom Wilkinson said." And really lousy, I might add. 

First the Ranger gets a new lease on life and now the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor follows suit. According to a Ford-issued memorandum via its "Government Sales Manager", the loyal soldier that's financed Dearborn's D3-bodied crater is confirmed for production until 2011. According to the release (via Police Fleet Manager ) the "new" Interceptor gets standard power adjustable pedals and seat-mounted head airbags. Looks like Ford found a way around the curtain airbags, keeping bad guys locked away in the back seat with the cop's noggin still protected in a side impact or rollover. Besides getting the ancient Panther Platform to comply with the mandatory head protection requirements, maybe Mullaly and Co. actually believe in process improvement. Or not. Our own RobertSD knows the way Fordward is with a new global RWD platform now set for a 2012 release. For its sake, it better be a brick shithouse, cause its got some mighty big shoes to fill.