- Posted on Tuesday, May 30th, 2006 at 1:51 pm
GM’s Buzz-Worthy Cars
The fact that different demographic segments of the population have different preferences as consumers comes as no surprise. College students prefer different types of entertainment, clothing, and music than their parents. Members of Generation X drive different cars than members of Generation Y. Accordingly, the “buzz” surrounding 2006 vehicles differs greatly among demographic groups.
Two of these groups — Generation X (those born between 1965 and 1976) and Generation Y (those born between 1977 and 1986) — rank GM vehicles as being the most “buzz-worthy” 2006 cars among their peer groups. The recently released 2006 AutoVIBES Demographics report, from Harris Interactive and Kelley Blue Book Marketing Research, shows that the most “buzz-worthy” new nameplate for Generation X is GM’s Hummer H3, and for Generation Y is GM’s Chevrolet Cobalt.
AutoVIBES examined 49 new nameplate launches in 2005, 25 of which were domestics. “Domestic manufacturers have recently introduced some exciting new products that are catching the eye of many consumers,” according to Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and market analyst for Kelley Blue Book and kbb.com.
Other GM models that fared well in the report: the Pontiac Solstice, which was rated high by all groups for being “exciting,” “youthful” and “imaginative”; the Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac DTS, which were the second and third highest rated “buzz-worthy” cars among pre-Baby Boomers (born 1945 and earlier); and the Hummer H3 (again), which was considered the most “buzz-worthy” nameplate among SUV considerers.
8 Comments
Stanley Shih
The Cobalt is a solid car. I drove a rental and was very impressed as a Gen Xer (born 1976).
The bad news is that since the Cobalt was released, the trendier Civic and more interesting Dodge Caliber have surfaced. Soon the new Nissan Sentra will be released as well.
I was interested to hear Pontiac releasing a G5. I imagined a tight, smaller G6 and was immediately interested. Then I saw that it was exactly the same as a Chevy Cobalt and I was immediately bored. Oh well. They can’t all be buzz-worthy, I guess.
Travis Ayres
“Buzz worthy” - I don’t see anybody talking about the cobalt like they want one. The Cobalt is the car you get if you can’t afford anything better.
I agree with Stanley, the new Civic and Caliber are far more interesting, and the G5 is badge engineering at its worst.
Also - anything that you can generally get as a rental car is considered boring.
GO GM. Way to spice it up. How about a cheap, RWD pontiac? No? Ok, how about… a rebadged FWD chevy with no real performance to speak of? YAY FOR SAVING PONTIAC!
You guys are a group of geniuse.
Frank
Im Gen Y and if you ask me the G5 is a joke! There is nothing at all about that car that makes me want to buy it. Its not aggressive, its not cool, its basically about as blah as it gets. Hasnt GM learned that mediocre styling (cough GTO)isnt going to sell! Give it some character, make it tough, and dont skimp on the horsepower! If the current G5 is the best that you guys can do, then you better start writing Pontiacs eulogy now.
Mr. Langlitz (Germany)
Concerning the two comments before:
As I could read yesterday, there are already concrete plans to create an all-new lineup for Pontiac within the next few years, which is totally different from the current Pontiac-portfolio. So, why should it make sense, to develop the G5 as an separate vehicle, when it’s just intended as a model during the transition? On the other hand Pontiac has to fill up the gap, which had been left after the phase-out of the Sunfire. In my opinion badge-engineering is reasonable in this case, because it simply saves money. By the way, badge-engineering can also be found at other manufactures. I still remember, already in the 70s, here in Germany, when the VW Polo and the Audi 50 used to be identical twins. Or remember a previous Mazda 121, which was absolutely the same car like the former Ford Fiesta. For sure, there are even more examples. So, I think, it’s not fair only to attack GM for something, other car-companies do the same way.
Pierre Roberge
I think GM should understand that you cannot control your brand directly. The brand is the sum of all experiences that consumers and non-consumers have with GM. The brand is not a name of a logo, it is what we see when we look at the black dots GM cars have in consumer reports. It is the sound of the Cobalt engine that sounds like a sewing machine. ETC.
What you can control is the reliability of your cars, the driving pleasure, the refinement and the looks. Fix that and the GM brand will be improved like magic.
Stacy Neuhouse
Larry,
While I applaud your efforts to try to put a new face on GM, all the R&D in the world will fall short in implementation since the GM purchasing organization is instructed to buy the cheapest junk they can source. Product is no longer sourced based upon technology, quality, service and price. It’s price, cost reductions, givebacks, current cost savings and China manufacturing. You’re not going to take back market share or maintain any semblance of a leading position on anything with this purchasing virus that has also infected the engineering and marketing organizations. You still have time Larry but you need to act fast.
Doesn’t anybody but Bo have a say in how business is conducted anymore? What is the point of investing R&D dollars for products that will never come to fruition? You really need to get down into the trenches to find out what is going on.
R.L. Herron
“Gen-X” and “Gen-Y”…who cares about those media labels?! Every “Gen” - even the old fuddy-duddies - want a vehicle with some *passion* to it. GM knows how to do that. Look at cars they make like the Saab 92X. Small by US consumer standards, but with good looks bolstered with turbo-charged 4-cylinder engine in a vehicle that *feels* tight and handles extremely well! Can they do all that in an affordable vehicle? Time will tell. The current Cobalt, despite the spin, and while a “solid vehicle,” does not do it! More good stuff is supposed to be in the pipeline, and it cannot happen fast enough!
gtjeff
Considering the huge amount of model renaming that has been done at GM, it is no surprise that they made the list, but at what cost? Lost brand equity, higher advertising costs and possibly alienating your customer base in the case of the bulldozer job done to Buick recently. The average Buick buyer is 62 years old, chances are they are resistant to change. If they bought a LeSabre, chances are the next car would be a LeSabre. Not any more. The senior population in the US is expanding greatly over the next 20 years, will Buick even be there for them?
There are highly successful American companies that GM could look at to improve their business model, one of them is SC Johnson. They have excellent brand management, take a long term view, maintain long time, well known brand names and thrive to be the number one or two brand in every product category they compete in-and they do it.
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