- Posted on Thursday, April 5th, 2007 at 10:31 am
Checking in from New York
By Christopher Barger
GM Director of Global Communications Technology
Hi. I’m Christopher Barger, GM’s new Director of Global Communications Technology. My team is responsible for GM’s online communication and social media efforts, including maintaining the FYI and FastLane blogs. I’ve just joined GM on March 1 after spending my career in a couple of other industries; and since I’m new not just to GM but to the industry, I’m experiencing a lot of things for the first time — like auto shows, for instance. And since not many people get to be both “newbie” and “insider” at the same time, I thought I’d share a little bit of the experience of the New York Auto Show from the point of view of a newbie behind the scenes.
The first thing I saw this morning when we arrived was the reveal of the “triplets” — Chevrolet’s three new mini concept cars, designed by our studio in Korea. This was definitely an Event (capital “E” intentional), complete with dancers, a hipster emcee, thumping urban beats, and a trio of human triplets to match our automotive ones. Having never experienced a reveal before, I didn’t know what to expect … but this was just plain fun. I tried to keep my cynical “communications guy” hat on, but that wasn’t really possible; the dancers were a cool touch, they were very good, and the whole event felt like you were at a sports arena as the home team was being introduced. I got caught up in it, I admit it.
I kept hearing from people today that this reveal was “so unlike GM.” I don’t have past experience to use as a benchmark, but if we did something different than usual today my only thought is that we should do it again. It made the reveal feel even more significant — and more importantly, it made the reveal fun.
From a social media standpoint, this whole show has been a blast for me. I’ve come to GM from the IT industry, so New York was the first chance I’ve had to meet some of the bloggers interested in the automotive world. We hosted about a dozen or so over the last couple of days, and it was great to meet new people and a good chance for me to learn about the automotive world and the interests and concerns of those who follow us. One highlight for me was having Bob Lutz make 30 minutes of his calendar available to talk with the bloggers in an impromptu, informal chat session. It was the first time I’ve met Bob in person and I was as fascinated as the bloggers were by what he had to say. And I was really intrigued with the questions the bloggers had for Bob as well; no one was lobbing softballs, there were tough questions asked, and the conversation was really informative to me — both hearing the questions people have for someone like Bob, and of course hearing his answers. Very cool moment.
Another highlight was at dinner the night before; we invited some of our guests to join us at Metrazur in Grand Central Station for dinner with some of GM’s executive team. At my table, Martin Walsh (who leads HUMMER) ended up seated next to an eco-blogger. You might think that this was a recipe for trouble, but on the contrary, their conversation was respectful, was two-way, and I really thought their exchange of ideas and positions was great. Did they end up changing each others’ minds completely or get one another to do a 180? Probably not. But you know what? They were talking — and talking TO one another, not AT one another. That was really something, and it made the whole event worthwhile for me. If nothing else, we got a conversation started that might never have happened otherwise. And isn’t that what social media’s all about?
Finally, I had the chance Wednesday afternoon to wander the show floor a little bit after all the interviews were done. It was cool to see all the different vehicles on display — and interesting to note where the crowds were gathering after all the press conferences were over; most of them were not where as a newbie I thought they’d have been. It was great seeing people react to our vehicles — both the concepts and the production models — and interesting to me to see what other manufacturers had on the floor as well. I’ve never been as enthusiastic a “car guy” as many of you, but I think it’s safe to say that working for GM and going to shows like this one will make me one in a big hurry.
All in all, a great first experience for me — a lot of fun and a chance to learn what the excitement is really all about. If you’re in the New York area and have the chance to get down to the show, I highly recommend it.
Take a look at the reveal for yourself with this video:
11 Comments
zoey
what do you think about Shanghai auto show in China?
mg
I find it interesting you don’t post the gas mileage of your 3 new small cars. Is it possibly because they still can’t compare to the bigger Toyota Prius?
Jim
Your Experience Live site sucks — in trying to be cool and hip, it is incredibly difficult to navigate. I can’t figure out how to vote for the minicars. And by the way I don’t want to vote for them anyway, I want to vote for the Volt. And let you know not to put the super sports car body on it — just make it a good everyday car.
Adam Denison
I love how GM is trying to embrace to younger crowd with these mini cars. The whole reveal was very “hip” and innovative. Great job using social media to cover this. I’ll be in Detroit to begin work in the Media Bureau for GM. I’m even more pumped after reading your posts and watching this video.
harvey peever
I’ve always had good luck with gm autos in the past. looking to the future, a
electric/gas hybrid seems like a logical next step in the evolution of the car. what i envision is similar to what some car companies are doing now except adding more light weight materials and using better aerodynamics plug in recharging at home and at work may make the use of the gas engine virtually unnecessary in city driving. a user friendly retractable cord is something that is long overdue in presant cars in cold climates and would be a must for this car. solar cells integrated into the body could also help recharge batteries. they could also help heat or cool the car to a comfortable temperature prior to getting into the car. the higher the price of fuel which in my opinion should have an environmental tax added that could in turn be given to auto manufacturers make more environmentally frendly autos.
faris ohan
I like the design of the Triplets or trio(chevy’s new small cars) but i think GM is missing the point when it comes to design. I bought a Dodge caliber 3 mo ago because of its saftey features and its size combo. I would never get into an Aveo or the triplets because we are surrounded by Subarbans Tahoes F-150 and the Triplets would be flattened by a direct hit from the above, even hyundai is putting side impact air bags into thier cars and they are selling more and more of them. saftey is a big deal and the weight of the car a person is in counts during an accident.
Christopher Barger
Wow, I get snark over my first ever post! And here I thought it might take me a little while before people started snarking at me.
Regarding the Shanghai Auto Show, I don’t have a good answer for you yet; I haven’t been to it yet. That’s definitely one I’d like to see before too much time goes by (and yes, I know that it’s very soon this year).
About the gas mileage, they’re *concept* cars. We haven’t built them yet. You can’t really post mileage stats for a car that’s only in its infancy and doesn’t yet exist (though it *will*). That’s kind of like asking someone what color their future kid’s eyes will be, isn’t it? Give us a chance to build the car first?
Regarding the Web site, thanks for the feedback. I am going to pass it on to the folks who run the site. To be honest with you, I couldn’t figure out how to vote at first either.
The Volt… we’re going to build it, we’ve committed to it. We’ve said that repeatedly, and we mean it (despite the cynicism that’s out there). I appreciate (as does GM, believe me), your enthusiasm for the vehicle and I hope we can keep your interest over the next couple of years as we develop it.
But that’s not the only vehicle GM will offer. We’re looking at other solutions, including these mini-car concepts, and we’re trying to gauge which one people seem to like best. That’s what the whole vote4chevrolet thing is supposed to be about.
Thanks for the comments, everyone. I won’t always be able to address everyone — and I’m sure I won’t always tell you what you want to hear — but I’ll try to stop in when I can and at least address a few as they come in. Looking forward to talking to you all every now and again.
Noel Park
Snark? You haven’t seen snark yet.
How cool that everybody can go to dinner at Grand Central Station after the company lost billions of dollars last year.
Lay off the expense accounts, have a peanut butter sandwich, and figure out how to get the business in the black.
Paul
“I would never get into an Aveo or the triplets because we are surrounded by Subarbans Tahoes F-150 and the Triplets would be flattened by a direct hit from the above.”
Do Suburbans and Tahoes and F-150s jump into the air to come crashing down on smaller cars? If so, I’ve never seen it.
Besides, huge vehicles like that are going to get fewer and fewer as gas gets more expensive. And the best safety device your car could ever be equipped with is between your ears. Keep your wits about you and you’re far less likely to be in an accident.
“About the gas mileage, they’re *concept* cars. We haven’t built them yet. You can’t really post mileage stats for a car that’s only in its infancy and doesn’t yet exist (though it *will*).”
But surely GM could give us an estimate. I’m not excited over them because I don’t think GM is capable of a vehicle that gets over 40mpg. If you posted some details about the mileage or the engines for people who, like me, aren’t wowed by “hip urban styling,” I’m sure you’d see the cynicism drop.
And I wouldn’t blame anyone for being cynical when you have Bob Lutz saying that improving fuel economy means a car that costs $5,000 to $6,000 more than normal. It seems like GM is being dragged kicking and screaming away from their mostrous SUV cash cows. No wonder people don’t think you’re committed to anything that gets over 40mpg or weighs less than three tons.
(And why are blockquotes and HTML tags disabled on FYI?)
Gary Dikkers
Christopher Barger said, “The first thing I saw this morning when we arrived was the reveal of the “triplets” — Chevrolet’s three new mini concept cars, designed by our studio in Korea. This was definitely an Event (capital “E” intentional), complete with dancers, a hipster emcee, thumping urban beats, and a trio of human triplets to match our automotive ones. I got caught up in it, I admit it.”
Christopher,
That “thumping urban beat reveal” may have caught you, but curb your enthusiasm.
Bob Lutz has already indicated your company has no plans to sell the triplets in the U.S. because as a foreign-made car they wouldn’t do anything for your CAFE, and he says it’s also impossible to build a small car in the US and make any money.
As reported in the Detroit Press, 5-Apr-07:
“Lutz noted that the vehicles aren’t currently being designed to meet rigorous U.S. safety requirements, another sign the company isn’t likely to bring any of the three vehicles designed at GM’s South Korean design studio to the U.S. market.”
As reported in the Detroit Press, 12-Apr-07:
“Small-car mileage only counts toward CAFE if you build them here, and you can’t build small cars here at a profit,” Lutz said, explaining that foreign-made cars would count toward the automaker’s import fleet and its domestic fleet is where GM needs help.
More than 50 years ago, then-GM Chairman Charlie Wilson said “What’s good for General Motors is good for America.” I question whether that’s still true. Obviously it would be good for America if GM’s US workers could make cars that consume less fuel, and it would be equally good if your US dealers could sell them in this market, but it sounds as though Bob Lutz says neither are possible.
Best regards,
Gary Dikkers
Alicia Dorset
Hi Paul- Thanks for commenting on the FYI HTML, we’ve fixed the problem.
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