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Brand Name Equity - READ ONLY

25 messages,  Last post on Mar 26, 2008 at 8:23 PM

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Messages Page 2 of 3

#6 of 25 Re: Well..... [fezo] by steve_ HOST

May 09, 2007 (9:39 pm)

Replying to: fezo (May 09, 2007 7:17 pm)
something that would make me drop by the Chrysler dealer
 
SWB minivan.

#7 of 25 Re: Brand Name Equity [msindallas] by lemonhater

May 09, 2007 (10:17 pm)

Replying to: msindallas (May 09, 2007 2:20 pm)
I also think that it is short sighted. A bad car reflects badly on the manufater not just the name of the car. When I think of the 88 tempo, I don’t blame the tempo. I blame Ford.
 
If they had simple kept the old names the perhaps when the product improved then they might get some new customers over time.
 
Instead what I think it does is it makes the marketing work harder than it has to. Now you need to inform the public about the new car and what the price of the new model and who is this model for.

#8 of 25 Re: Brand Name Equity [rockylee] by lemonhater

May 09, 2007 (10:19 pm)

Replying to: rockylee (May 09, 2007 6:56 pm)
"Sure it's going to still take time but I feel in a few years people will once again say hey let's stop by the GM, Ford, Chrysler dealership and let's look at them also."
 
Try a few decades. It will take the domestics just as long to regain popularity as it took them to lose it.

#9 of 25 Re: Brand Name Equity [lemonhater] by rockylee

May 09, 2007 (10:20 pm)

Replying to: lemonhater (May 09, 2007 10:19 pm)
Try a few decades. It will take the domestics just as long to regain popularity as it took them to lose it.
 
I sure hope you are wrong.
 
-Rocky

#10 of 25 Re: Brand Name Equity [rockylee] by lemonhater

May 09, 2007 (10:29 pm)

Replying to: rockylee (May 09, 2007 10:20 pm)
Don't think so. I am just 32, and every time I hear the name ford it brings back some not so good childhood memories(i.e. Roasting cause the air conditioning is out AGAIN!). That experence is enough to make me not consider them again.
 
Back in the old days people used to talk about how good the Chevies and Fords were. Now it is Honda and Toyota. The only people that the domestics might impress will be thoose people who are teenagers now. And folks my age have got a whole lot of car buying years ahead. So decades.
 
Detroit didn't lose the game in the 9th inning. Instead, either they made product that was subpar in quality(ticking off future customers and repeat buyers) OR product that was not competative (Not getting new customers). Geting out of the deathspirl is easy. Climbing again is hard.

#11 of 25 Re: Brand Name Equity [lemonhater] by rockylee

May 09, 2007 (10:37 pm)

Replying to: lemonhater (May 09, 2007 10:29 pm)
lemon, wouldn't you agree pal, that their products are a lot better than when you and I were kids. I'm 28 years old.
 
My favorite cars back in the 80's and early 90's were the
I-ROC Z-28, K.I.T.T. Trans-Am, Grand National, and in the early 90's it was the GMC Syclone and Typhoon. The only other cars I' liked were the Fox Body Mustang Convertibles, and Dodge Stealths and of course the ZR-1 Corvette.
 
-Rocky

#12 of 25 Re: Brand Name Equity [rockylee] by lemonhater

May 09, 2007 (10:51 pm)

Replying to: rockylee (May 09, 2007 10:37 pm)
Oh I loved the K.I.T.T. Trans am but the problem is the current products often lack history(consant renaming) and the folks that ran due to quality ain't comming back no matter how good it looks. They found quality elsewhere and it is ten times easier to keep a repeat customer than it is to lure a new one in. I for instance think fondly of toyota and would have bought a yaris if I could be confortable in it.
 
 American cars are often quite nicely styled. They sort of have the reputation of being cars where the paint job is the most expensive thing on the car.
 
In addition the lower prices on the domestics rebates both hurt resale values and makes the car look like it is subpar even if it is not. (i.e. They have to give it away to get people to buy it.)
 
In short it took them a long time to lose market share(the 70ies) and it is still going on today. I don't forsee any wild swing towards the domestics. There wasn't a wild swing towards the imports. it isn't just make competive products and the people will come, it is make them year in and year out.

#13 of 25 Re: Brand Name Equity [lemonhater] by rockylee

May 09, 2007 (10:55 pm)

Replying to: lemonhater (May 09, 2007 10:51 pm)
They found quality elsewhere and it is ten times easier to keep a repeat customer than it is to lure a new one in.
 
GM, does have the highest repeat buyer percentage actually by quite a large margin than any other car company. So they aren't failing their. A honda owner is more likely to buy something else like a Toyota, next time vs. versa than GM, owners.
 
-Rocky

#14 of 25 Re: Brand Name Equity [rockylee] by msindallas

May 10, 2007 (1:17 pm)

Replying to: rockylee (May 09, 2007 10:55 pm)
Hi Rocky:
May be GM has the highest % of repeat buyers, but thats not the point. In today's free economy (in the US) if they depend on nationalism and buyer loyalty (is it loyalty if you need to pay the customer $500?) rather than quality and technology/reliability, it is difficult for their market share to go up. Sure, a honda owner will buy a toyota and toyota owner will buy a hyundai, everyone is free to find the best value for him/herself - for the automaker, it is the overall market share that counts.
 
As a customer I am not even trying to define/debate what quality is or should be. It looks like GM/Ford/DCX keep announcing - "Our cars are so bad we are ashamed of the labels we put on them, and we have built cars like that repeatedly". This mindset needs to change.
 
Hi lemonhater:
I agree with you - it's not the 9th innings. Imagine the Tempo of 1988 - lets assume it was not that good a car. Ford could have continued it - give it a new aerodynamic body in 91, a bigger and smoother engine in 94, redo the body style and suspension in 98, offer an optional hybrid drive system in 01, put goodies like Xenon headlamps and rain sensing wipers in 04 (I could go on), and it could have evolved into the best selling sedan in North America.
 
Somebody in the other forum is claiming "The new Malibu will kick Camry's butt". Good thinking, I like the optimism, but for all I know, in 2 years GM will discontinue it (not too many sales) and come up with a new impalibu XXX. Building reliability takes time, a model has to be around a couple of decades with proven performance for that, IMO.
 
I hope GM/Ford people are reading this thread. They could pick whichever car(s) is(are) their best selling ones, and stick to the model name for 15-20 years, evolving it. I will not claim any royalty or patent for this, I just want them to succeed. Best wishes, - MS.
 
PS on the lighter side: I am not an English major and I don't sell cars, so please excuse my spelling/grammar.

#15 of 25 Re: Brand Name Equity [msindallas] by anythngbutgm

May 10, 2007 (1:24 pm)

Replying to: msindallas (May 10, 2007 1:17 pm)
Yeah, the Malibu has the same equity as Taurus, Corsica, Lumina, Impala, and Sebring.
 
Rental fodder Has been since it won COY in 1997 "The car you new America could fleet build" .
 
Over 60% go to fleets, and what was supposed to be the "Fleet SPECIAL" the last time around was at 40%. I don't know why we should be expecting anything different cause the same comments were muttered when the last Malibu made it to the Rental lots...
 
Camry fleet average is around 12% and yet they sell twice as many as Chevy. I don;t think Toyota is worried about the Malibu making a dent in sales. They'll be fending off the real competition from the Altima, updated Accord and Mazda6 and the Fusion triplets instead.

Messages Page 2 of 3

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