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32000 messages,  Last post on Feb 14, 2013 at 7:24 PM

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#31769 of 32000 Re: GMC and Chevy [xrunner2] by uplanderguy

Feb 09, 2013 (10:47 am)

Replying to: xrunner2 (Feb 09, 2013 10:17 am)
For years, GM has been telling us that GMC was "Professional Grade". Is that supposed to mean it is better in one or more ways than their other offerings with Chevrolet?
 
Of course it does. Have you ever had an introduction to management class? It's called 'puffing'.

#31770 of 32000 BMW M3 and Camaro ZL1 comparison. by busiris

Feb 09, 2013 (11:06 am)

There was an article in this Monty's BMWCCA (BMW Car Club) Roundel magazine covering a comparison between the latest M3 and ZL1 performed at Lime Rock Park.
 
Overall, the car's likes/dislikes were almost identical, but the writer preferred the ZL1's manual transmission and brakes, but disliked the limited field of view provided by the ZL1 and some of the interior ergonomics. Overall, the writer said the ZL1 was a "great value for the money".

#31771 of 32000 Re: A Chevy comes in fourth [xrunner2] by busiris

Feb 09, 2013 (11:10 am)

Replying to: xrunner2 (Feb 09, 2013 10:09 am)
A newspaper in our region reported that Chevy Cruze came in fourth in 2012 sales in compact car segment. The Honda Civic, the benchmark auto for many years, was first with 317,909. The Toyota Corolla was second at 290,947. The Ford Focus was 245,992. The Chevy Cruze was 237,758. Elantra, Sentra and Forte came in at 202,034, 106,395 and 75,681 respectively.
 
I'm still amazed how many Corollas sell, mainly due to how outdated it is in comparison to competitive models.
 
Of course, they have really targeted their market and advertise it using terms like "reliable, affordable, economical".
 
Any model that sells over 200K a year is doing well in today's competitive market.

#31772 of 32000 Re: GMC and Chevy [xrunner2] by tlong

Feb 09, 2013 (11:14 am)

Replying to: xrunner2 (Feb 09, 2013 10:17 am)
For years, GM has been telling us that GMC was "Professional Grade". Is that supposed to mean it is better in one or more ways than their other offerings with Chevrolet? Or, was GM trying to suggest that GMC, rather than Chevrolet, was Professional Grade in that professionals, building contractors, supervisors, ranch foremen, etc drove GMC trucks and mere workers, carpenters, bricklayers, etc drove Chevrolets. Was GM trying to set up a class distinction?
 
...and that must mean that the Acadia is a professional grade family SUV.

#31773 of 32000 Re: A Chevy comes in fourth [uplanderguy] by busiris

Feb 09, 2013 (11:17 am)

Replying to: uplanderguy (Feb 09, 2013 10:46 am)
Corvette, Camaro, Impala, Malibu, and Suburban were in use in 1975. What Toyota and Honda names are being used now that were used then? Corolla, and Civic. Cavalier was used for 24 model years.
  
Toyota has dumped Solara, Echo, Tercel, MR2, Corona, Cressida, and more I'm missing for sure.
 
With the exception of Corvette (mainly due to its highly-targeted market), I wonder if long-running names really mean much in today's market.
 
From what I've seen, buyers don't really seem to put much stock in a long running name these days, although in years passed it certainly was a great selling point.
 
The car market seems rife with so many makes and models now.
 
Would Toyota sell as many units of the Carolla if they changed the name?

#31774 of 32000 Re: A Chevy comes in fourth [uplanderguy] by bpizzuti

Feb 09, 2013 (4:37 pm)

Replying to: uplanderguy (Feb 09, 2013 10:46 am)
Corvette, Camaro, Impala, Malibu, and Suburban were in use in 1975. What Toyota and Honda names are being used now that were used then? Corolla, and Civic. Cavalier was used for 24 model years.
  
Toyota has dumped Solara, Echo, Tercel, MR2, Corona, Cressida, and more I'm missing for sure.
 
Camaro, Impala, and Malibu were in use in 1975, then dropped, and eventually the names were re-used on new models. That's completely different from being in continuous use since 1975 like Civic, Corvette, and Suburban.
 
The Corvette and Suburban are successful models for GM. The names have positive equity and therefore were retained, like Civic, Accord, Corolla, and Camry, among many others.
 
Chevrolet has dumped the Vega, Chevelle, Chevette, Beretta, Corsica, Citation, Cavalier, Metro, Prizm, S-10, (S-10) Blazer, Cobalt, and Caprice. That's without touching the rest of GM.

#31775 of 32000 Re: A Chevy comes in fourth [busiris] by bpizzuti

Feb 09, 2013 (4:40 pm)

Replying to: busiris (Feb 09, 2013 11:17 am)
With the exception of Corvette (mainly due to its highly-targeted market), I wonder if long-running names really mean much in today's market.
 
Establishing a new name is basically establishing a new brand. It's expensive, first from the various researching involved to avoid trademark or copyright issues, and then the marketing campaigns that have to be built around building the name up.
 
Cheaper to keep using the same name, provided it hasn't generated too much negative equity by being on a bad car. Then you have to spend marketing money trying to shed the negative reputation. Which is not cheap, and as Uplanderguy can attest, not that easy to get doubters to swallow either.

#31776 of 32000 Re: A Chevy comes in fourth [bpizzuti] by fintail

Feb 09, 2013 (5:46 pm)

Replying to: bpizzuti (Feb 09, 2013 4:37 pm)
Also Celebrity, Uplander, Astro, HHR, Monza, Monte Carlo...I'll give SSR a break as it was meant to be limited run (I hope).
 
The Cavalier one is kind of sad. Kept it around for 24 years, then killed it - because they had eroded 100% of any brand equity it contained.

#31777 of 32000 Re: A Chevy comes in fourth [fintail] by tlong

Feb 09, 2013 (6:10 pm)

Replying to: fintail (Feb 09, 2013 5:46 pm)
The Cavalier one is kind of sad. Kept it around for 24 years, then killed it - because they had eroded 100% of any brand equity it contained.
 
You could say they were just too *cavalier* about it....

#31778 of 32000 Re: A Chevy comes in fourth [fintail] by uplanderguy

Feb 10, 2013 (3:54 am)

Replying to: fintail (Feb 09, 2013 5:46 pm)
Well, I guess you can't blame them for dropping a name when they don't build that type of vehicle at all anymore...like Uplander, Astro, HHR, and Monte Carlo from your list.
 
Even Toyota dropped Corona, then Cressida, which essentially became Avalon, and Tercel and Echo which were just basic bottom-line econo cars, not something like a sports model which just went away a la Supra.
 
And I'm not sure what caused them to add Scion, which doesn't seem to be anybody's idea of a great marketing concept.

Messages Page 3178 of 3201

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