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Chevy Volt. A GREAT car, lost in space...

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joe.pistell

joe.pistell

Uncle Joe
Apr 7, 2009
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Joe
#1
Just spent 200 miles behind the wheel of a Chevy Volt.
VoltFP.jpg

I can't believe how well built this car is. The ride quality is great, the seats are fantastic, I could easily drive it cross-country with little fatigue. This Chevy Volt ride quality is so great it EASILY could be a Cadillac or a Buick, which leads me to...

MSRP of $46,000... for a Chevy?

Why didn't GM see the price tag, assess it's overall quality and give it to Caddy or Buick? This car so impressed me that I was giving it serious buying thoughts, but, I couldn't get past $46,000 for a Chevy! Toss a Caddy badge on it and I'm a buyer. Call it a "Buick Electra" and I'm a buyer. Toss a Chevy badge on it and it's $12,000 over priced.

Wow, what a marketing fail.
 
#2
If I had an extra $110k sitting around I'd get this Chevy.

The Volt is somewhat of a halo car, and it was branded under GM's mass appeal make.

I would also say optioned out Toyota Prii approaches the build quality of a Lexus, but its still branded a Toyota for mass appeal.

Despite Buick and Cadillac's recent offerings I still associate those brands with stodgy-old-man-mobiles... I bet I'm not alone.
 
#3
JoePistell said:
Just spent 200 miles behind the wheel of a Chevy Volt.

I can't believe how well built this car is. The ride quality is great, the seats are fantastic, I could easily drive it cross-country with little fatigue. This Chevy Volt ride quality is so great it EASILY could be a Cadillac or a Buick, which leads me to...

MSRP of $46,000... for a Chevy?

Why didn't GM see the price tag, assess it's overall quality and give it to Caddy or Buick? This car so impressed me that I was giving it serious buying thoughts, but, I couldn't get past $46,000 for a Chevy! Toss a Caddy badge on it and I'm a buyer. Call it a "Buick Electra" and I'm a buyer. Toss a Chevy badge on it and it's $12,000 over priced.

Wow, what a marketing fail.
Click to expand...

Chevy is the most visable, mass-appeal brand in the GM Lineup. This unit is purely a Chest-Thumper: look at us, look what we can do! In light of recent calamity, I fully understand: they could have called this the Chevrolet "Spin:" it's about positive branding in the marketplace - getting people talking about their product, and forgeting about their government loans, BK, etc. Think of its development as an advertising campaign. Sales? eh -- tertiary to it's initial intention.
 
#6
JQuinn said:
Chevy is the most visable, mass-appeal brand in the GM Lineup. This unit is purely a Chest-Thumper: look at us, look what we can do! In light of recent calamity, I fully understand: they could have called this the Chevrolet "Spin:" it's about positive branding in the marketplace - getting people talking about their product, and forgeting about their government loans, BK, etc. Think of its development as an advertising campaign. Sales? eh -- tertiary to it's initial intention.
Click to expand...


haha, Chevrolet Spin! Love it!

Hmm... ok JQ, what you're saying that this is like the Audi R8 being the flag ship to announce a whole new audi line was coming. I get that. But, right after the R8, came a shit load of new units (incl'ing those cheezy R8 LED DTRs). Audi was reborn.

What new products does the Volt connect to?
Buick's new 37MPG Lacrosse with eAssist would be a smart fit.
http://www.buick.com/eassist-fuel-efficient-technology.html?seo=goo_|_Buick_Awareness_|_Buick_eAssist_|_Buick_eAssist_-_eAssist_|_eassist


What people does the Volt motivate?
Just like Art M says, Buick and Caddy still feels old. They need more young DINKs (Dual Income No Kids) to cross over into their upscale brand. Will a tree-huggin Lexus DINK ever jump into a Chevy?

FAIL.
 
#7
JoePistell said:
haha, Chevrolet Spin! Love it!

Hmm... ok JQ, what you're saying that this is like the Audi R8 being the flag ship to announce a whole new audi line was coming. I get that. But, right after the R8, came a shit load of new units (incl'ing those cheezy R8 LED DTRs). Audi was reborn.

What new products does the Volt connect to?
Buick's new 37MPG Lacrosse with eAssist would be a smart fit.
eAssist Fuel Efficient Technology | Fuel Efficiency | Buick


What people does the Volt motivate?
Just like Art M says, Buick and Caddy still feels old. They need more young DINKs (Dual Income No Kids) to cross over into their upscale brand. Will a tree-huggin Lexus DINK ever jump into a Chevy?

FAIL.
Click to expand...

Boy, you Used Car guys just don't get it! (tehe... LOL!! ;))

It's about IMAGE. (who was that, Nikon, Andre Aggassi?). It's about who has the biggest... ah, er... EGO, right?? Associate your brand with the "Best In Class" image.

Do you remember when Lexus 1st came out? What would you say, Joe? FAIL! :) But they concentrated on their image... look at them now. Hyundai anyone? Is anybody buying the Equus?? Noooooooo! But providing a $50K car with the same badges might just make that $15K car look a tab more palatable.

Branding=Image (Spin) -- WIN! The 1st and foremost thing an OEM needs is a positive brand image. Building the "Best-In-Class" is a nice way to do that...
 
#8
JQuinn said:
Branding=Image (Spin) -- WIN! The 1st and foremost thing an OEM needs is a positive brand image. Building the "Best-In-Class" is a nice way to do that...
Click to expand...


Brother JQ,
When it comes to spin, I live it. I've been spinning new brands my whole adult life. 3 different times, I started with a concept built to fill a need and made them into a multi-million dollar biz... WITH NO BANK$. Done it with Bricks n Mortar twice (old school) and done it online (new school). All 3 businesses are alive and well years later.

How many marketing thoughts have you shaped into a living, breathing business? Just lookin' for a lil' respect Bro ;-)


My Take:

  1. A Spin Doctor's end game is pointed at RINGING THE REGISTER. Agreed?
  2. Where ever the Volt landed (chevy/buick/caddy), it'd have Spin power. Agreed?
  3. Chevrolet has no product identity issues (ZR1 and 3500HD Silverado duallys with jake brakes and allison trannys)
  4. Caddy has the bad ass 550hp Vclass to call its own
  5. Buick has... what does buick have? It could use a little branding love!
  6. At $46,000, where is the best "ring the register synergy"... Chevy??.. NOT.
 
#10
Joe can you please go work for Buick! I would be the happiest man alive! I'm not sure how GM expects us to be a Buick franchise with basically three vehicles.

Buick has been an afterthought for years. It didn't bother me until losing Pontiac. We went from a high volume juggernaut to basically a high volume used car store. Very Sad...:(

It's time they either show Buick some love or kill the brand and just sell in China. The volt would have made a much better Buick however I understand their logic.

The Chevy brand was getting stagnant...they did need a "thump in the chest."

Moral of the story, you are both correct in your logic.
 
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