By analyzing new-car sales, surveying car owners and keeping count of political bumper stickers, they are identifying the differences between Democratic cars and Republican ones.
Among their findings: buyers of American cars tend to be Republican – except, for some reason, those who buy Pontiacs, who tend to be Democrats. Foreign-brand compact cars are usually bought by Democrats – but not Mini Coopers, which are bought by almost equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans. And Volvos may not actually represent quite what you think.
Category: Cars
Diesel Hybrids on the way
Vehicles with diesel engines typically get 25 to 30 percent more miles to the gallon than their gasoline counterparts, according to Charlie Freese, executive engineering director at GM Powertrain. Freese said the many factors that make diesel engines more efficient include operating unthrottled and more efficient oxidizing of fuel. Diesel engines also have a higher compression ratio, and the heavier diesel fuel has a higher energy density, according to Freese
GM Adds Line-in Jack to their Auto Music Systems
Wisely, GM has decided to support audio line-ins from any portable music device, starting this fall in a handfull of models.
Detroit Auto Show VR Scenes
Mark Houston has posted some very, very nice Quicktime VR scenes from the North American International Auto Show. If you like cars, you’ll like these scenes.
GM Auto Marketing: Find Your Style (Wife, Girlfriend, Mistress)
Driving back to SFO recently, I noticed this GM (General Motors) billboard. In essence, the message to Northern California drivers bound either for SFO or their jobs on the Peninsula or in Silicon Valley was:
- A Chevy SSR is for your wife.
- A Saab is for your girlfriend
- A Cadillac XLR coupe is for your mistress
- Visit www.findyourstyle.com to figure this out.
Advertising is often a useful way to peer into the soul of a company, or in other words, think about their dna and how the firm views its interaction with the outside world.
This campaign smells desperate to me. I’m reminded of Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy’s spot on statement regarding software: “The quality of a company’s software has an inverse relationship to the amount spent on marketing.”
I must admit that this ad campaign doesn’t click at all for me, from any angle. The whole pitch, including the website, seems like a lot of fluff. I visited the site and it promptly crashed my computer (PC, in this case). I tried again and it worked, although it later crashed just my browser.
Perhaps this all makes sense for some car buyers…..
I think GM would be much better off seeding cars to bloggers and schools for long term reviews (with the agreement that they write about their year or two with a sedan, minivan, SUV or sports car). This will take some doing, but I think it would be money well spent. Essentially, they need to route around the legacy media (see Bob Lutz’s notes on this).
Recent Rental Cars: Kia Amanti & Toyota Solara Cabrio
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First up, the Kia Amanti. Think of this car as Kia’s version of a Toyota Avalon or a Buick LeSabre. My points:
- Styling: Not for me.
- Interior: Not bad. My black rental had a grey leather and (fake?) wood accents. The controls were reasonable except the odd radio. Kia has adopted a display screen which monitors time, temperature and “enteertainment” options. I found it rather difficult to use. Time might solve this problem. The stereo’s sound system was reasonably good (Why don’t they add an audio in jack? iPod users would be much happier).
- Handling: I cannot make one positive comment on the Amanti’s handling. In a word – terrible. Far too soft for my tastes.
- Fuel Economy: I drove 76 miles, 2/3 of which were highway miles. I filled the tank prior to returning the car with over 4 gallons!
- Quality: The car felt reasonably well made, but, the very sloppy handling left an overall bad impression, along with the poor fuel efficiency.
The bottom line: would I purchase this car? No.
Next, the Toyota Solara Cabrio. The Solara is a two dour coupe based on the best selling Camry sedan. The Cabrio is simply a convertible version of the Coupe. I’m sure Toyota’s sterling quality reputation will sell many of these. My points:
- Styling: Not for me.
- Interior: Straightforward, easy to use. (Disdclaimer, I’ve driven Toyota’s for years, so the controls are quite familiar). The interior looked like the plastic it was. Functional but not all that aesthetically interesting. I thought the automatic transmission’s stick shift Mercedes-like pattern was silly. Stereo sound was not bad – again no sound input jack.
- Handling: Reasonable, but not great – a bit soft on the corners. I did have one major dislike – the cabrio has a rather large blindspot. Perhaps this is the nature of convertibles, but it’s a safety issue.
- Fuel Economy: I did not keep track of my miles.
- Quality: The car felt and operated like a Toyota, which is generally good. However, dropping up to $30K on a Toyota leads on to expect more. I think the Germans still have them on the fun to drive question (and styling).
Bottom line, would I purchase this car? No.
Toyota: The Car Company in Front
The Economist on Toyota’s automotive juggernaut:
THERE is the world car industry, and then there is Toyota. Since 2000 the output of the global industry has risen by about 3m vehicles to some 60m: of that increase, half came from Toyota alone. While most attention over the past four years has focused on a spectacular turnaround at Nissan, Toyota has undergone a dramatic growth spurt all round the world. Japan’s industry leader will soon be making more cars abroad than at home. It has overtaken Ford in global production terms and is set to pass Chrysler in sales to become one of America’s Big Three. In an industry strewn with basket cases, where hardly any volume producer makes a real return on its capital, Toyota is exceptional in that it consistently makes good returns (see chart 1).
Biodiesel & Willie Nelson
“There is really no need going around starting wars over oil. We have it here at home. We have the necessary product, the farmers can grow it,” said Nelson, who organized Farm Aid two decades ago to draw attention to the plight of American agriculture.
Nelson told The Associated Press in an interview last week that he began learning about the product a few years ago after his wife purchased a biodiesel-burning car in Hawaii, where the star has a home.
“I got on the computer and punched in biodiesel and found out this could be the future,” said Nelson, who now uses the fuel for his cars and tour buses.
Peter Bell, a Texas biodiesel supplier, struck up a friendship with Nelson after filling up one of the tour buses, and the business partnership came together just before Christmas.
Creating and Managing Change – The Car Business
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Queuing up at the local car wash recently, I was behind a guy in his 60’s who had a nearly new Cadillac CTS. While waiting for our cars to make the short wash trip, I asked him how he liked the car (the CTS has received many favorable reviews, as has the new STS – including the STS-V).
He has owned Cadillacs for 25 years and this one (CTS) does not ride nearly as well as his previous cars (big sigh). The older Cadillacs were known for essentially riding like a sofa. Personally, I like the direction they’ve gone with Cadillac (performance, efficiency, improved handling and interesting transmissions), though I’m not a big fan of the designs.
Cadillac is attempting to resurrect its product line and change the public perception (see their Led Zeppelin advertisements), something that is very difficult in any business, particularily with strong competitors such as Acura, Audi, BMW, Lexus, Mercedes and Volvo, among others.
In a related note, famed car guy Bob Lutz, #2 at GM and a former exec with BMW, Ford and Chrysler is now evidently blogging here [RSS Feed]. Interesting reading, particularily the opportunity he now has to interact with buyers, sellers and everyone in the GM supply chain. I applaud the effort and hope the result is better, more attractive and economical cars from the firm that used to have 50% of the US market.
Background Fat Link: Bob Lutz
Safer Car: Chevy Trailblazer SUV or Porsche Boxster
Malcom Gladwell wrote this useful article on SUV’s early in 2004. He asks and explores an interesting question about the perceived safety advantages of SUV’s:
I found that I was wrestling with the car. The protests of the tires were jarring. I stopped, shaken. “It wasn’t going where you wanted it to go, was it?” Champion said. “Did you feel the weight pulling you sideways? That’s what the extra weight that S.U.V.s have tends to do. It pulls you in the wrong direction.” Behind us was a string of toppled cones. Getting the TrailBlazer to travel in a straight line, after that sudden diversion, hadn’t been easy. “I think you took out a few pedestrians,” Champion said with a faint smile.
Next up was the Boxster. The top was down. The sun was warm on my forehead. The car was low to the ground; I had the sense that if I dangled my arm out the window my knuckles would scrape on the tarmac. Standing still, the Boxster didn’t feel safe: I could have been sitting in a go-cart. But when I ran it through the handling course I felt that I was in perfect control. On the straightaway, I steadied the Boxster at forty-five m.p.h., and ran it through the obstacle course. I could have balanced a teacup on my knee.