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February 28, 2006
A Quick Update from Geneva
Bob Lutz and Saab Aero X designer Anthony Lo
by Bob Lutz
GM Vice Chairman
I had fun last night here in Geneva when Saab unveiled its new jetfighter-inspired Aero X concept car.
Many design cues of the Aero X will find their way into production in Saab's future models. The front end, for example, or the very unique all-glass wraparound windscreen.
The media just loved it, and rightly interpreted it as a statement that GM strongly believes in a strong future for Saab.
It has taken a while, but we're solidly on track now with a strong and extended future product portfolio for our Swedish brand. All based on GM architectures, these products will be more "Saab" than ever before.
Today, the show goes on with the new Opel GT, a close relative of Saturn's new SKY which will be exported from the U.S. to Europe, and the world premiere of the Chevrolet Captiva, a great looking new 7-seater compact crossover SUV for international markets.
Posted by Lutz at 9:09 AM
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Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before…
By Bob Lutz
GM Vice Chairman
At the risk of repeating what I’ve already posted, I must share what’s top of mind today, and that is GM’s consumer consideration levels.
This issue, this question of how do we increase awareness, improve our image, and enhance public opinion of our cars and trucks, is weighing on everyone’s mind in this company, from the plant floors to the boardroom. We are all weary of hearing that “GM doesn’t have any vehicles that people want” or that GM “doesn’t excite anyone” or doesn’t have any products that are “relevant.”
Our cars and trucks have clearly improved, and continue to do so. And so has our quality and reliability. We have documented countless surveys and awards that bear this out, often right here on this blog but elsewhere as well, from Strategic Vision to J.D. Power to the Harbour Report to awards from various publications and organizations.
This month alone, we had two vehicles win MotorWeek Driver's Choice Awards (Solstice and Corvette Z06), two win Intellichoice Best Overall Value Awards (Corvette and Chevy Express 1500) and one of our brands, Hummer, take home the Autobytel Consumer Choice Award as the marque that saw the biggest increase in requests at its website and affiliations.
Our launch vehicles are continuing to do well in the marketplace, and we have high hopes for the upcoming launches too, like the Saturn Sky and Aura, for example. And yet, the coverage of our financial state continues to point out our alleged lack of cars and trucks that people want. All the while more than a quarter of the vehicles sold in America are ours.
Yes, we’d like it to be more than that, no question, and we’re working hard to increase the total. But the deeper issue is this question of our image, and this perception that nobody’s interested in our products. We can and will do a better job of advertising and communications in the traditional sense, but we need to step up our non-traditional communications and word of mouth, and get our message directly to the people on a grass roots level. This blog is one example — but we need more avenues, and bigger ideas. What do you think?
Posted by Lutz at 4:15 PM
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Flexible Pickup, FlexFuel
2007 Chevrolet Avalanche LTZ
By Bob Lutz
GM Vice Chairman
At the Chicago Auto Show today we unveiled the newest member of our full-size truck family, the 2007 Chevrolet Avalanche. I know it won’t be much of a shock if I tell you that many of the merits of our new full-size SUVs described in my last post apply to the Avalanche as well. And it will come as even less of a shock that I will be just about as shy in telling you about them.
But I’m only telling you what I believe… and what I believe is that this new Avalanche is another major step forward. Its exterior design has been cleaned up and refined. And it wears the new global face of Chevrolet, with the big Bow Tie centered on the twin-port grille. The interior, too, represents the improvement in craftsmanship and refinement that we in GM product development demand of all our new cars and trucks.
As with our new SUVs, you can find the hardcore product details and specs elsewhere, but, in addition to looking good and handling well, the most flexible pickup on the market is also FlexFuel. Several of the new Avalanche’s available powerplants have the ability to run on either gasoline or E85 — a mixture of gasoline and up to 85 percent ethanol.
GM has more than a million and a half FlexFuel cars and trucks on the road now and plan to add many more. We also announced at Chicago, through a partnership with Shell Oil and VeraSun Energy Corp., the addition of 26 more E85 refueling pumps at stations in the greater Chicago area.
That’s just one small part of our initiative to boost E85 usage and awareness on a national level. If you watched the Super Bowl you may have seen our new TV commercials designed to do just that, extolling the virtues of ethanol there among the monkeys and dancing food products. It may not have been the flashiest ad you saw all night, but, believe me, it was one of the most important.
Posted by Lutz at 11:49 AM
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Podcast: OnStar Turn-by-Turn Navigation
FastLane Radio host Bill Betts, the GM Communications web services manager, interviews Chet Huber, president of OnStar, about OnStar's new Turn-by-Turn Navigation service. It works like this: when a subscriber asks an OnStar advisor for directions, the advisor sends directions to the vehicle. The automated service verbally directs the motorist to the destination turn by turn. Huber also discusses how OnStar creates new services for each generation of hardware. OnStar's Turn-by-Turn Navigation will debut on the 2006 Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS in March and the Cadillac STS in the second quarter.
Download the MP3 (14.1 MB)
Posted by Editor at 11:28 AM
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