General Motors’
Chevrolet division is in the midst of an unprecedented product rollout,
introducing five new cars in the next eight months, a feat that could create
long-term goodwill for its mainstream brand, but has short-term challenges as
well.
Any vehicle launch is
a critical, all-hands-on-deck job, with pressure to make sure production ramps
up swiftly, with no quality issues, so there is no lapse in inventory at dealer
showrooms. Launching five vehicles in quick succession is five times the pressure.
And
call it bad timing, perhaps: four of the five new models are fuel-efficient
passenger cars (the fifth, a performance car) at a time when light trucks and
SUVs – not cars – are what consumers crave.
Is
the hapless GM out of step yet again? Not really. The fact is that Chevy is
doing fine in the truck department. Despite intense competition, its sales of
light trucks are up 20.2 percent so far this year, thanks to its big Silverado
pickup, its new mid-sized Colorado and continued strong sales of SUVs like the
compact Equinox.
Where
it could use some help is in its car lineup, where sales are down 14.5 percent
so far this year, vs. down 1.3 percent industry-wide.
All
five of Chevrolet’s new cars – the Spark, Malibu, Camaro, Cruze and plug-in
Volt – are vastly improved over their predecessors, with better styling,
advanced safety systems and cool technology like a built-in 4G LTE Wifi hotspot
and the ability to fully integrate your smartphone into the dashboard through
Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.
With features like
that, Chevrolet is positioning itself as a leader, not a follower, says Alan
Batey, the brand’s global chief and president of General Motors’ North American
operations.
But as good as the new
Chevys are, in a market obsessed with trucks and utilities, it will be hard for
the new cars to garner attention, much less grab market share from competitors.
Here’s
what GM can’t afford to do: slash prices or offer cheap lease deals to get
people to notice its new lineup. That’s a surefire way to undermine the brand
and destroy what goodwill Chevrolet has been able to create since GM emerged
from bankruptcy in 2009.
These
cars need to sell on their own merits. And there’s reason to think they will.
For
one thing, they look really good – and styling matters. “Since the introduction
of the Impala last year, Chevrolet has received praise from the media and the
car-buying public for its attractive styling,” noted Eric Ibara, a senior
analyst with Kelley Blue Book. That’s being carried over into the redesigned
Cruze and Malibu, which play in the heart of the mainstream market. “In spite
of the shift in volume from cars into utility vehicles, this is a major
enhancement for the Chevy brand,” Ibara said.
Even
if American buyers have turned to crossovers, the Cruze, in particular, is a
global car and remains incredibly important to GM’s strategy to extend the
reach of Chevrolet worldwide.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2015/06/30/chevrolets-new-cars-are-impressive-but-will-anyone-notice-in-this-truck-crazy-market/#21e57d3d41f3
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