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11-25-2003, 03:38 PM
(08:30 Nov. 25, 2003)
Pontiac uses GTO as promotional tool; small-volume car gets big ad budget
By DAVE GUILFORD | Automotive News
GM officials say they will sell the Pontiac GTO as a true muscle car that improves on its predecessor's acceleration.
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Selling 18,000 GTOs annually for three years doesn't seem like too tough an assignment. But Bob Kraut, marketing director for Pontiac's revived rear-wheel-drive muscle car, says that's only half the job.
General Motors wants to use the 2004 GTO to upgrade Pontiac's performance image - and begin a resurgence of Pontiac's sagging sales. It will give the niche vehicle an advertising budget suitable for a high-volume nameplate.
"We may be targeting segments with the car that we want to interest in Pontiac," Kraut said at a media event here. "The GTO is a promotional tool for Pontiac. That's the way we think of it."
Pontiac needs some pep. It has sold 389,800 vehicles through October, down 12.1 percent from the year-ago period.
Kraut would not reveal the GTO's advertising budget, but GM can spend $50 million or more to launch a vehicle. For example, it spent $77 million on the Cadillac CTS in 2002, according to Competitive Media Reporting.
The Australian-built GTO will arrive at dealerships in December. Launch ads will debut during college football bowl games, he says.
A teaser spot shown on ABC's "Monday Night Football" reveals Pontiac's emphasis. The 30-second spot, created by Chemistri in Troy, Mich., shows a spinning, smoking tire with the message, "GTO is coming."
GM officials say they will sell the GTO as a true muscle car that improves on its predecessors' straight-line acceleration and adds responsive handling. Key competitors include the Mustang SVT Cobra and Infiniti G35.
The reborn GTO is a pet project of Vice Chairman Robert Lutz. He pushed GM to adapt the Monaro sports coupe built by its Australian subsidiary, Holden, as the GTO.
Aside from providing a spark for Pontiac, Lutz prodded GM to use its global resources and to move quickly. In less than two years, a team of Australian and North American engineers put a Pontiac front end on the Monaro, adapted it to U.S. regulations, added cold-weather equipment and boosted the powertrain.
Bob Reuter, GTO chief engineer, says powertrain changes were wide-ranging. Though GM's 5.7-liter V-8 is used in both the Monaro and GTO, the team increased the power from 302 hp to 350 hp.
Engineers spent a lot of time replicating the rumble of the original GTOs built from 1964 to 1974, he says. They also tweaked the manual and automatic transmissions to enhance torque and added all-weather high-performance tires.
But the tight timetable and emphasis on powertrain came at a cost. Aside from the front-end treatment, the exterior styling is carried over from the Monaro, giving the GTO a middle-of-the-road contemporary look.
That angered some fans of classic GTOs, who bemoan the lack of nostalgic styling cues such as a hood scoop.
Analyst Art Spinella of CNW Marketing/Research Inc., in Bandon, Ore., says picking up styling touches from three decades ago might have drawn nostalgia buyers but would not have had staying power.
Using the GTO name, on the other hand, has the potential to create a lasting halo vehicle for Pontiac, Spinella says: "Retro styling has a short shelf life; retro naming does not."
One GM official says that redoing the sheet metal would have added at least a year to the time required to bring the GTO to the United States.
Kraut says GM had to set priorities.
"We made a conscious decision because of the short development time - what do you want to put your energy into?" Kraut says. "We wanted to put it into making it perform like a GTO. We couldn't do both."
GM plans to import 18,000 GTOs annually for three years.
The low volumes are partly dictated by Holden's capacity and relations with the UA W, which would oppose high-volume imports.
But Kraut says the plan just represents "what we're doing right now."
"This car is for the long term," he says. "It's a halo brand, and it's a brand that should stay in the portfolio beyond the life cycle of this particular vehicle."
http://autoweek.com/cat_content.mv?port_code=autoweek&cat_code=carnews&loc_code=index&content_code=00114588
Pontiac uses GTO as promotional tool; small-volume car gets big ad budget
By DAVE GUILFORD | Automotive News
GM officials say they will sell the Pontiac GTO as a true muscle car that improves on its predecessor's acceleration.
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Selling 18,000 GTOs annually for three years doesn't seem like too tough an assignment. But Bob Kraut, marketing director for Pontiac's revived rear-wheel-drive muscle car, says that's only half the job.
General Motors wants to use the 2004 GTO to upgrade Pontiac's performance image - and begin a resurgence of Pontiac's sagging sales. It will give the niche vehicle an advertising budget suitable for a high-volume nameplate.
"We may be targeting segments with the car that we want to interest in Pontiac," Kraut said at a media event here. "The GTO is a promotional tool for Pontiac. That's the way we think of it."
Pontiac needs some pep. It has sold 389,800 vehicles through October, down 12.1 percent from the year-ago period.
Kraut would not reveal the GTO's advertising budget, but GM can spend $50 million or more to launch a vehicle. For example, it spent $77 million on the Cadillac CTS in 2002, according to Competitive Media Reporting.
The Australian-built GTO will arrive at dealerships in December. Launch ads will debut during college football bowl games, he says.
A teaser spot shown on ABC's "Monday Night Football" reveals Pontiac's emphasis. The 30-second spot, created by Chemistri in Troy, Mich., shows a spinning, smoking tire with the message, "GTO is coming."
GM officials say they will sell the GTO as a true muscle car that improves on its predecessors' straight-line acceleration and adds responsive handling. Key competitors include the Mustang SVT Cobra and Infiniti G35.
The reborn GTO is a pet project of Vice Chairman Robert Lutz. He pushed GM to adapt the Monaro sports coupe built by its Australian subsidiary, Holden, as the GTO.
Aside from providing a spark for Pontiac, Lutz prodded GM to use its global resources and to move quickly. In less than two years, a team of Australian and North American engineers put a Pontiac front end on the Monaro, adapted it to U.S. regulations, added cold-weather equipment and boosted the powertrain.
Bob Reuter, GTO chief engineer, says powertrain changes were wide-ranging. Though GM's 5.7-liter V-8 is used in both the Monaro and GTO, the team increased the power from 302 hp to 350 hp.
Engineers spent a lot of time replicating the rumble of the original GTOs built from 1964 to 1974, he says. They also tweaked the manual and automatic transmissions to enhance torque and added all-weather high-performance tires.
But the tight timetable and emphasis on powertrain came at a cost. Aside from the front-end treatment, the exterior styling is carried over from the Monaro, giving the GTO a middle-of-the-road contemporary look.
That angered some fans of classic GTOs, who bemoan the lack of nostalgic styling cues such as a hood scoop.
Analyst Art Spinella of CNW Marketing/Research Inc., in Bandon, Ore., says picking up styling touches from three decades ago might have drawn nostalgia buyers but would not have had staying power.
Using the GTO name, on the other hand, has the potential to create a lasting halo vehicle for Pontiac, Spinella says: "Retro styling has a short shelf life; retro naming does not."
One GM official says that redoing the sheet metal would have added at least a year to the time required to bring the GTO to the United States.
Kraut says GM had to set priorities.
"We made a conscious decision because of the short development time - what do you want to put your energy into?" Kraut says. "We wanted to put it into making it perform like a GTO. We couldn't do both."
GM plans to import 18,000 GTOs annually for three years.
The low volumes are partly dictated by Holden's capacity and relations with the UA W, which would oppose high-volume imports.
But Kraut says the plan just represents "what we're doing right now."
"This car is for the long term," he says. "It's a halo brand, and it's a brand that should stay in the portfolio beyond the life cycle of this particular vehicle."
http://autoweek.com/cat_content.mv?port_code=autoweek&cat_code=carnews&loc_code=index&content_code=00114588