Chevrolet Cruze Top Choice Over Civic and Corolla in HGTV.com ‘Car Hunters’ Challenge

CHICAGO – Beginning today, fans of HGTV’s “House Hunters” can watch as car shoppers compare the Chevrolet Cruze, Honda Civic, and Toyota Corolla. The “Car Hunters” videos featured on HGTV.com and in television advertising follow participants during an independent test as they choose the car that best fits their needs.

After the in-depth evaluation, more people said they were likely to buy a Cruze than Civic and Corolla, combined.

The Car Hunters challenge is an example of how Chevrolet plans to introduce the all-new Cruze to consumers who may not think of Chevrolet when shopping for a small car.

For the U.S. market, the Cruze is built in Lordstown, Ohio. Starting at $16,995, including destination, Cruze offers compact-car buyers class-leading standard safety features, class-leading 42 mpg highway fuel-economy with the Cruze Eco model, and more refinement than more-established competitors. In fact, the biggest challenge Cruze faces is its name.

“Cruze is an all-new model, and an all-new name, entering an incredibly competitive segment,” said Chris Perry, vice president, Chevrolet marketing. “To help make the Cruze a success, we are aggressively pursuing opportunities like ‘Car Hunters,’ where compact-car shoppers can compare the Cruze directly to the competition. When they do, we believe most customers will decide that Cruze is the best car for their money.”

To ensure unbiased test results, GfK conducted the test with no involvement from Chevrolet. GfK purchased comparably equipped test vehicles from local dealers, with each car falling into a price range of $22,000 - $24,700. GfK also selected the participants, each of whom was in-market for a compact sedan.

The car shoppers were presented similar information for each vehicle, and took all three cars on identical test drives. After the in-depth comparison test, each participant was asked to pick the vehicle they were most likely to purchase.

“Each vehicle was represented equitably,” said Alan Czarnomski, GfK executive vice president, “enabling participants to make unbiased decisions about which vehicle best fit their needs.”

Of the 26 participants, 16 picked the Cruze as their favorite vehicle. Eight selected the Honda Civic, and one selected the Toyota Corolla. Participants were informed of Chevrolet’s involvement only after they had made their vehicle selection.

Videos of the participants will be featured at www.carhunterschallenge.com, as well as in television advertising. The Car Hunters spots allow viewers to follow people through the car-buying process, just as HGTV’s hit show “House Hunters” follows people through the house-buying process.

Such efforts will play a key part in Chevrolet’s effort to raise customers’ awareness and consideration for Cruze.

Other examples include test drives at NASCAR races and Chevrolet events. In Texas alone, Chevrolet conducted more than 16,000 Cruze test drives during the State Fair of Texas, and another 750 Cruze drives during the NASCAR AAA Texas 500 race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Beginning in January, select dealers will offer customers the convenience of test driving the Cruze, Corolla and Civic at Chevrolet showrooms.

“We expect the results of our dealer test drives to be very similar to the results of the Car Hunters challenge,” said Perry. “When comparing compact cars back to back, most people are impressed with the refinement, features, and overall value of Cruze.”