The GMT-900's are coming and I just thought I would remind everyone of this....

Kurt Ritter left GM angry after being made the marketing manager of Buick Pontiac, and GMC. He had previously been the head of marketing for Chevy. If I remember right, he wanted to be head of marketing for all of GM and was disappointed at being assigned to the lower post.

Either way, the important thing is that he left to takea job at an ad company that is developing Toyota's marketing approach for it's upcoming fullsized pickup that will launch right after the GMT-900's. Being the head of marketing for Chevy...he likely would have known all there is to know about the 900's up untill February, 2003 when he resigned.

That being said, the new Toyota trucks are going to be major competition for the GMT-900's because they will be much bigger and styled to american tastes. They could take a nice chunk of the American truck market of done right. Do you think Ritter's knowlege gives Toyota a leg up...or his info to old to matter?

 

Who cares? They'll still be Toyotas. Don't get me wrong, Toyota builds tough dependable trucks. But I'm a Chevy man till the day I die and will never buy any other truck than a Chevy.

 

I say big deal. LOL, was he the guy who came up the thousands of commercials featuring the Silverado climbing boulders to the words "Like a Rock! Oh baby Like a Rock!?" C'mon. If that was his responsibilty, than I hardly think we have a problem.

Besides, the people who Toyota and GM are fighting for are not the type who require truck experience. Indeed the classic truck buyer also happens to be the most fiercely Domestic loyal, and generally impervious to advertising. I think the real battle will be over the non-traditional truck buyers. This will require non-traditional truck advertising IMO. That's what GM will need, and I think LaNeve, coming from Caddy, is more than well equipped to give the trucks and other new introductions some cache.

 

You guys laugh.....but the only knock I ever hear on the current Tundra is that it is 7/8th size. I think Toyota plans to handle that issue, and then some. They have a 400HP V8 coming also for their cars...expect somthing based off it in the truck. Remember, they just put a 280 HP engine in the Avalon. Toyota knows the current knock on the Tundra is that it is too small and not rugged. If you think they won't fix that with the new truck...your crazy. You guys laugh and say "Who cares, it's a Toyota"...but it is that same arrogant attitude that got GM in the spot it is in now. Toyota plans on taking over the truck world...and should be taken seriously. How often do they fail?

Also, I am talking about much more than just advertising. He was the head of Marketing for Chevrolet...which means that he probaly knew as well as the engineers and designers what features the 900's have...or at least were planned to have...because he after all has to market it. Marketing is much more than simple adverstising. I remember GM was very angry when he left and went to the ad company because he knew so much about the 900's.

 

There is probably a pretty good chance anyone in his position would've worked under a non-disclosure agreement or some similar legal document.

 

It wont be an issue if the GMT900's are better trucks. I really hope they hit a home-run with them because I want an Avalanche.

 

lol, they will never get past Ford in the "Truck World"

 

I am hoping they are home run also because I will be looking for a truck in a few years.

I'm sure Toyota will do everything in it's power to make their line of trucks very competitive with ford and gm. They did it with the cars and I fear they will have the same success with their truck line.

 

BTW, FWIW to everyone (before anyone starts bashing the fellow), Kurt Ritter is the guy that was pushing whith everything he had to get the Camaro back in Chevy showrooms along with a RWD sports sedan.

I'm not sure if things solidified before or after he left, but at that level in the food chain, when the next "Mustang competitor" comes out, as much as anyone else, we'll owe him at least a little bit of thanks.

 

I agree. I'm actually suprised he didn't have a non-comp agreement - but those might be saved for salesmen only. I'm sure he definetely had a non-disclosure.

 

I have to agree with formula79 on this one...

Anyone who thinks that the truck market is safe just because GM/Ford/Dodge have it solidified now is blind. Things go in cycles, Heck, we thought our big RWD cars would never have a problem selling compared to those *** cars... Guess what... we were wrong... More and more the imports are comming on strong with their trucks and I think there are some evident signs of changes comming. Look at GM and Ford for example. We all know that with the fuel crisis right now folks are starting to look back to cars for economy. GM has already started revamping their entire line of cars and introduced some of them. Ford, although late to the dance is starting their revamp. They are doing this because the days of making money from trucks and a few odd ball car lines are nearing the end. With the increase in fuel prices and new Japanese pressure in the truck market it's going to be highly competitive in the not so distant future.

Also, the Japanese truck market is going all out for this with their extra features such as the extra storage spaces below the bed of the new Honda Ridgeline or the integrated lockdown systems in the beds of the Nissans or in economy in the Toyota. I'll be the first to admit and I'm a GM guy to the marrow of my bones that its getting harder even for me not to notice whats going on. I'm toying around with purchasing a new Colorado Z71 but another fella I work with just purchased a new Nissan Frontier and dollar for dollar the Nissan BLOWS the Colorado away. I've held out on purchasing my Colorado in hopes that maybe I'll hear something on this board of upgrades to the Colorado but I'm only going to wait maybe 6 months for word of the next model year and then it may be Nissan for this GM guy and the first foreign car in both my family and my wifes family EVER!

 

Actually, I'd advise you against the Frontier. If it was me, I'd go for a Titan without the "Big Tow" package. The space inside a Titan extended cab is comparable to a crew cab Frontier. More to the point, you don't save much money or fuel by opting for the smaller truck. To take is step further, I'd guess that a Titan 4X4 with the standard rear axle ratio (again without the "Big Tow") would probably get equal or better "real world" fuel economy than a Frontier 4x4 with the V6.