Saw this over at GMI -- Not really new news, but very interesting numbers on relative brand perception.

http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2...in-a-bran.html

 

I guess it shows that perception; especially if supported by personal experience, is hard to overcome.

There are a lot of people entering the new vehicle market who have heard and have only heard how reliable a Toyota, Honda, etc is and how unreliable a Chevy, Ford, etc. is; there is no way that isn't going to have an impact.

Likewise, there are a lot of other people who have purchased one or more Detroit cars who have had bad experiences with them then turned to Toyota or Honda and had less problems.

It's going to take a long time for Detroit to overcome that.

 

To be honest, I don't know if American manufacturers will ever overcome the stigma of being an inferior product, even if they are not.

My hope rests in the Chevy Volt. Toyota hasn't had a great record with the Prius..mediocre at best. Other manufacturers are just beginning to experiment in this market, and GM has a chance at being the first to produce a viable vehicle. (Prius that goes 8 miles on electric-only charge need not apply...)

If Chevrolet/GM can produce a rock-solid electric/hybrid car and become KNOWN for quality and tech advancement in that arena, Chevrolet will, in a sense, "hold the title" to that market.

 

Once upon a time everything from Japan was considered '***-crap'.

More recently, Hyundai was considered garbage. We're watching a turn around with them now.

I think the home teams can do the same.

 

Agree with all but paragraph 2.

Toyota's Prius is leading the charge (pun intended)... sales are very strong ... it forced Honda's to go away and have a rethink on hybrid technology in an affordable small car. Toyota's got a stranglehold on the small car hybrid market.... like many others, Prius is the first thing that pops into my head when I think 'hybrid'.

Given the additional complexity in hybrid technology, I reckon Toyota have done a unbelievable job with reliability, affordability and sales.

 

So the Japanese get "B" ratings and the Americans get "C" ratings... I wonder if what the Germans would get...

Anyway, as stated above, it takes time to fix that, as long as they're getting butts in the seats and marketing themselves they're doing everything they can.

 

I can't say how I know this, but Toyota is very, very aware of the Volt, and see it as a very real threat. If GM can meet its production timeline, they have a chance.

 

heck..if I went back and pulled all the posts like this one explaining the same thing I think it would be 5 pages long. It is public perception ( and some ways deserved) But the idea is that Toyota and Honda have a better brand and it goes to show with just the symbol on the car. They did the same experiment a while ago with a Geo Metro. Recently with a Pontiac Vibe. A car that gets bad rating for what it is all though the car was designed and built by Toyota basically. Only GM think is the arrowheads and the GM radio thats it. But the Matix is better? SAME CAR! I could go on. But the first post just sums it up.

 

Dunno what the Japanese (specifically Toyota and Honda) need to do to lose the faith of the car buying public. We've seen engine failures and a number of recalls of late yet it doesn't seem to slow their sales.

I'm sort of thinking that no matter how good the Big 3's products are, they won't be perceived as being 'superior' to Japanese/Korean. Which is why it is all the more important that the Big 3 continue to think outside the square. They need to continue to offer product that the Asian brands don't build... and that product can't merely be adequate, it has to be a home run.

 

Apparently they didn't ask what people thought of the car with a Honda badge on it.

Seems like a glaring oversight to me. I'm curious to see where Honda ranks relative to Toyota.

I'd also like to see what the rankings would have been with some of the other domestic brands, not just Chevy/Ford/Chrysler. For instance, I think Dodge and Pontiac would have fared better than their respective siblings.

 

I think the Chevy Volt is the most important product for GM in a long time.

 

Even more they needed a control group, where there was no badges on the car. If it fell close to the Toyota badges it would show people don't consider them better, they are just more fair judging that car.

 

GM in the past has done a terrible job about marketing their brands. They need more aggressively promote what they have that most imports can't. I remember a few months ago Cadillac had a great commercial with the CTS-VR and the CTS-V, but then they went back to the regular Caddy run of the mill commercials. Why? I don't know. The XLR has not been selling as good as it should, why? Because GM doesn't promote that it has the same race proven chassis with the vette! The Cobolt SS another winner, how is it promoted? It's not, why? I don't know! The only marketing that they really went the extra mile for is the Chevy trucks, and the Saturn brand. Ok I'm done venting! go drive your F-body and promote GM the only way we can.

Cesar

 

Well I don't live there (USA) but I've read GM is losing money on every Cobalt (~$2000 from memory) they make. Why would GM spend more money promoting Cobalt when they figure they'll only lose more $$$? GM promote the trucks b/c that's their most profitable vehicle line and profits mean they can afford to spend more on advertising.

Toyota apparently don't make much money on their small US cars either... but for every small vehicle they sell they will almost always guarantee themselves of repeat business from that customer... into a more profitable vehicle further down the track. A good example is Tundra which isn't conquesting sales but Toyota loyalists are buying up at an increasing rate.

 

GM is in business to lose money.