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I'm not a Yuppie




When I first saw that picture, I thought it was actually a next generation PT. I look at it like this; if the PT has the same design, and this new Chevy comes out, it will rob the PT of customers. Besides, most people still feel more comfortable with Chevys than DCX's.

I see all kinds of people drive all kinds of cars...but then again, I live in California so that doesn't mean much. To give you credit though, most PT owners do seem to be as you described.

 

Actually the huge majority of the yuppies I've seen drive either Bimmers or Tahoes.

Maybe there's a different breed of yuppies in your area.

 

Humpin'-Homo's-Religously... a.k.a. GHEY!

Talk about playing follow the leader....

 

Young upwardly mobile......you're not one of those? LOL

If a person buys a Tahoe I think they'd consider a HHR....or at least a lot of them would. Now, the Bimmer/Lexus set, I think they are a lost cause because they wouldn't be caught dead in a Chevy, but the Soccer Mom crowd and Ford explorer crowd would cross-shop an HHR I think.

 

If it's bigger than the PT, then GM has already lost what the hell the PT phenomenon was about.

Personally it looks uglier, more hulking SUV-type, and corporate to me, all of which are what the PT was not.

 

I bought a Tahoe because my Blazer was too small. Why on earth would I ever consider a HHR, which is even smaller?

HHR will be popular with the youth set that needs to haul passengers and cargo where a Cobalt is just too small. They might also do well with empty-nesters who have sent the kids off to college and no longer need the capacity of a Tahoe or Suburban. They'll especially do well on the west coast if gasoline prices continue to soar.

How do they sell 100K a year?

One look at the all-white version in the spy photo and I see an awesome replacement vehicle for the USPS. They'll just have to convert them to right hand drive first.

 

That would be cool, I'd wait until the end of the HHR product cycle (2011?)before I did that if I was incharge.

HHR is smaller than an Equinox, no one is going to cross shop with a Tahoe unless they don't care a bout size or price.

 

Not a chance they'll sell 100k.

Like I said when this dumb thing was announced: they'll have a really hard time cracking 50k, unless the smart-pricing-fairy visits Chevrolet and drops a bag of common-sense dust on their heads.

 

I agree completely.

People are going to recognize it for what it is: a 'late to the party' PT Cruiser wannabe. Most of the people I see drive PTs are driving them as a fashion statement (I too don't think they cross-shop a Tahoe), and fashion is fickle. No one wants the knock-off, they want the real thing.

Unfortunately for GM, HHR is going to be at least as big a disappointment as Aztek.

 

For God's sake, when are you people here going to realize NONE of you are representative of the average car buyer or the generic car buying public at large?

Everybody here trying to relay their own personal preferences, desires, or shopping or buying experiences to cars that are aimed at masses of people, most of which you all have nothing in common with.

You are more performance oriented, more car-knowledgeable, and more finicky than most car buyers.

Its ridiculous I can't make any generalizations about car buyers in general without at least half a dozen people saying "hey, I don't fit into that category, so your generalization must be way off base." Well seriously, do any of you here really think you are Average Joe Carbuyer?

Somebody here may have bought a Tahoe, but does that make them the archetypal Tahoe buyer? No, far from it. Someone here may like the HHR and not be a Yuppie. DOes that mean the HHR will not appeal to Yuppies? My God people none of us are the center of the automotive universe and your mere presence here means you are NOT the typical consumer, you are an enthusiast, which means you are a much smaller group of potential buyers and NOT who MOST vehicles are marketed towards.

Some people think every car GM builds should be something THEY themselves would want. If you hate it you think it sucks and GM shouldn't build it. Its either too big, or too small, or too retro looking, or too modern and nondescript, or it doesn't have enough HP, or whatever.

Dammit, just getting annoyed.....

 

Me too. I understand your frustration. Let me "vent" a teeny bit.


Chris. We are the car buying public. This is a public messageboard no?

And just a FYI. WHo are "YOU" to say who we are and who we are not?

Do you think that everyone that come's here cannot look at a vehicle for what it is? Heck 90% of post on this site (and alot of others) go by a picture vs. going in and sitting in a vehicle,Or driving it even.

Ok I am done, Our post's are just plain redickulous.

P.S. [whispers]it is sounding like your trying to come up with an excuse to say it is ok for GM to copy Chrysler[/whispers]

 

Well then.

I guess there's no point in any of us discussing the merits of any future vehicles other than an F5 around here. Might as well remove the "future vehicle" from the title of this forum and go back to discussing only Camaros again.

Yes, we're oriented to a certain class of vehicle, but that doesn't mean we can't objectively evaluate other kinds of vehicles. Everyone has their own individual preferences which makes everyone unique, and therefore, according to you logic, no one is qualified to discuss anything except what they themselves like. Rubbish.

I think most of us are smart enough here to recognize goodness in any vehicle. I would never buy a PT Cruiser, but I can certainly appreciate its appeal and I wasn't the least bit surprised to see it sell over 100k. I would also never buy a full-size pickup, but I sure understand why people are flocking to the new F-150. Not everyone views the world with blinders on.

 

Yes, it is public, but the people here are not even a representative sample of Camaro and Firebird owners, much less ALL CAR OWNERS. The fact that you even come here makes you qualitatively different in terms of the kind of car buyer you are vs. the average joe or jane out there. How hard of a concept is that?

Therefore, a vehicle that may sell quite well to the average public may get a lukewarm reception here. THey sell the crap out of Camrys and Accords every year, but I don't here anybody here raving about them.

Step off your high horse a little. I am not saying anything negative about members here, and if you actually took the time to comprehend what I'm trying to say you'd understand that. I am saying that as enthusiasts we are different than the average dude out there looking to buy a car. Our wants and likes and opinions cannot be automatically transferred to the 200 million odd automobile owners in the U.S.

Do I think everyone here cannot? No, but I think most people here have a really hard time separating their own personal biases and opinions from what makes good business sense to the larger car buying public. Too many here don't understand that they are not the average car shopper.

Now I am confused. Where at any point in my post did I say diddly squat about a moral judgement about GM copying the PT? Put the crack pipe down and come back to reality a little.

But, now that YOU mentioned it, let me address it. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Car makers have been emulating each other's successful designs for decades. Hell the Camaro is an emulation of the Mustang's "formula" even. Barracuda was a take on the Camaro. Everybody's copied minivans since Chrysler launched the first one.

Fact is the HHR is a copy of the PT's "formula", a retro styled minivan basically. But the styling itself is distinctly Chevy. My late grandfather had a '46 Chevy truck...still belongs to my grandmother....the HHR captures the essense of the style of his old truck.

I personally like it, but I'm not about to suggest MY PERSONAL OPINION OF IT transfers to the larger public.

 

WE are representative of the car buying public?

Hate to break it to ya, but we as a group most certainly are not. We represent about 10% of the market in which high engine performance and extreme vehicle handling capabilities play a substantial factor in purchasing a car.

Hell, we aren't representative sports coupe buyers, let alone the general public. If GM followed 2/3s of the opinions here on what the 5th gen should be, the car would be dead on arrival. It would be an extreme performance car whose sales appeal to the general public would be so small GM would have a choice between jacking up the price to Corvette levels to make a profit, or lose a ton of money on each one.


If you want the opinion of the typical car buying public, check with the 50%+ of themwho are buying trucks & suvs, and the over 50% of what's left are buying imports, and of the scraps that are left the majority of them were buying Taurus, Impala, 300s, Grand Ams, & Cavaliers.

None were lowslung, relatively cramped, oversized exterior quarter mile burners that sold an average of just 1 or 2 per dealer per month.

We can have exceptional discussions on all cars, because we tend to be more knowledgeable than the buying public about other cars & their benefits or shortcomings.

Sorry for the reality check (I include myself with our small minority), but we're just showroom traffic builders.