The Cruze Is "Solid," But Is Chevy's Marketing?
Earlier today, I noted that
Revitalizing a once-dominant domestic brand is a lot harder than telling the quality-improvement story of a once-reviled Korean value brand
and I think this video helps prove the point. For a brand like Hyundai, highlighting product details helped change perceptions… but then, Hyundai has never asked Americans to think of their cars in especially emotional, patriotic, or culturally significant ways. They’re just high value cars that have become better and better over time. For GM and Chevrolet’s new top marketing execs (freshly poached from Hyundai), the plan seems to be to follow the Hyundai “quality story” gameplan, with a little awkwardly hip flair. For a brand that’s been “the heartbeat of America,” “like a rock” and more, this latest video seems stuck in “excellence for everyone” (i.e. generic and directionless) territory.
Besides, when the word “solid” is used in marketing materials to describe a “ 3,100-3,300 lb” compact car, it sounds a little like a Mom calling her kid “big-boned.”
More by Edward Niedermeyer
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I don´t like this commercial at all. You can get a Cruze here for SEK 140 000. That´s 25 000 less than my Hyundai I20. It´s a bit tempting, but the second hand value will be much lower on the Cruze.
All I really get from this ad is the wipers are squeaky and GM still has an stupid door chime.
I know that the sounds were probably dubbed-in, but the door closing just doesn't sound all that good. Shut the door on a Mercedes or an Audi, it's a solid thunk with no latch sounds. There's no expensive magic to make it sound good. It just takes good design. I don't ever think I'd consider a Chevy. My brother had a Cavalier, and it was a good car for what it was. It never broke down or had any mechanical issues that weren't owner induced. But it was just cheap in the areas that you saw, like the horrendous interior. And it was cheap in the areas that you didn't see, like under the hood and the fit-and-finish of the engine, wheel covers and trunk. It was just too crude to consider another one. So I ended up with an Audi and he got a Mazda. Why would anyone buy a larger and more expensive version of a car that is inadequate? Until some automakers realize that owner lifetime loyalty begins with small cars, they'll continue to wonder why they are losing market share. I don't believe that the Cruze is good enough. It already looks dated. And I don't trust GMs Korean engineering.
If there is one thing good to be said about the predicessor to this thing, at least the Cobalt is an actual word. Otherwise, meh. It's not even an American car.