Chevy To Europe, Opel To China
GM is pushing its Chevrolet brand as a ”world brand,” reports the Freep. First battlefields for global bowtiefication: Europe and Korea. In Korea, the matter is easy: Last month, they took off the Daewoo badge and put a bowtie on instead. As predicted by TTAC nearly a year ago. There is not much that can go wrong in Korea: Hyundai dominates the market, Dawoo’s and now Chevrolet’s market share treads water in the single digits.
In Europe, any substantial market penetration by Chevrolet is “still a long-term goal,” concedes the Freep. And then, the Detroit paper proceeds to publish completely bogus numbers:
No, they did not. According to official ACEA numbers, Opel’s and Vauxhall’s combined sales in Europe (EU 27 plus EFTA) were 1,006,832 – a number at least in the general neighborhood of 1.2 million. Chevrolet’s sales on the other hand were only 178,730 – a little bit more than a third of what was allegedly sold in Europe. The Freep most likely fell victim to numbers supplied by GM. American companies sometimes have a strange concept of “Europe.”
Trying to introduce Chevrolet to Western Europe would be an exercise in futility. Even Opel/Vauxhall has a hard time there, hanging on to a market share of 7.4 percent – according to ACEA. The bowtie brand has a market share of 1.2 percent – in the same league a BMW’s Mini.
Wayne Brannon, president of Chevrolet Europe told the Freep that Chevrolet wants to exploit its “American” appeal in Europe. Well, good luck with that. Ford wisely stays away from any automotive flag waving. Since Ford is better established in Europe, it seems more European to buyers, Brannon said, leaving the “American” branding open to Chevy. It’s a trap, Mr. Brannon.
At the same time, GM’s European incarnation in Europe, Opel, wants to enter territory where GM is strong: China. “GM China is considering reintroducing its Opel brand to the Chinese market, with Opel executives supplying GM with documents detailing Chinese growth plans,” reports Gasgoo, citing a report in Beijing Times. According to the story, “imported Opel cars would rely on their distinct European characteristics.” Good luck with that also. Many of the Made in China Buicks and Chevys are engineered by Opel. In any case, Opel’s plans for China don’t sound overly ambitious. Says Gasgoo:
“Opel currently has one dealership open in Beijing, selling the Antara SUV, Astra compact and Zafira minivan. The company currently has no plans to expand its dealer network.”
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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This makes me miss the old days with RF running the place, and his talk about GM running around like a headless chicken. Because that's exactly what they are doing right now, they have no *beep*ing clue. Sure, push Chevrolet as an "American" brand. Though, know your demographic if you do. For Europeans, those in pursuit for American iron are those that in the states live in trailer parks, feature a mullet, and runs around in a Camaro. American cars sells reasonably well as novelty cars for that demographic. You can see a lot of Chrysler 300, Mustangs, Hummers, Tahoes around. But to push for the american connotation of the brand while selling repackaged korean econoboxes? The hell they won't... Second, the reason the Chinese buys American brands are because they are American. The exact opposite of the iron curtain crap. Doesn't matter that they are Opels underneath, as long as the label says Buick. But to push Opel as a European brand? The hell they won't...
Trying to grow the Chevy brand in Europe likely isn't going to be successful; GM should just save the $$ on having a separate dealer network and advertising and just sell the Chevy models under the Opel moniker. But at the very least, GM should get rid of the redundancy that is Vauxhall and Opel. Opel in China doesn't seem like a good bet either, but who knows, maybe the Chinese will be enthralled by another "European" brand? And it's not like the other automakers aren't adding additional brands to the Chinese market, namely new brands w/ Chinese names.