Lutz Live Chat: The Race Is On, the Aveo Sucks, and GM PR "Emphasizes Strengths"

Bob Lutz’s latest Fastlane livechat was dominated by discussion of GM’s “May The Best Car Win” campaign. As you might imagine, things got . . . interesting. Right out of the gate, Lutz confirmed that he would be racing Jalopnik’s Wes Siler. He also more or less confirmed TTAC commentators’ suspicions that GM would, well, cheat. “We’ll see if age and treachery beat youth and skill one more time,” Lutz said, echoing sentiments expressed by a famous pop chanteuse of which he is no doubt unaware. You want more?

Lutz’s emphasis on GM’s halo brand’s halo car wasn’t distracting the livechat attendees. Well, not too much anyway. “Hi Bob! I realy liked gm latest ad w/ whitacre but I’m not sure if the May the best car win can apply to the chevy aveo…when is the replacement due?” asked Matteo Ronzoni.

You’ll notice that the Chevy Aveo, sound little car that it is, is not featured in the ads. Its replacement is on the way, and it’s going to be sensational, done by an international product development team. Obviously, we’re not revealing exact launch timing.

And that wasn’t the end of Lutz’s backhanded treatment of Chevy’s unloved compact. A commenter named Aldo posed the following question:

An important part of brand identity is uniformity within the brand. A Mercedes-Benz feels like a Mercedes-Benz, regardless if you’re in a C, SLK, E, GL, etc. An Aveo driver wouldn’t have any sense of familiarity in a Malibu. A Malibu driver wouldn’t recognize the inside of an Equinox as being a Chevrolet. And they all have a different feel on the road. Is brand cohesiveness going to play a large role going forward? Subaru, Honda, Toyota, and even Ford seems to have their brand DNA apparent on each and every vehicle.

To which Lutz replies:

I challenge your premise, with the possible exception of the Aveo, which is a Daewoo, I believe there is as much consistent brand DNA between a Malibu, an Equinox, a Traverse, etc., as there is through the Toyota lineup, where you can’t argue that a Highlander has much in common with say an FJ Cruiser.

So the Aveo is a Daewoo? Then why does it have a bowtie on it? And if the Aveo is a Daewoo abomination, what does that make the forthcoming Chevy Spark? But before trying to answer that, consider Bob’s attempt to be real about his own ability to be real. First came the question:

Hi Mr. Lutz: will these ads be honest in the since [sic] that they will highlight the weaknesses of your vehicles as well as the strengths? For instant the Malibu doesn’t have a built-in navi option but the Accord and Camry do?

Bob’s reply?

We wil [sic] emphasize our strengths and not our weaknesses and in that sense we’ll be just like everybody else. When you’re applying for a job, you don’t tell your potential employer all about your weak areas.

Bob followed up the last comment by stating that “If we could keep 50% or more [of GM’s dead brands’ business] we would declare vicctory [sic].”

And GM thinks these kinds of revelations will help the perception gap how?