Free Snoopy With Purchase Of GM Car (Limitations Apply)
At GM, Joel Ewanick and Chris Perry need to repeat the miracles for which they became famous at Hyundai. So what do you do in that case? “Let’s just do the same thing again.”
If GM would do a repeat of the Hyundai Assurance Plan (lose your job, return your car), with a 10 year warranty thrown in, the journos would snicker, but the cars would fly off the lot. But at GM, this would be too gutsy. So what about the next best idea? That’s right: “Free insurance!”
Any driver from Oregon and Washington state who buys or leases a new GM “vehicle through Sept. 6 and titles the vehicle in either state will receive a free one-year automobile insurance policy from MetLife Auto & Home,” reports Automotive News [sub].
The insurance covers liability (up to 100,000 per person, and up to $300,000 per occurrence) and physical damage. The insurance come with Met Life’s new car replacement feature: If, in the first year or before 15,000 miles, are on the clock, the new vehicle is wrecked and not salvageable, MetLife Auto & Home will fix or replace the wrecked vehicle with a new one without factoring in depreciation. I ran a quick quote check for my 2011 Silverado C3500 Crewcab, and the program would save me $2100 a year. GM probably will pay less.
So why only Oregon and Washington? It’s a test. Cautious GM wants to see whether the insurance can move enough metal. They picked the toughest states. Oregonians and Washingtonians traditionally are GM adverse. If the program makes it there, it will make it anywhere.
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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I could easily increase sales by half a million units and reduce the marketing costs but GM refuses to listen. they are pompous, egotistical, and naive. nothing has changed.
But isn't Hyundai/Kia 10/100 warranty policy a gimick in itself. The average car is driven 13K to 15K miles a year. If I split the difference at 14K miles a year the Hyundai is really offering a 7 year warranty. GM already offers a 5/100 warranty; if I was a customer and saw them go to 10/100 I would go, "so what, you gave me more years - I care about mileage." All depends on how many miles a year you drive, now a 10/150 warranty would really up the ante, but I really don't know any car manufacturer that would stick their neck out for 150K miles.
I have no idea if this will work or not. I do know that I hate Snoopy and the whole "Peanuts" comic strip. Always have.
Ehhh. I don't like this promotion. First of all, it's only really worth maybe 700 bucks. Hardly enough to really induce anyone to buy a GM product. So it really doesn't do much for the numerically literate and/or people who don't have super high premiums because of a bad driving history. Second, and maybe this is just me being a classist prick or something, but the insurance policy (which at a 100,000 per person cap is only for the judgement proof) just seems to reinforce the brand as the place you go when your only criteria is a low monthly cost. If all cars will easily run 150,000 to 200,000, why would a 10 year warranty on major components be a problem? Seems like every brand should be able to match that warranty without too much trouble.