Quote:
Originally Posted by DGthe3
I'm not saying they're wrong, just ... disconnected or perhaps misguided. They are paid to pick apart every single little detail. I don't know of a single person who sits in a car then immediately goes touching every single surface, analyzing the gaining on the plastic. But magazine reviewers do that each time the get into a new car. Most people sit down, adjust the seat, and manipulate the controls. They'll look at the dash layout sure, but few take the time nitpick every little detail. On test drives, normal buyers don't go and set up a bunch of pylons and do a slalom run to test the handling of a car. The average Joe will remember what the steering weight was like and that becomes their basis for how the handling felt. Right or wrong, its how most look at cars.
Now as for sales volume, if the Camaro didn't meet the needs & wants of buyers better than the Mustang or Challenger there is no way it could have out sold both those other cars without massive incentives. And yet, I do believe it has the lowest incentives of the 3. So no matter how many 2nd or 3rd place finishes it gets from magazines, GM's gotta be doin' something right with it. Similar story goes for the Cruze, only it has far more than 2 competitors. The Malibu has been building sales for years, opposite to the trend that a car is supposed to have.
Class leading within its own segment? Do you mean from magazine comparisons, not just simple metrics (like what Fen did) or sales (like what I mentioned)? Lets see, the HD pickups and the Volt instantly come to mind. The Lacrosse is probably up there too. No, not a single one of them is perfect in every way. But then ... no vehicle ever is.
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I agree with you, I think the Volt is innovative but I don’t think people are ready to buy it yet for lack of confidence or rather first year worries. I think Chevy trucks are also very popular, but they’re still behind in technology. Ford which has the twin turbo six and dodge rumoring about a smaller displacement turbo diesel. GM seems to be lagging in the small car segment namely the Aveo. I really don’t want to bash on GM because there doing pretty good but have a ways to go. Like I said, I purchased a Chevy Equinox last month and my wife and I are very happy with it.
I think some people aren’t listening, I’m not picking on GM, I just want to see them be the best they can be. Unfortunately it’s hard to compete with companies that have lower labor cost and I think GM is doing a good job considering. I hate to see jobs going out of the U.S. even Canada but that’s where we’re at.
P.S. It’s interesting driving on to a military base and seeing that Most vehicles are foreign, I just don’t get it, but if everyone purchased American we would still be driving those horrible vehicles from the late 70’s to mid-80’s. Sad really!!