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Originally Posted by The_Blur
This is where GM needs the most help. As marketing professionals, it is your responsibility to define the driving experience for your clientele. Since GM is not a niche market manufacturer, unlike Subaru and Porsche, GM can define all sorts of driving as different parts of its lineup. GM most glaring failure of marketing, in my opinion, is the advertising for the 2010 Camaro V6. Rather than demonstrating the sporty nature of the vehicle, it was advertised as a fuel-efficient vehicle. At 29 mpg (at the time), it's hardly competitive with actually fuel-efficient cars. The Camaro V6 was obviously a success immediately. There was no risk of failure with a car that hot, but the implications are that GM doesn't know how to properly market its products. This detachment from the customers is what set GM on its market share slide.
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This is where I stopped understanding your post. GM does not nor should it define the driving experience of its clientele. The driving experience is dictated by the cars themselves. Basically, you ask your customers what they want. If possible and profitable, you make what they want for them. This is how good development works in the absence of external political pressures.
Small companies such as the one I run require meeting with customers, shaking hands, finding problems, and developing solutions. Larger companies such as GM can rely on historical marketing data, competitors' market data, and identify new solutions based upon those data. I think the shaking hands part of the business is no longer where it used to be.
In my experience, there is no such thing as brand loyalty anymore. Whenever customers can find faster, better, and cheaper, they will jump ship every time. Companies like the big three can no longer rely on repeat customers if they are not truly offering the best product at the best price. Imports have come a long way in the market these days.