GM probably holds places one through ten for number of marketing blunders.
Aztek
Cimarron
and many more . . .
The Catera suffered from bland, blobby styling. It in no way resembled any Cadillac ever made. It was also oddly proportioned, high and narrow, not a good look. The Cimarron had made potential Cadillac buyers suspicious of new models, though Cadillac had pulled that trick off years earlier with the original Seville, a restyled Nova. It was a big hit, probably because it looked like a proper Cadillac. Every woman in the neighborhood who sold real estate ran out and bought a blue one.
“in my town, they were sold at the Buick dealer. Probably not the right dealership to attract small car buyers.”
IIRC, that was the only sales venue for Opels in The US.
I don’t believe that all Buick dealers sold Opels, but if you wanted to buy one in the US, a Buick dealer was the only place where you could find new ones.
Similarly, GM tried marketing Vauxhall sedans at Pontiac dealerships. While the Opel Kadett was never a huge seller in The US, its sales figures were certainly better than those of Vauxhalls. Anyway…selling those GM imports was merely a holding action as GM worked on the design of the Corvair and the other American GM compacts from Pontiac, Olds, & Buick.
There are several types of “brand loyalty”. The first kind is what my late brother-in-law had. He bought a Ford in 1955 and kept buying Fords until his son married the daughter of the owner of a large Toyota dealership in the late 80s; then switched to attractively priced Toyotas, mostly at my sister’s urging.
In his case, fear of the unknown (changing from Ford) kept him buying Fords throughout there sleaziest period.
Others are just lazy. Years ago when Floyd Clymer of Popular Mechanics tested the new Buick and the magazine got owner’s feedback, one hotel owner stated as “reason for buying” …HABIT.
Then there are those that fixate on some of the car’s virtues, real or imagined, and stick with that make. Volvo owners come to mind, as well as many of those buying German cars, who are convinced German engineering is the best. A proud Audi Quattro owner raved about his car but did say the he had to budget $1000 or more extra per year for upkeep. At that time I was spending $900 per year to keep a Caprice V8 running.
A friend of my wife has had very good luck with Mazdas and will buy another one this year. The family had many of their holidays ruined by owning a VW camper van which had a habit of breaking down regularly. She thinks German cars are overpriced jokes.
Keeping an open mind takes constant analysis; a friend of our family was the unfortunate owner of a Hyundai Pony, a biodegradable car. Today, I would not hesitate to buy or recommend a Hyundai.
Hyundai repaired its reputation by marketing its “100,000 mile warrany,” even though it was just a powertrain warranty, and all powertrain warranties are usually at least that long.
Well 15 years is not a long time for a company to have moved on and changed, especially since we still bring up Pintos, Explorers, and Corvairs. The thing with the 100,000 mile warranty is that you have to get it to a dealer who knows how to fix them, which I still am not totally convinced exists everywhere. Weren’t they the ones that used Kmart for their repair shops in desperation. I still like the Kia styling and of course price is good, but still there’s more to ownership than a low initial price. Just sayin’ I’m not ready to jump on the bandwagon yet and when a dealer thows up their hands what then?
I’d have no more concern over a Hyundai than a Nissan.
“GM probably holds places one through ten for number of marketing blunders.”
When you are big, all your errors are magnified. Look at Toyota. They have recalled an incredible number of cars in the past few years, and their smallest cars have been duds in the US. But that’s what you get when your are the biggest gorilla on the block.
“Look at Toyota. They have recalled an incredible number of cars in the past few years, and their smallest cars have been duds in the US”
Can anybody say Yaris . . . or was that Yaaargh
@Bing I suspect you were thinking of Daewoo since at first they did not use traditional dealerships and had college kids as salesmen. The Yaris mainly sells as a smaller alternative to the corolla. My mom took a look at the Yaris when it was introduced and decided her 15yr old Mazda Protoge had a nicer interior.
Yeah you are probably right. I forgot about them. My bad.
huh?
"I have no more concern over Hyundai then Nissan. "
I would not hesitate to buy one of their (Nissan) outboards but their car reliability has been all over the map. The Quest has been very spotty and the Sentra seems to rival the Yaris in the POS factor. There are some Hyundai models that seem outstanding. The Yaris ? Toyota seems to want to build the most reliable car that’s the hardest to live with. I try one out ever new model year. Every year I walk away shaking my head. The fixes to this car are not costly.
@dagosa Nissan is owned by Renault of France, a company not known for consistent quality. The Versa is a Renault design, for instance.
At one time Nissan, Toyota and Honda were on par, but Nissan has slipped compared to the other two.
Just returned from a 3 week holiday in France. Frenchmen are conservative about their car choices; the vast majority of cars on the road are still locals, like Renault, Citroen and Peugeot. I saw one lonely Mazda, and Frenchmen are just discovering that Korean cars are actually worth buying. At the luxury end only German cars meet the choice, although I saw a few Range Rovers. Not a single Cadillac or other US car, but a few Jeeps, since there is no European equivalent to those vehicles.
The only Ford I ever owned was a 1980 Fairmont with a 200-c.i. six-banger; worst piece of crap I ever owned. Everything else I’ve ever owned (with the exception of a '68 Dodge Dart GTS with a 440 big-block) have been GM products: 2 Buicks, 2 Oldsmobiles (including my straight-8 powered '47 model), and 3 Chevys. For outright reliability, I personally have had the best luck with my General Motors vehicles. Just one man’s opinion.
@OlyDoug
As far as I’m concerned, the Yaris is a lousy alternative to a Corolla
The Yaris has always had a very primitive suspension setup, and the interior was a joke
A used Corolla is better than a new Yaris
Bash the Yaris all you want, but a friend with a courier service, gets 600+K miles out of each Yaris with just regular maintenance.
Why compare a Yaris to a Corolla? I think anyone that can afford a Corolla would buy one. The Yaris is better compared to other subcompacts, like the Fit or Fiesta. Yaris is at best middle of the pack in that market.
@db4690 I agree with you, as I said before my mom went and had a look at the Yaris when it first appeared (she prefers the small cars) and the sedan she looked at made her old Mazda look really good by comparison. Eventually she moved up to her Prius which she loves. The Yaris isn’t the worst of the subcompacts (Mitsubishi Mirage?) but it also isn’t really that much cheaper than a Corolla.
In September we spent a week with a Nissan Micra in Ireland and it probably would rate somewhere mid pack and had some of the cheapest feeling door panels i’ve encountered for awhile but it was roomier than we thought from the outside and we felt more comfortable negotiating those crowded villages and narrow roads than the would have in the midsize car we were originally given. But I’d still wait and look at the new Fit before buying a Yaris or Versa Note (which is pretty much the same as the micra)