GM breaks up with Big Oil in new ads

[DainBramaged]

Automaker unveils corporate campaign addressing high gas prices

General Motors is sending a "Dear John" letter to big oil.

Katherine Benoit, GM corporate marketing director, told attendees at the American Advertising Federation meeting this week that the automaker is launching a corporate campaign this month that addresses the oil-price issue head-on, albeit with a tongue-in-cheek twist.

"Dear Oil," a new TV commercial begins. "We've had this great relationship for many years. We think we will both be a lot happier and healthier if we see less of each other." The commercial from McCann-Erickson is to debut on NBC's "Meet the Press" June 22, Benoit said.

A Chevrolet campaign focused on green issues also is about to launch, and GM will tout its corporate environmental message as part of its NBC Olympics sponsorship, Benoit said.

GM has been boosting advertising for its fuel-efficient models since last year. But Benoit said the automaker suspended ads for its E85 models, partly because of the availability issue, and is backing options other than corn or other food products to make ethanol, which is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. ( I think they realize, in spite of the Ethanol lobby, that food product ethanol is hurting the economy)

Part of GM's energy and environmental unit will check and confirm all its green marketing claims, Benoit said. "You have to make sure that the story you tell plays out."

Subscription only

http://www.autonews.com/article/20080610/ANA08/68087510/1135

[muntrv]

1. Well GM, you're only 35 years late.

[DainBramaged]

2. Has Toyota done anything similar? How about their gas eaters????

Toyota Sequoia
Toyota Land Cruiser
Toyota FJ Cruiser
Toyota Highlander
Toyota Tundra

Nissan Armada
Nissan Titan

Lexus GX and LX

Honda Ridgeline
Honda Odyssey
Honda Pilot

Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG
Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG
Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG
Mercedes-Benz GL550 SUV
Mercedes-Benz G500 SUV
Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster

Bentley (all)

Ferrari (all)

Porsche (all)

[muntrv]

4. Toyota and Honda made inroads in the US car market because their cars,

like Honda Civics, had far better mileage than the big 3 gas guzzlers.

[DainBramaged]

5. And the Civic is their excuse to make gas guzzlers?

They are as much to blame as the big three in squandering our resources. They are not innocent in spite of your defense of them.


They made inroads because they made CHEAP cars way back when cheap was a bad word to Detroit.

REAL Toyota history
Toyota started selling cars in the United States in 1958, importing the Land Cruiser and Toyopet. While neither sold well, the margins on the Land Cruiser were better, and the Toyopet was withdrawn while Toyota designed a car specifically modified for the American market – a strategy which later gave us the Avalon and Camry.

In 1959, the company opened its first plant outside Japan - in Brazil. From that point on, Toyota maintained a philosophy of localizing both production and design of its products (that is, adapting vehicles to the places they will be used, as well as building them there). This builds long-term relationships with local suppliers and local labor. Part of this also means that Toyota does not merely build vehicles overseas, but also designs them there, with a network of both design and R&D facilities in North America and Europe.

The first Americanized Toyota — the Tiara, otherwise known as the Toyota Corona PT20 — came out in 1964. The six-passenger car had a 90 gorss-horsepower engine (probably about 60-70 bhp net); it could reach 90 miles per hour, and was comfortable inside. One year later, the Corona was added at under $2,000; it offered an automatic and factory air as options, very unusual in imported small cars at the time (as was the engine's horsepower rating). Sales hit 6,400 in 1965, and reached 71,000 by 1968, nearly doubling each year until by 1971 Toyota was selling over 300,000 vehicles per year, a far cry from 1964's 2,000. Toyota itself was very small in the late 1950s by world standards, and in 1963 was the 93rd largest non-American corporation in the world — but in 1966 was already 47th (in that time it went from being the 9th largest Japanese corporation to the 6th largest, and for that matter the tenth largest auto manufacturer in the world — it would steadily move up to the #3 position and will soon challenge Ford for #2). In 1967, the Corona sold for a reasonable $1,760 - a little below the smallest Big Three sedans — with a good balance of performance, gas mileage, and comfort.
http://www.toyoland.com/history.html

[muntrv]

7. Uh, Toyota and Honda did not make pickup trucks and SUVs until the late 90s.

That was because the US car buyers had a demand for them. And yes, I own a Toyota Tercel because it is built to last. Mine is 14 years old and still runs well.

[DainBramaged]

8. Wrong again, see my amended post above.

"After World War II, Toyota was kept busy making trucks, but by 1947 it began making the Model SA, called the Toyopet, a name to stay with Toyota for decades, albeit attached to different cars. The Toyopet was not powerful and had a low top speed – 55 mph from a 27 horsepower engine – but it was designed to be cheap, and to handle the rough roads of postwar Japan. In the five years the SA Toyopet was made, 215 were made. The SD may have been more successful; this taxi version saw 194 copies in just two years. The SF Toyopet was the first truly popular Toyota car, with a modified engine (still putting out 27 horsepower) and a taxi version. An RH model with a 48 horsepower engine came out shortly after By 1955, Toyota was making 8,400 cars per year; by 1965, 600,000 cars per year."

[DainBramaged]

9. More

Toyota's first foray into the American pickup truck market was the Stout, introduced in 1964. Five years later, a new version carrying the Japanese name, Hi-Lux, was brought out; after just a year it gained a new, smaller (1.8 liter), but more powerful engine which was used for two years before being replaced by a larger (2 liter) version.

In 1973, the Hi-Lux gained a long bed version, and the engine was expanded again, to 2.2 liters, and a five-speed manual transmission became available, replacing the four-speed. Through the early 1980s, the Hi-Lux used a solid-axle front and rear suspension, with rear leaf springs.

In 1975, the SR-5 Sport Truck was introduced, five a five speed manual transmission; sales exceeded Toyota’s expectations, with 2,610 units sold from January through April 1975. Around 85% of Toyota standard-bed pickups bought the five-speed, which was unique to Toyota (that is, the SR5 was the only mini-pickup in America to have a five-speed overdrive transmission). Features on this truck included soft-vinyl high-back bucket seats, AM radio, carpet, tinted glass, body stripes, radial tires, power disc front brakes, and the new 20R 2.2 liter engine.

In 1976, the name Hi-Lux was dropped in the US, and it became the “compact truck” or “pickup” until the Tacoma appeared. The 1976 line was diverse enough for Toyota to claim they had the biggest selection of small pickups of all manufacturers in the United States. Power front disc brakes were standard, and two over-seven-foot-long beds were available along with standard beds. The Long Bed SR-5 Sport Truck included a five-speed overdrive manual transmission.

http://www.toyoland.com/trucks/tacoma-hilux.html

Is that enough or do you want to cling to your great knowledge of Toyota?

[muntrv]

11. Most people buy Toyotas and Hondas for their coupes and sedans, not

SUV's and pickup trucks.

[DainBramaged]

13. Should I get you the sales figures to prove you wrong again?

[CRF450]

21. HA! tell me why I see alot of Tocoma's running around

BTW, the late model Tacomas equipped similarly to my Dodge Dakota (4x4, crew cab) do not get any better fuel milage, which is around 16mpg. Its really no better than fullsize trucks either.

[muntrv]

10. Where in the post does it mention Toyota? NOWHERE!!

On edit: Or Honda, Nissan, MB, BMW?

[DainBramaged]

12. OK, how about Honda, Nissan, MB, BMW

Have they taken this step??? I guess questions that don't adhere to your intimate knowledge of the auto business are forbidden?

[muntrv]

16. Explain why consumers associate the Japanese car makers with fuel efficiency.

[DainBramaged]

19. Brainwashing

Did you know a Toyota Camry 4 cylinder gets LESS city millage that a Chevy Tahoe hybrid? And a Chevy Malibu six cylinder gets better highway millage than a four cylinder Camry?

[wuushew]

24. I believe you to be in error

ALL versions of the Camry tie or beat the CO2 emissions of the very cleanest 2WD Tahoe hybrid.
Why not allow comparision of a hyrbid Camry to a hybrid Tahoe? A no frills Camry LE 4-cyclinder is about 5k less than the hybrid but the Tahoe hybrid comes in at over 50k.

Is this how GM is leading us into the necessary age of frugality and conservation?

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/

Again I see nothing that supports your theory that your Mailbu 6-cyclinder consumes less fuel than the Camry 4-cyclinder.

Hyrbid Tahoe only availbe in certain states?

[DainBramaged]

25. Your millage data is not current.

Malibu 4 cyl gets 34mpg highway, as did previous versions between 2004-2007. Additionally, the differences between the two regarding emissions are negligible. And tell me how you are going to fit a large family, dog, and luggage in a Camry while the Tahoe can carry the load with ease? Does everyone have to squeeze intro a small car? 21 MPG city in a huge vehicle is a pretty superior accomplishment. But I guess that isn't worthy here. Why didn't you compare them to the Toyota Land Cruiser?

Oh, and the Tahoe hybrids are available everywhere, as are the Malibu's.

Why isn't Toyota just light years ahead of GM if they are so technologically great?

[PVnRT]

28. Maybe you could provide some evidence of how the numbers are wrong

instead of just spouting off what sounds good to support your argument.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Better late than never?

:-)

Ah nice hybrid and bike

[WCGreen]

6. On NPR the other day while driving....

I heard a farm expert say that the corn shortage due to ethanol diversion was pure nonsense. This person, who makes a living investing in corn futures and such, claims that 11 million additional acres of corn is needed to be planted in order to satisfy the amount of corn Ethanol production scheduled for 2008-09. He said there were 17 million more acres, or 6 million more than should have been planted.

He claims that agribuz is pushing this myth in order to drive up prices at the supermarket and scare people about food shortages in order to drive the futures markets up up and away.

Call me crazy but this sounds about par for the course in this wide open marketeer environment we are living in.

[DainBramaged]

14. There was an ethanol lobbyist on Ed Schultz show

a few weeks ago who said the same thing. I tend not to believe either of them.

[bullwinkle428]

17. It makes me wonder if the same thing is true about oil reserves -

that speculators are simply driving up the price based on their word alone, and there is still plenty out there. I'm not completely convinced; the peak oil believers seem to have lots of evidence supporting their beliefs, so I'm going to continue to err on the conservative side, and do all I can to minimize my use...

[AndyTiedye]

22. How Much of those 17 million Acres Are Going to Come Up, With all the Flooding?

If the speculators caused the farmers to plant "too much" corn this year, they may have quite accidently done some good.

With all the flooding in the midwest, how much of that corn is going to actually grow and be marketable?

[WCGreen]

23. Then there was someone on CNBC talking about the crop rotation

being out of wack because of the speculation. It was pointed out that a rather high percentage of farmers were tryig to get two full crops from their land, a wheat and then bean crop, instead of planting corn.

So who knows. I certainly don't trust the Ag Department. They probably have guys there predicting a baby Moses floating down the Mississippi to get away from the Democrats in Minnesota...

[Selatius]

15. The executive leadership at GM are better late than never. Incompetent, they are. nt

[DainBramaged]

18. No argument, but it seems they are making a greater effort

than the Japanese are and are doing their research without the financing of the Japanese government. Keep this in mind, hybrid sales were only TWO PERCENT of the market in 2007, TWO percent. And the availability was there. Toyota had to offer huge lease deals and rebates to move their hybrid end of year inventory. What it will be like this year is dependent on sales, and NONE of the manufacturers can keep up with demand on high millage cars, which means higher prices at the dealers and NO deals. Demand means profit, and car dealers, who make an average of 1.7% annual net profit will jump at the opportunity to make money, in spite of what people think about their profit margins.

[Selatius]

20. GM could've buried foreign car companies and were ahead of the ball with the EV1.

GM is the same company that helped win the last freakin world war through ingenuity and mass production. The Old GM of the past would've kicked all their asses, and the decline in the last 30 years is due to the greed of the shareholders on the Board at the expense of the workers.

[DainBramaged]

32. I can attest to that my friend.

[PVnRT]

29. What's with this abject hatred of Japanese car companies?

[Romulox]

30. Pssst. The Democratic Party claims to support US workers...

Just thought you should know. :hi:

[PVnRT]

33. Pssst. Honda and Toyota employ hundreds in Indiana

Just thought you should know.

[wuushew]

26. kick

:kick:

[wuushew]

27. dupe

[Dukkha]

31. They don't mean it, they're just being dramatic to get their lover's attention

Then Big Oil will drunk call GM late one night asking to see them, then later the encounter will be all awkward like, and then they'll start talking in a bar or at a friend's party, and then the inevitable makeup sex which they both regret a bit but then ignore all the past issues and give it another try. Mainly because they've been together so long they've become codependent of each other.