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Topic: Very interesting GM article!

in Forum: All Vettes Discussion


Very interesting GM article!

Posted: 4/20/06 10:20am Message 1 of 5
Former Member
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Anacortes, WA - USA
Joined: 12/16/2002
Posts: 1293
Vette(s): 1979 Red #72 C3 Corvette,T-350,Black interior,air,tilt/tele,K&N.And a 1978 Olds Cutlass 350/350,auto,air,2-dr.,buckets
"With all the recent press releases discussing what the General has done  
right and wrong I felt you might be interested in this work done by by Peter  
M. DeLorenzo. He sure hits the nail squarly on the hesd...it's one of the  
best articles about Corvettes that I've seen in years.
It never ceases to amaze me that in spite of GM management our beloved  
Vettes have survived for over 53 years and during this time they dominated a  
market  they created. CORVETTE has never been and is not currently is second  
to none in price performance!  ENJOY, Bill" (one of my local Club members)
__________________
 From
www.autoextremist.com
    by Peter M. DeLorenzo
 
    The Corvette - GM's Perennial Squandered Opportunity.
 
    Did you know that the recent running of the 12 Hours of
    Sebring, America's most prestigious sports car race, marked the 50th
    anniversary of Corvette Racing? I didn't think so. The Corvette, one of
    the world's great sports cars and clearly the most recognized showcase
    of GM's overall capabilities as an automobile manufacturer, has
    compiled an enviable competition record in races around the world - and
    it all started at Sebring, Florida, back in 1956. And yet, GM couldn't
    see fit to acknowledge that fact in any way. No ads, no releases, no
    nothing. Any other manufacturer would kill to have a car with the
    reputation and history of achievement that the Corvette has - and they
    would go out of their way to use it proudly as an image enhancer and
    halo for their entire company. Not GM, however.
    Even after all of the praise heaped on the Corvette from automotive
    media around the world, and even after its stunning competition record
    over the years (especially its recent performance at the 24 Hours of Le
    Mans, the most prestigious sports car race in the world, where it has
    won the top GT class four out of the last five years) - GM and
    Chevrolet marketers remain mystified as to just what to do with its
    most respected vehicle and seem to go out of their way to neglect it at
    almost every turn.
    And that built-in neglect defies all rational thought and
    understanding, too, because even in the midst of the relentlessly grim
    news about the company's financial troubles and its continuing efforts
    to put distance between the product missteps of the "old" GM and  
the
    new, forward-thinking GM - the Corvette is the one constant in GM's
    product portfolio that demands respect and warrants the kind of special
    attention that an outstanding machine of its caliber deserves.
    The Corvette has been an iconic American car since its inception in
    1953, and over the years it has not only reveled in its legendary
    status, it has continued to deliver on its original and elegantly
    simple promise of offering scintillating high-performance and unmatched
    value to this day. When you really think about it, the Corvette has
    more American automotive history wrapped up in its hallowed pedigree
    than almost any other car ever built on these shores.
    And the fact that the Corvette has survived, let alone thrived in GM's
    bean counter-driven culture all of these years is a testament to the
    past stewards of the car who staked their reputations on America's most
    visibly exuberant machine. People like Harley Earl, Zora Duntov, Bill
    Mitchell and Ed Cole to name just a few - and the countless designers,
    engineers and others who knew what the Corvette represented and who
    understood its place in automotive history and who nurtured the car
    through all of the storms that blew up and threatened to destroy its
    existence once and for all. They deserve all of the credit - and the
    thanks of every enthusiast who ever gripped a steering wheel.
    There were plenty who wanted to take potshots at the Corvette along the
    way. If it wasn't GM's cost vultures, it was people like John Z.
    DeLorean, who wanted to eradicate the car's authenticity by building it
    off a shortened-wheelbase version of the Camaro - so he could solidify
    his burgeoning reputation as GM's "Golden Boy" when he took over  
the
    Chevrolet Division (fortunately, the True Believers within the
    corporation rose up and quashed that brainstorm before it got any
    further than DeLorean's daydreams).
    Today, thanks to the True Believers who remain actively engaged in the
    corporation, the Corvette is a glittering example of what GM can do
    when it unleashes its best and brightest on a machine that embodies
    everything that a modern, high-performance sports car should be. And
    when you factor in the active and passive safety features, the
    real-world fuel efficiency numbers and the unmatched value that become
    a seamless part of its final equation, there is no question that the
    Corvette is one of the finest cars in the world - at any price.
    Which is why it remains a shock to me that GM and Chevrolet marketers
    have squandered every opportunity presented to them to use the Corvette
    as a demonstrative showcase vehicle for the company's capabilities.
    It's as if they're almost ashamed of the car, or maybe it's just that
    they can't bring themselves to admit that they have one of the world's
    great cars sitting right under their noses - and they don't have the
    faintest of clues as to what to do with it.
    The underwhelming support that the Corvette receives within GM exposes
    the classic "Detroit-think" marketing attitude for everyone to see  
in
    all of its tedious glory - the one that suggests that cars like the
    Corvette, "sell themselves" and "why should we spend dime-one  
on
    something that's a sell-out anyway?" It's this quintessential
    Detroit-myopic mentality that has continually prevented GM and
    Chevrolet from touting the technical, engineering and high-performance
    value achievement that the Corvette represents today.
    The simple fact is that the Corvette should be the ultimate
    image-enhancing machine for GM and Chevrolet marketers. Instead, the
    only semi-visible promotional presence for Corvette (other than the
    occasional fleeting glimpses in television commercials) are the various
    "pace car" programs that Chevrolet employs the car for - in  
NASCAR, of
    course.
    And the championship-winning Corvette Racing program scrapes by on the
    scraps left over from the spillage of funds that somehow didn't make it
    into the sponge-like coffers of GM's NASCAR program, when in fact the
    Corvette Racing program is probably GM's most visible sign of success
    to the rest of the world - especially when it delivers another Le Mans
    victory - and it should be the priority, rather than an afterthought.
    It would be refreshing to see GM and Chevy marketers finally give one
    of the all-time great cars in automotive history the level of respect
    that it deserves.
    But as much as I would love to see that happen, I won't be holding my
    breath.




Jon,-Majestic Glass Corvette Club-....Red #72,blk.interior,1979 C3 Corvette-TH350,Weiand,Holley,glass tops,Pioneer,3.55's,K&N,Dynomax,Flowmaster 40's,Energy Suspension,Spicer,VB&P(pics soon); 1978 Olds Cutlass Supreme 350/350,Dk. Blue 2-door Coupe-Hotchkis,PST,K&N,XM...'99 Mitsubishi Galant GTZ V6,black/grey leather,intake,strut bars,tint... |IMG|http://www.msnusers.com/cutlasscorvetteworkinprogress/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=63|/IMG|

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Very interesting GM article!

Posted: 4/20/06 10:46am Message 2 of 5
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Former Member
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Newport, MI - USA
Joined: 6/9/2005
Posts: 932
Vette(s): 1980 L-48 still in the middle of a frame-off.
It's amazing to me that an entity as large as GM does not have the common sense on how to use one of their greatest asset as a marketing tool. I sometimes wonder what goes through the minds of management.  Time and time again They sit on their collective ass and squander valuable opportunities to promote  product which they so desperately need. Maybe they should change the name to General Mismanagement.



Corvettes and women are the same...You want to make love to them but they keep breaking down.

Very interesting GM article!

Posted: 4/21/06 4:37pm Message 3 of 5
Former Member
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Belgium
Joined: 1/5/2006
Posts: 774
Vette(s): 350/350 T-top 1970 Cortez silver -blue interior
playing the underdog ? 


Very interesting GM article!

Posted: 4/25/06 5:53pm Message 4 of 5
Former Member
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Syracuse, NY - USA
Joined: 8/1/2003
Posts: 693
Vette(s): ...
you are right , what a shame, it is we owners who promote the Corvette so much with how much we love them and take care of them!




Very interesting GM article!

Posted: 4/25/06 10:57pm Message 5 of 5
Lifetime MemberLifetime Member
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SEVERN, MD - USA
Joined: 9/30/2002
Posts: 453
Vette(s): 1970 LT-1 Convertible Bridgehampton Blue Metallic 1999 Convertible Nassau Blue Metallic
What a bunch of "mental midgets" those GM marketers and public relations weenies are!! They have a "magic elixir" right in their hands in the form of the corvette - and yet they don't use it like they could. Just don't understnd it .....



in Forum: All Vettes Discussion


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