GM, Ford To Fight Hard To Win Back Customers

Anthony Fontanelle
June 12, 2007

It is undeniable that the auto industry sports tighter competition these days. This is because both the domestic and foreign automakers are struggling to put their best foot forward. Additionally, Detroit automakers are amenable to the fact that they really got to fight hard. Hence, auto campaigns are now sprouting like mushrooms.

Both the Genera Motors Corp. and the Ford Motor Co. have responded with more aggressive advertising and marketing campaigns in an almost frantic effort to pull import consumers back into their showrooms. "We've really got to fight hard," Mark LaNeve, GM’s vice president of North American sales, service and marketing, said in a recent interview. "If you see a more aggressive tone, we just want to shake people's consciousness a little bit."

All of this is aimed at changing what Detroit automakers say is an incorrect perception that they make cars that are inferior to the Honda Motor Co. and the Toyota Motor Corp. "We need to earn people's confidence and trust, and we believe we've got the goods to back it up," said Barry Engle, the general manager of the Ford Division marketing.

Ford and GM have lost a big slice of their market share in the last 27 years. In 1980, GM dominated with 46 percent of the American car market. But the figure has dwindled to 19.2 percent so far this year, according to Autodata Inc. Ford went from 17.3 percent in 1980 to 11.1 percent this year. During the period, Toyota more than tripled its American market share and Honda's share more than doubled and this is largely by selling Camry units and Accord vehicles. These cars have established a reputation for reliability and quality.

Earlier, Ford launched TV, print and Internet ads comparing the Fusion directly with the Accord and the Camry, and GM's Saturn brand started convincing people to rethink their values as well as how they view Saturn and American cars. Yesterday, Saturn posted Accords and Camrys at all 435 American dealerships for customers to compare with its new Aura midsized sedan.

In the previous attempts of the domestic automakers, the results went straight to the bottom line. Japanese automakers amassed considerable gains. Toyota and Honda have made billions of dollars while GM and Ford struggle with losses, particularly in North America.

If new ads are going to help reverse the quarter-century trend, Ford and GM must emphasize data showing that they've bridged the quality gap with the Japanese, said David Koehler, a clinical marketing professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "It's a desperate time for Ford and GM," Koehler said. "They're begging the consumer to at least try us and consider us."

Ken Bernhardt, a Georgia State University marketing professor, said that Saturn's showroom comparison is smart because potential Saturn buyers would be looking at Hondas and Toyotas anyway. To go with the car-to-car comparisons, Saturn's "Rethink" television and Internet ads force people to see a different view of status, beauty, power, strength and essentially their value systems, said Jill Lajdziak, the Saturn Division general manager. The latest campaign of GM’s division is aimed at flaunting the catchy styling and enhanced auto parts that include Saturn PCV valve and engines of the automaker’s lineup.

Ford's "Fusion Challenge" ads have helped increased the company’s sales, but they are still dwarfed by the Camry, which is the largest-selling car in America with 193,900 sold during the first five months of 2007.

But Ford executives realize that the gap took decades to produce. "You cannot change perceptions or behaviors overnight," said George Pipas, Ford's top sales analyst. "You have to start somewhere in order to crack segments that represent strongholds for other competitors."

Source:  Amazines.com