Detroit Automakers Go Full Throttle

Anthony Fontanelle
June 14, 2007

Detroit automakers are launching more aggressive advertising and marketing campaigns to bring back import customers.

General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. said that they seek to change incorrect perceptions that their cars are inferior to those of the Honda Motor Co. and the Toyota Motor Corp. Marketing experts said that past campaigns were too subtle and desperate times call for drastic marketing measures.

Earlier, Ford has launched ads comparing its Fusion to the Accord and the Camry. Meanwhile, GM's Saturn is displaying the Japanese models in its showrooms so customers can evaluate them with the new Aura sedan. The Saturn division of the largest American automaker, in its renaissance strategy, delivers the side by side by side campaign, to prove Aura’s prowess over Japanese rivals.

The Aura is not only equipped with folding Saturn mirrors, stylish spokes and body parts. It also features automatic climate control, remote vehicle start, Stabilitrak stability control, heated seats, backseat audio controls, six airbags, steering wheel audio controls, ABS four-wheel disc brakes, universal home remote, OnStar and a ‘Driver Information Center.’

Ford and GM have a big slice of their auto market share in the past 27 years. During the same time, Toyota has more than tripled its share and Honda's share has more than doubled.

When the Dearborn-based automaker did research to compare its Fusion midsized car with its Japanese competitors, it discovered something creepy. Although many who drove the Fusion and other cars in tests liked the Fusion's styling, performance and handling better, they still would not buy one because they had such good experiences with their Honda Accords and Toyota Camrys.

Meanwhile, the Detroit-based automaker found similar results in its research, showing both auto manufacturers that they have a long way to go in cracking the Japanese supremacy in the midsize car segment. Both Ford and GM have retaliated by launching far more aggressive advertising and marketing campaigns in an almost distressed effort to pull purchasers 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."

"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 Ford Division marketing.

According to Autodata Inc, GM dominated with 46 percent of the U.S. car market in 1980. But the figure has dwindled to 19.2 percent this year. Ford went from 17.3 percent in 1980 to 11.1 percent this year. During the same time, Toyota more than tripled its American market share and Honda's more than doubled. The remarkable increase was attributed to the hot selling Camrys and Accords. In time, the models have earned an excellent reputation for quality and reliability.

If new ads are going to help reverse the quarter-century trend, Ford and GM must emphasize data showing that they have bridged the quality gap with the Japanese, said David Koehler, a clinical marketing professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Ken Bernhardt, a marketing professor at Georgia State University said that Saturn's showroom comparison is smart, because potential Saturn buyers would be looking at Hondas and Toyotas anyway. That is exactly what GM and Ford need to do as they try to regain lost ground, Bernhardt said. "When there's a perception gap, marketing becomes much more important and has a tougher job. You have to do something that grabs the attention of the consumer in a highly cluttered environment where it's difficult to do that."

Source:  Amazines.com