GM hadn't been making much profit in quite some time. Really not a surprise they've axed what isn't profitable. It's why they got rid of the Holden product lines and sold Opel, both were losing money
Well, I don't know what GM marketing was like in Europe or Australia but if it's anything like their marketing in the US, then I might have an idea why they aren't making money.
I think their UK marketing through Vauxhall seemed pretty on point actually. It was in-line with what the French brands were doing, plus they were able to slap union jacks on everything since they manufacture here. Why Vauxhall has been doing not so well financially is kinda beyond me, their cars are popular and widespread. Clearly they haven't been able to capitalise on that. The only thing that comes to mind is that they are not as fashionable or youthful as some of the other brands. The Vauxhall Adam is in many regards, but I rarely see them. They also do a sport version of the Adam to (somewhat) take on the Fiesta ST, but I don't think I have ever seen one, apparently they are pretty decent.
Commercials aren't a massive influence on one's second largest purchase. Things like pricing, brand image, or quality (real or perceived) are.
Watch the debadged Chevy Malibu one, multiple "real people" assume it's a BMW. BMW has some really famous design ques, none of which that car has. --- Post updated --- Ok
That one pissed me off particularly. The people said that it was a “90-120k car” or something rediculous like that. I actually think they tried to find people with an IQ of 8 (so they CAN in fact breathe!) so that they say convinient, yet nosensical, things.
I actually think the facelift makes the Prius look a bit better. But what they did with the taillights looks a bit off: If it was more rounded around the bottom right/left corner, I wouldn't mind it too much.
Someone said it since I posted this, but Chevrolet marketing in particular is some of the most unbelievably - and stubbornly - awful I've ever seen. It was already the butt of jokes years ago, but instead of fixing it they've just made it even worse (and even cheekier). Plus at least one model they never even bothered to advertise (the Volt, which I wouldn't be sad about seeing discontinued, if only they weren't replacing it with a crossover). On top of which, a lot of their product range is... surprisingly mediocre. The poor build quality and dull paint that used to haunt them no longer does, but the cars themselves (other than high-performance specials) rarely distinguish themselves in the market and some, such as the Cruze, exemplify almost everything wrong with modern car design. Buick is just sort of hiding in plain sight, Cadillac is mired in incomprehensible alphanumeric stew from de Nysschen's attempts to make an American Audi out of it and doesn't always reach the quality levels it should, and GMC is... a little bit less than Buick but only on trucks & SUVs I guess? Or is it more than Buick?
I mean.... "General Motors". General Generic They build generic cars, simple as that. You want a car that's a car? Buy GM. You want a car that's good or special or different? Everyone else has you covered. The only GM vehicle I've been in recently (and even drove) that I liked was the Colorado ZR2 Duramax. It was quiet and comfortable and drove very nice. I turned around and drove a 425HP Camaro immediately afterwards and it really sucked. Numb steering even in sport, hilariously uncomfortable, the doors sounded hollow, couldn't see out of it at all... Horrible car. I'd rather have a Trabant. I'm a devout Ford guy, but I'd have that Colorado over the new Ranger any day of the week. Its also the ONLY GM vehicle across all their brands in all segments that I'd willingly spend money on. FCA, Ford, Hyundai, Toyota.... Those are just some of the brands I'd willingly buy more than one model from. I also find it somewhat ironic that they're killing off all those models to focus on EVs... Then promptly kill off an EV. Nice going, guys.
Pushrod V8, blower sometimes, RWD... it's about as generic Muscle as it gets. Why aren't they making a Corvette with a flat-plane crank like Ford, or one that can do wheelies from the factory like Dodge? The C7 is almost incomprehensibly boring compared to the C6. The C6 still had transverse leaf suspension, 7L engines, the first factory Corvette to top 200 mph, the last factory Corvette to use the LS engine, first factory supercharged Corvette... It was a good car. It was a good, interesting, cool car. The C7 isn't like that. And with the C8 being mid-ship with small, OHC engines, it'll be even more boring and then just a discount Ferrari.
