[DeTomaso] the great debate

[adin at frontier.net]

Easy there big fella . . . .



Quoting "michael at michaelshortt.com" <michael at michaelshortt.com>:

> Proof positive that GM can screw up one of the few guaranteed working parts
> of their company.  Those guys in their open shirts, gold chains and Silver
> metalized Corvette jackets will buy anything put in front of them, just
> cause its got a logo and a bowtie.  But let the existing model sit around
> and become dated and they'll lose the next generation of, probably the MOST
> important generation in years, those who are influenced by C-6's but can't
> afford them now,  but will later when they are older and make more money and
> when later comes, there will be something else better out there.
>
> The only reason Corvette lasted through the for the most part awful late C-3
> and C-4 years ( ZR1 excluded ) was the history and glorified memory of the
> StingRay years, when young men wanted one and couldn't buy one until they
> were older and ended up with the "glorious" cars mentioned above.
>
> Very few people are motor heads in Generation X and Y , fewer want a
> Corvette, they grew up on BMW, Porsche and other cars.  Because unless you
> were old enough to remember the cool Corvettes, they were just what the old
> man down the street bought when he got divorced.
>
> It took the C-5 and C-6 to make it a serious car again and they're going to
> drop the ball...something about history repeating itself and not learning.
> from it.
>
> I recently was called by their marketing company to supply locations and
> models for the Corvette Quarterly magazine, they wanted 20 somethings for
> the cover story in a convertible Corvette, I literally laughed at the guy.
>
> I said, who exactly do you think Corvette owners are? I said they are 50
> year old guys who's last kid just finished college and this guy and a very
> cool wife #1 or most likely a younger wife #2 buy the cars to go on weekend
> trips, He agreed, I told him I go to lots of car events and you almost never
> see anybody under 50 in a Corvette, he agreed, The I said, why in God's name
> would you want to alienate your core audience/market
> by putting hot Young bods in the cars ( because knowing that people would
> react in the most predictable way - make'em feel bad because they worked
> their whole lives to be able to afford a car like this and here are some
> young punks in one like mine.
> Then I asked him, aside from celebrities and trust fund babies ( a limited
> marketing segment ) how many twenty somethings can afford an 80,000 car?  He
> agreed that not very many could buy the car.
>
> Needless to say I passed on the project, it was stupid and the magazine
> subscribers won't react well to it.  If they eventually did it, maybe
> they'll spring a boner for the girl, but when the dust settles, it won't
> leave a lasting good impression to see some 20 year old kid in a car like
> yours.
> It's like seeing a Rolex/Omega on a High School kid, it takes the shine
> right off yours or it's fake, either way, yours isn't so special anymore.
>
> Michael in Savannah
>
>
> KNOW YOUR MARKET, cater to it and prosper.
>
>
> Michael in Savannah
>
> On Mon, Oct 20, 2008 at 9:52 AM, Adin, David   
> <DavidAdin at mercydurango.org>wrote:
>
>> Seems like the great debate is over.  Or will be soon?
>>
>>
>>
>> http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=18832
>>
>>
>>
>> Headline: corvette to die?
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
> --
> Michael L. Shortt
> Savannah, Georgia
> www.michaelshortt.com
> michael at michaelshortt.com
> 912-232-9390
>
>
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