Nobody asked me but . . .

Bob Lutz showed up in LA recently for an impromptu breakfast with the Motor Press Guild, aka MPG.  Bob is always good for a few juicy quotes so I hustled up the 405 in typical OC-LA rush day traffic to grab an earful.

Bob didn’t disappoint.  He started with a comment about GM needing to make headway in the Smile States and then proceeded to elaborate on some recent successes in California:

• GM’s retail share of market in California for Q4 2009 was 9.3%, up 0.8 percentage points (PP) from Q4 ’08.
• Compact Crossover and large car sales were up 4.7 PP and 2.8 PP, respectively for the same period.
• In a recent design clinic of an upcoming new Cadillac versus its European and Asian competition, the clinic attendees liked the Cadillac more after they found out it was a Cadillac than when they didn’t know it was a Cadillac.  Lutz says this is the first time this has happened. (more…)

Nobody asked me, but . . .

What is a Terrain?  It’s a compact crossover, the GMC version of the Chevrolet Equinox (Carmudgeon, July 8, 2009) and the new Cadillac SRX.

The following is a quote from General Motors regarding the new GMC Terrain.

“At the core of the reinvention of General Motors is a promise to deliver customers greater value with strong new products. For the new 2010 GMC Terrain, that means taking the brand’s 100 year-plus tradition of engineering and capability and presenting it in a smaller, more fuel-efficient package for today’s buyers. (more…)