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The CSVs - How they can avoid being "Rebadges"
GMInsidenews.com
The temptation amongst Laurel Resters at GM corporate headquarters is most likely to toss the refreshed Ventures - the 4 Crossover Sport Vans - out onto the marketplace like the A-body wagon clones of yore: Century, Celebrity, Ciera, and 6000 - and hope they do somewhat well until the next minivan platform comes along. Secure and confident in the ability of the CSVs to be at least somewhat competitive on their own, they have no real incentive to differentiate the vans beyond a nose job, badging, and interior color schemes. This used to be known as 1980's GM Badge Engineering.
"Eh, it's just a stop gap for a few years. We'll have a new platform in 2007, keep yer shorts on." Some might say. But is that the attitude of a company that wants to succeed in all areas of the market? I think not.
Autosite recently wrote:
"Our problem with the 2005 Buick Terraza is that it's a compromised stop-gap measure rather than a fresh design, a product that simply catches up with the competition rather than surpasses it, and frankly, we expect more from a huge corporation that could be (and needs to be) building substantially better vehicles than it does today." http://www.autosite.com/Previews/2005-buic...ick-terraza.asp
I have some ideas to help the CSV's "do more" and fit better into each of the respective GM divisions that goes beyond just some cosmetic details, but doesn't require a whole lot of money on GM's part. No, no superchargers, turbochargers, 6-speed transmissions or V8 engines. I've learned to become realistic with my expectations when it comes to refreshed GM product - though I am still holding out hope that the 3.9L engine from the G6 will become available a year or two from now.
Another reason I'd like to see them differentiate is selfish - I want to know that if I were to buy a Pontiac SV6 (That Montana name / cowboy theme is so lame for Pontiac I refuse to use it) -that it wouldn't just be a Chevy Uplander with a nose job and silver interior trim.
So here are my ideas, which are basically just factory option packages - but packages specific to each brand:
----
1. Chevrolet Uplander - doesn't really need to do much - Chevy is the "base". A cargo van version will also be offered already. However, Chevy might go one step further with the "SUV styling theme" pulling away even further from the Minivan image, and offer a package with a grille guard, mudflaps, and towing hitch. I also recommend that one level of the vehicle be offered with a chrome bar across the grille - the unicolor grille moves away from the current Chevy design theme and only serves to make the vehicle look "softer".
2. Pontiac SV6 - the excitement division needs to have excitement in all of its vehicles, even CSVs. The SV6 can achieve this by taking another element of the CSVs' further - the Phat Noise system. Give the Montana higher quality, and more speakers. Make the Montana a rolling boom box of entertainment. Not a vanilla wagon playing Barry Manilow on "Quality GM parts speakers" - but instead an Urban-styled people mover with a thumpin' sound system. Call it the SV6 "Thunder" package, in homage to the old concept. No one is going to be fooled and see this minivan as a high performance vehicle, but they might see it as an aspirational vehicle if equipped with enough speakers and juice to make the ground tremble (in a legal sort of way, of course). As a bonus - double up on the number of LCD displays on the overhead rail system - or one for every seating row, or add some LCDS to the rear of the front seat headrests -- something to add a little urban flair (like oversized chrome wheels) --- something the "Montana" and its underpowered cowboy pretensions sorely lacks. Add Heads Up Display from the Aztek / Bonneville on the highest trim level, or an excellent Navigation system with an intro splash display reminiscient of an X-box or Playstation. Let the days of Sunfire-like clones of Chevy models cease. Would BMW offer a clone of a lesser make with nothing but a different grille? I think not. More differences, more unique Pontiac character=more respect!
3. Buick Terraza - Buick, to its credit, has done a pretty decent job recently of taking clones from other divisions and making them luxurious, no matter how clone-like to the Chevy "base" vehicle their other siblings at Pontiac or Isuzu might be. Buick has already done the right thing and is offering its "QuietTuning" acoustic package, so the Terraza will be different from the start. It even offers standard a form of independent suspension that is only available on the other brands' AWD models. With quality leather seats and Navigation offered, Terazza really has all of the bases covered, and I have no complaints (Of course, when one considers the price gap in a fully loaded Terraza from a base Uplander, many of these changes are to be expected.) - although I'd love to see an "Ultra" version with the Rendezvous Ultra's 3.6L DOHC engine. The Rendezvous shares the same basic platform so this should be do-able.
4. Saturn Relay - along with Pontiac's SV6, this one stands a fair chance of being called an outright clone. It doesn't even have the plastic side panels. Aside from the buyer who values the unique Saturn sales approach, you might as well buy an Uplander at a volume Chevy dealer with heavy discounts and that GM card. Light colored fake wood trim? Is that it? That's hardly what I would call "Saturn-like". And since the Relay is offering old tech like a column-mounted shifter and a 4-speed transmission, you'd think GM would put a little more effort into differentiating this one that is so un-Saturn-like. I suggest some optional interior features be taken from the Aztek's playbook. The Aztek was killed by its exterior looks, but had some truly innovative and cool interior features, like the center console that doubled as a cooler. But they seemed not quite in touch with the Pontiac theme. Why not put one of those in the Relay? It would seem to suit its young, trendy target image. Have a Relay "extreme sport" package with the cooler, cargo nets all over the interior, and waterproof seat covers - also an idea from the Aztek. Go with a different, active sport theme, and integrate these cues into the interior. Otherwise, watch Relay sales be as brisk as L-Series sales when people realize they can get EXACTLY the same thing in a Chevy.
----
"Eh, they'll still be rebadges."
Sure. But at least giving them unique option packages from the factory (or dealer installed) will serve to give people a reason to buy one over the other. And give the vehicles that little push away from utter clonedom where ad actors dressed as cowboys are needed in the brochures to spice things up - and towards an acceptable level of differentiation. In this case an ounce of effort on GM's part could yield a pound of results.
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GMInsidenews.com
The temptation amongst Laurel Resters at GM corporate headquarters is most likely to toss the refreshed Ventures - the 4 Crossover Sport Vans - out onto the marketplace like the A-body wagon clones of yore: Century, Celebrity, Ciera, and 6000 - and hope they do somewhat well until the next minivan platform comes along. Secure and confident in the ability of the CSVs to be at least somewhat competitive on their own, they have no real incentive to differentiate the vans beyond a nose job, badging, and interior color schemes. This used to be known as 1980's GM Badge Engineering.
"Eh, it's just a stop gap for a few years. We'll have a new platform in 2007, keep yer shorts on." Some might say. But is that the attitude of a company that wants to succeed in all areas of the market? I think not.
Autosite recently wrote:
"Our problem with the 2005 Buick Terraza is that it's a compromised stop-gap measure rather than a fresh design, a product that simply catches up with the competition rather than surpasses it, and frankly, we expect more from a huge corporation that could be (and needs to be) building substantially better vehicles than it does today." http://www.autosite.com/Previews/2005-buic...ick-terraza.asp
I have some ideas to help the CSV's "do more" and fit better into each of the respective GM divisions that goes beyond just some cosmetic details, but doesn't require a whole lot of money on GM's part. No, no superchargers, turbochargers, 6-speed transmissions or V8 engines. I've learned to become realistic with my expectations when it comes to refreshed GM product - though I am still holding out hope that the 3.9L engine from the G6 will become available a year or two from now.
Another reason I'd like to see them differentiate is selfish - I want to know that if I were to buy a Pontiac SV6 (That Montana name / cowboy theme is so lame for Pontiac I refuse to use it) -that it wouldn't just be a Chevy Uplander with a nose job and silver interior trim.
So here are my ideas, which are basically just factory option packages - but packages specific to each brand:
----
1. Chevrolet Uplander - doesn't really need to do much - Chevy is the "base". A cargo van version will also be offered already. However, Chevy might go one step further with the "SUV styling theme" pulling away even further from the Minivan image, and offer a package with a grille guard, mudflaps, and towing hitch. I also recommend that one level of the vehicle be offered with a chrome bar across the grille - the unicolor grille moves away from the current Chevy design theme and only serves to make the vehicle look "softer".
2. Pontiac SV6 - the excitement division needs to have excitement in all of its vehicles, even CSVs. The SV6 can achieve this by taking another element of the CSVs' further - the Phat Noise system. Give the Montana higher quality, and more speakers. Make the Montana a rolling boom box of entertainment. Not a vanilla wagon playing Barry Manilow on "Quality GM parts speakers" - but instead an Urban-styled people mover with a thumpin' sound system. Call it the SV6 "Thunder" package, in homage to the old concept. No one is going to be fooled and see this minivan as a high performance vehicle, but they might see it as an aspirational vehicle if equipped with enough speakers and juice to make the ground tremble (in a legal sort of way, of course). As a bonus - double up on the number of LCD displays on the overhead rail system - or one for every seating row, or add some LCDS to the rear of the front seat headrests -- something to add a little urban flair (like oversized chrome wheels) --- something the "Montana" and its underpowered cowboy pretensions sorely lacks. Add Heads Up Display from the Aztek / Bonneville on the highest trim level, or an excellent Navigation system with an intro splash display reminiscient of an X-box or Playstation. Let the days of Sunfire-like clones of Chevy models cease. Would BMW offer a clone of a lesser make with nothing but a different grille? I think not. More differences, more unique Pontiac character=more respect!
3. Buick Terraza - Buick, to its credit, has done a pretty decent job recently of taking clones from other divisions and making them luxurious, no matter how clone-like to the Chevy "base" vehicle their other siblings at Pontiac or Isuzu might be. Buick has already done the right thing and is offering its "QuietTuning" acoustic package, so the Terraza will be different from the start. It even offers standard a form of independent suspension that is only available on the other brands' AWD models. With quality leather seats and Navigation offered, Terazza really has all of the bases covered, and I have no complaints (Of course, when one considers the price gap in a fully loaded Terraza from a base Uplander, many of these changes are to be expected.) - although I'd love to see an "Ultra" version with the Rendezvous Ultra's 3.6L DOHC engine. The Rendezvous shares the same basic platform so this should be do-able.
4. Saturn Relay - along with Pontiac's SV6, this one stands a fair chance of being called an outright clone. It doesn't even have the plastic side panels. Aside from the buyer who values the unique Saturn sales approach, you might as well buy an Uplander at a volume Chevy dealer with heavy discounts and that GM card. Light colored fake wood trim? Is that it? That's hardly what I would call "Saturn-like". And since the Relay is offering old tech like a column-mounted shifter and a 4-speed transmission, you'd think GM would put a little more effort into differentiating this one that is so un-Saturn-like. I suggest some optional interior features be taken from the Aztek's playbook. The Aztek was killed by its exterior looks, but had some truly innovative and cool interior features, like the center console that doubled as a cooler. But they seemed not quite in touch with the Pontiac theme. Why not put one of those in the Relay? It would seem to suit its young, trendy target image. Have a Relay "extreme sport" package with the cooler, cargo nets all over the interior, and waterproof seat covers - also an idea from the Aztek. Go with a different, active sport theme, and integrate these cues into the interior. Otherwise, watch Relay sales be as brisk as L-Series sales when people realize they can get EXACTLY the same thing in a Chevy.
----
"Eh, they'll still be rebadges."
Sure. But at least giving them unique option packages from the factory (or dealer installed) will serve to give people a reason to buy one over the other. And give the vehicles that little push away from utter clonedom where ad actors dressed as cowboys are needed in the brochures to spice things up - and towards an acceptable level of differentiation. In this case an ounce of effort on GM's part could yield a pound of results.
