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The Regal doesn't really do anything for me, one way or another. But, other than seeing one on the streets every once in a blue moon, I really don't have any experience with them. Maybe I should go up to the Buick/Caddy dealer where I bought my Park Ave, and check one out and see if I like it or not.
I am curious to see the new Impala when it hits the streets. I like what I've seen of it so far in the pics. Dunno if making a 4-cyl standard in something that big is a good idea, but who knows? Maybe they'll get enough power out of it?
Regal is a nice enough car, but the upmarket aspirations had by the marketing clowns working for GM in NA might have been ambitious - in Europe, the car (Insignia) is not a prestige car in any way, just kind of slots in for their market where a cross between a Malibu and Impala would here.
Buick should bring back the Riviera model in the same vein as they did the latest Camaro of Chevrolet. Use themes, styling elements from the 60's and bring out a version in the next 3-5 years.
Some names from Buick's past should remain in the graveyard. Such as Roadmaster, Invicta, Electra, Skylark, Ron-day-vu, etc.
I never did like the name Invicta, either. Sounds too much like "Vindictive", "Indict", "Evict", and other unsavory-sounding things.
Regards,
OW
What do you think about this move?
GM to drop Facebook ads (Reuters)
Selling at a loss would be political suicide for Obama in the November elections.
Holding onto it is the lesser of 2 evils.
With reported domestic gas and oil production in NA increasing at great speed, per reports in the media, it's possible the economy may be moving into a faster growth period, which would be great news for new auto sales. Maybe that's what Berkshire is betting on happening...
I wouldn't.
GM probably feels it can get better value for its ad $$$ elsewhere. It may be just that simple.
Regarding Facebook, having ad revenue as its main source of revenue is a real concern to many analysts. The public can be so o o fickle...
Out in front today. Yesterday's news tomorrow...
If I saw an ad for something that caught my interest, and I was in the market for a car, I might go look at it and possibly buy it. But, I imagine I'm going to see the ad for that car on TV, in a magazine, or some other website first. So Facebook would just be over-saturation, in my case at least.
Usually, when I'm on the internet, I tend to tune ads out, anyway. Right now, for instance, as I'm typing this, I can see the lower part of an ad for a blue car. I can't tell what kind of car it is, and can only see where across the bottom it says (1) Requires Android or iPhone and a "Learn More" box. But, I don't have the ambition right now to scroll up, or enlarge my browser window, to see what kind of car it is. :P
I still see a few legit ads, mostly for television programs or shopping websites, but I never click on them anyway. Facebook allows you to target advertising to consumers based on various criteria in their profiles, but "auto enthusiast" doesn't seem to be one of the options, so I can see why GM would opt out of totally untargeted advertising.
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Another angle is that TV ad negotiations are coming up and GM has just signaled that they are willing to walk away from media. (mediapost.com)
I bet they learned that from savvy car buyers who walk away from a dealer's first offer.
Looks like Buffett's share purchase bumped the price up 5%. Maybe it was a cheap buy or maybe it was a sop to the current administration. :-)
I'm guessing Berkshire was aware of the turnaround and feels Its time to put some cash into transportation. Berkshire recently started buying railroad stocks as well.
Never hurts to buy a stock when it's priced low... If one has good reason to think the price is going up soon.
http://tucsoncitizen.com/usa-today-news/2012/05/15/u-s-energy-independence-isnt-- - a-pipe-dream/
Now, if I'm in the market for something inexpensive, or perhaps there is a product I'm not aware of that may be of interest to me, it might be different. I can totally see someone on Facebook seeing an ad for a video game, some minor household gadget or the like and clicking on the ad to get more info.
As someone else posted, so many ads nowadays attempt to hijack you and take you places you don't really want to go, so I would bet many simply bypass the ads. If they are interested, they may google the product directly.
I'd bet the interest in the ads on Facebook goes down as the item's pricing being advertised goes up... If thats true, i suspect That specific info isn't going to be released by Facebook, though...
I thought Buffett's trains were getting hammered from the switchover to cheap natural gas from coal. But the market is way down so it's a good time to buy. Unless you thing GM is still too expensive a stock.
Overall, it's difficult to question his results..
Most of those new models will be crossover utility vehicles, luxury sedans and light trucks."
Ford is a bit ahead at 26%.
Ford to lead rollouts of new models (Detroit News)
It implies gas prices aren't considered unreasonable by the car buying public, as a whole...or at least economy cars aren't selling as well as carmakers would like them to be selling...
Internet ads might actually encourage some surfers to buy lesser priced items, but high $$$ items are different. I simply can't imagine anyone seeing an ad for a car and being motivated to buy it, unless it is something they were already interested in buying to begin with.
If you read about the effectiveness of Internet advertising it becomes quite apparent that there are a lot of unknowns as it comes to the just how much people buy based upon the ads they see on websites.
One less employee on the payroll!
One less employee on the payroll!
Oh, it's nowhere near over from a $$$ perspective, unfortunately.
Depending on how the final production units look & perform -
something like this MIGHT bring me back to GM.
- Ray
In the BMW camp right now,
but drove a G8 GT for 40,000+ miles....
Curious,
What were your thoughts of the G8?
What would you have changed / like to have had GM/Pontiac do differently that improved it?
As with you, this may bring me to what a new GM / Chevy (maybe)
Before that, I had a Corvette – for over 30,000 miles [ in 2 years – a very high mileage ‘Vette ] and enjoyed that driving experience immensely.
Moving to a different brand [ last Fall ] had a lot to do with wanting to do a European Delivery with my Daughter – but at that point, I also did not see a GM vehicle that I would consider buying.
[ Sad ]
- Ray
Waiting to see what the ‘New Car World’ looks like
when my lease is up, late next year . . .
Closer to BMW 3 than BMW 5. And lighter weight.
More HP & TQ. [ TQ addict, I am. ]
A few more available options:
A performance exhaust, for example. . .
And somewhat better highway MPG.
We shall see what the SS brings.
- Ray
Quite happy with the current ride, for now . . .
Dad cried when he sold his ('72? '74?) and it drove off. Step mom made him sell it.
Of course it was a little crazy to buy the coupe when there were 3 boys crammed in the back seat.
Meanwhile GM Bows Out of Super Bowl Advertising too. (WSJ)
They are going to buy ads during the Olympics. (Detroit News)
I rode in one of those once, seemed put together well enough, materials a little chintzy, iffy visibility (but I think they come with a camera).
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/05/09/cadillac-offering-tutorials-ipad-with-- new-infotainment-system/
They are pretty handy gizmos.
Also, it makes good sense to me for Caddie to give them to buyers so that they can have a "simulator" to learn the new electronic systems...
Just flew back east today, a quick drive of the Traverse tonight. Will report more in next few days.
Seems this is a more base model - cloth seats, etc. Initial impressions are: Smooth engine, drives nice but large turning circle, fairly nice looking controls, dash and door plastics are too chintzy for the rest of the vehicle. The center dash compartment on top is nice but the door is cheap. Storage area is nice in back but floor is quite high, so less space than you might think given the size of the vehicle.
Given that it has chrome handles and chrome rings on the dash, why the cheap hard dash plastics? Seems like the materials should be matched - as an example, don't put chrome on everything until you de-cheap the plastics. Seems kind of like one of those cars you see people driving where they are primer gray with fancy wheels. Just a mismatch of priorities.
Interesting that GM is following Hyundai. Good move.
Here's the counter move!
As soon as General Motors said this week that it would quit paid ads on Facebook, Ford was on Twitter saying it has doubled-down on social and digital media -- and hinted in a tweet that GM just didn't know how to use new social media
Then, no sooner had GM said yesterday it would not buy ads in the next Super Bowl, and Super Bowl regular Hyundai quickly let us know it won't pass on the biggest annual ad event in TV -- and by the way, (are your ears burning GM?), did know that the game is a huge social media event, too..
Perhaps GM will now get back in! :surprise:
Another shot at GM as Hyundai re-ups for Super Bowl
Regards,
OW
Regards,
OW
And then there's people like us - no TV in the house, but there is an iPad. I tweet and FB, but only for work. Can't say that I much read what others tweet or stick on their Wall. I like football okay but even when Eli or Payton are playing in the Superbowl, I just follow the box scores at SI and catch the highlight reels on YouTube that night.
What I'm really hoping for is that GM gets really smart and buys a lot more ad space here. Although...plenty of people use ad blocking software so even that's tough to quantify. I just spent ~$400 on house paint. Most all the research was done by reading handyman sites and forums and talking to my painter.
So it's no wonder GM and the rest wonder if their ad dollars are working. For example, I'm more likely to learn that the Equinox has good gas mileage here than in a commercial somewhere.
And please don't tell me that you think Ford and Hyundai's reactions to GM pulling ads came from their home office and not their ad agencies.
Enough research has been done and actual data accumulated now that pretty much refutes so many of those claims. Most reputable ecomomists stopped making claims of that magnitude years ago when supporting these types of projects.
IMO, that is where we are on advertising today. I have serious doubts that anyone actually gets just repayment for the multi-million $$$$ Superbowl ads alone. VW, I believe, gets more coverage of their Superbowl ad via viewings on YouTube than the Superbowl viewings, and it's considerably cheaper to have an ad viewed on YouTube.
Having millions watching you advertisement isn't worth anything if none of those millions are interested in purchasing your product. How many of the "dot.com" companies that were the heavy-hitter advertisers on the Superbowl just a few years back are still around today?
One other comment about car ads... I can't help but wonder how effective car ads are that show a driver putting a car through its paces in an ad, with the disclosure that "car is being driven on a closed course" really are... Sure, some buyers like those ads, but does the average car buyer really understand the significance of "0 - 60" in 5 seconds .vs. 6... or 6.5... 7.?
So, I guess I agree with you in that ads placed in an area that viewers are already interested in looking most likely give the biggest bang for the buck. There isn't anything wrong with a bit of generalized advertising, keeping your product name out in the public eye, but I'd love to see some qualitative data demonstrating car sales being directly tied to something like Superbowl ads.
The chances of that tablet, obsolete within a year, staying with the car through the note or lease period, is the same of Caddy making a legitimate S-class competitor by the end of this calendar year :shades:
Of course, with rentals, one has to be fair - who knows how the car has been treated, and many rental models are at a spec level only available to fleets.
The original iPad we got was a refurb purchased just after the second generation came out and it's still functional, but yeah, I wouldn't leave mine in the glove box if it came with the car.
No but the decision to buy the ad space did. That's what counts.
GM would be smart to buy ad space on Edmunds....so you know they probably won't.
BTW, Benjamin Moore has always done right by me! :shades:
Regards,
OW
Regards,
OW
Sometimes they do have other cars in there but you see whatI'm getting at.
But naturally you'd prefer Benjamin Moore since they are owned by Berkshire Hathaway. You know - the same outfit that just purchased 10 million shares of General Motors.
My point was that, in the overall picture of car buying, unless the car is performance-oriented (Corvette, etc.), the advertisement is not likely to appeal to many buyers.
As an example... Nissan had an early commercial displaying some dude driving like a maniac all over town in a Juke (again, on a closed course). From the Juke owners I've seen, I doubt very seriously ANY of them bought the car based upon the performance angle in the commercial.