Featured 2016 Chevy Volt Attack Ads target LEAF, Prius!

Constructive questions are supposed to be open ended. Ugh. If it were specific, it would likely get labeled as trolling bait.

I already did, despite it being an obvious off-topic diversion.

FIRST-GEN HYBRIDS DID NOT GET A TAX-CREDIT. It was nothing but a $300 to $400 deduction. That's a drastic difference from the $7,500 the EVs and some plug-in hybrids get. There is simply no proper comparison with such a profound mismatch. btw, It is well publicized now that Volt 2 is really third generation Two-Mode. GM's history with motor & battery dates back into the 90's too.

Most importantly though, what the heck does that have to do with gen-2 offerings?

 

Like those loves to take advantage of the $7,500 fed tax incentive and other state and business (free electricity, parking, etc) incentives?

The real test is when all those incentives are gone.

 

GM has a lot of other issues holding back sales which will garner a bigger growth in sales.
Frankly, I hate negative ads and hope GM doesn't get any positive reinforcement on negative ads.
Hopefully Lexus doesn't either.

 

has lexus gone rogue on another manufacturer?

 

The sad truth is that the Prius was popularized by the 2nd gen model during 2004-2009 largely as the result of a massive US government subsidy called The Iraq War.



The US invasion and its collateral effects resulted in continuously and quickly rising oil and gasoline prices through nearly the entire 5 year run of that model. The US cost of that subsidy amounts to around $3,000,000,000,000 and anywhere from 160,000 to around 1,000,000 total lives were lost depending on who does the counting. That's nearly $10,000 per person in the US -- more than $7,500.

None of that is Toyota's fault but it is undeniable that the ensuing quickly rising and long-term gas price hike caused many consumers to buy the Prius. Their positive experience with the car has largely kept sales going despite subsequent drops in gas prices.

Another similar round of spiking and persistently high gas prices would be very effective at driving up 2nd gen Volt and other plugin sales if it were to happen again. So far, there is nothing on the immediate horizon in spite of the continuing Iraq War fallout and destabilization that we are seeing every day.

 

They are a luxury brand, and like the other luxury brands, have lost sales to Tesla. Their negative EV ad was targeting them. Lexus isn't going to worry about the Leaf or Volt.

 

What the neck does that have to do with gen-2 expectations?

We all saw the excess oil-drilling would lead to over-supply causing low gas prices.

Volt is not suited to deal with that situation.

 

You keep contrasting the Volt's $7,500 battery tax credit with the paltry or non-existent direct tax subsidies of the early years when the Prius was popularized.

Although you never seem to acknowledge it, the gen 2 Prius received a massive US government subsidy in the form of the Iraq War. The subsequent long-run continuous increases that doubled the price of gasoline between 2004 and 2008 drove people into the welcoming arms of Prius salespeople.

The total cost of that war is about $3 Trillion or nearly $10,000 per US resident. And even then, everyone wasn't buying a Prius.

Do you deny that this strongly contributed to gen 2 Prius sales?

 

gotcha. i thought you meant they were naming names and dissing certain mfg.'s tech.

 

Doing everything possible to not discussion the topic of this thread. Ugh.

Toyota was well prepared to take advantage of the opportunity with Prius... and they did. That's the past and has nothing to do with what's happening now.

We've been told GM is prepared the same way for Volt. With gas now just $2.02 per gallon here and even less in a few other states, it's quite reasonable to ask how. Attacking Leaf & Prius achieves what?

 

I guess you can say dissing BEVs is dissing Tesla's tech.
Naming names is kinda of a cheap shot, but considering how long Pepsi has been going after Coke, I don't think doing so will automatically make an ad doing so a 'bad' one. Were the I'm a PC/Mac commercials bad?

 

Naming a competitor and saying your product is better is one thing.
When a commercial implies, or outright lies about a competitor, as Lexus did, that is what I think crosses the line.
In the Lexus add I am thinking of they showed a BMW i3

 

They also had a print one with a charger than was a general attack on BEVs.
They used an i3, but Lexus is more concerned with Tesla. At the end of the day, BMW is still an ICE car company like Lexus, and is a partner on FCEVs.

 

OK I can buy that the fanbois said that to you. Let's look what the press said.
http://www.edmunds.com/autoobserver-archive/assets/Auto%20Sales%20Forecast%202011.pdf
15,000 volts in 2011 and 25,000 leafs

Actual were disapointing
7671 volts
9674 leafs
But if GM had made the 15,000 number, so what, its not what the fan boys were saying. If someone is saying a number much higher than the analysts, without any claim, don't buy it. I'm sure you don't.

I think you are asking the wrong audience. This one is prius owners, with an interest in future plug-ins and fcv. I have pointed you to polls and articles, but you seem to not like that. You need to ask a different audience. As I've said before - Who Who makes you sound an owl.
Gen I volt and prius phv, as I told you before they were launched - initial adopter vehicles.

Gen II volt appears to be targetted at that same market. High income. High Education. Daily drives less than 53 miles (that is most americans). 2+2 design like the mirai limits apeal. Green halo. Further GM decided they are mainly targeting people in the plug-in adopter states (California, Washington, Oregon, Texas, Florida, NY, Michigan, Illinois).

Now here is my question. Who is going to buy the prius that is not buying it now? The prius hybrid system is a good answer for its segment, but not for Trucks, SUVs, Sports Sedans, luxury cars, etc. It seems like audi/bmw/mercedes are taking a volt like approach to SUVs and luxury cars. Mistusbishi a slightly differnt take on the phev for cute utes. Tesla something completely differeent. How do efficient cars grow, if every advance is questioened and frowned upon.

When are you going to stop beating your wife.

probably the same answer here. No the volt is not going to sell like the camry. Hell the prius doesn't even sell like the camry.

Two dealers tried to sell me a camry instead of a prius. It was the first year of the gen III. I think a problem is definitely with the chevy dealers.

Again like my first answer, I think tesla is who changes this with the model 3. I think it will challenge prius sales in the US, and greatly outsell it in China and Euorpe. Japan is closed to americans, so aqua will stay king there. Note prius sales won't become model 3 sales, but I expect them to take them from the camry, fusion, accord, lexus es, bmw 3, audi 4, etc. There are a lot of people that want to get off oil that may pay more for an american made car that they can charge in their garage.

 

I thought I had addressed this already but I don't see it now so maybe that was on another thread or site.

I dislike the GM Volt ads, as usual. GM doesn't know how to market the Volt. Nobody cares what GM thinks of the Prius or LEAF. The business about the old-tech NiMH battery vs the sleek new Lithium technology in the Volt is a waste of ad dollars. It's a stupid point and nobody cares.

I think GM would be far better off selling the positive aspects of the Volt like it's excellent EV range, powerful yet quiet, smooth and elegant EV (and hybrid) driving characteristics, reduced visits to the gas station, tested and reliable technology with cars on the road 5 years and over 250,000 miles, road trip capable with good gas mpg, etc. It's actually fun to drive! People look forward to getting in the car.... Sell that!

They should use some humor -- it's like a BEV with training wheels (show it with training wheels attached) that goes 0-60 in X.X seconds and up to 98 mph without using the gas engine...

Sell it like other cars they are proud of rather then defensively trashing other cars....

 

the pepsi/coke commercials were pretty funny, not derogatory or straight out lying. the mac/pc commercials were meh. not horrible though. the gm commercial is attacking the wrong vehicle, and shows more jealousy than anything else.

 

People are still swayed with (bad) advertising? huh. I'm usually hitting the mute button and the change channel button. Really? some hot girl eating a burger actually works? (reference to Carl's jr ads).

And car ads? jesus, they are the MOST stupid! But i guess someone is getting a job out of all the nonsense. Carry on.

 

i sometimes wonder if i'm subconsciously being swayed by advertising, when i forget to hit the mute button.

 

Agree completely with the first two observations.
The first half of the GM commercial is painful.
I much prefer commercials that say "hey, look at why our product is so great".

And the bit about the Prius battery tech being 15 years old, I highly doubt that. I'm sure there have been advances in the Nickel batteries, not to mention the recent addition of some lithium.

I don't believe it approaches the level of dishonesty present in the Lexus anti plugin ad though.

 

i think you're taking the lexus ads too personally, but i understand your point. i'm sure they're completely unsuccessful.