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I had never heard of this until I read the recent Autoblog report.

Wierd.

H/T Autocarsuk.net

H/T Autoblog

This year’s Volvo booth was hidden in the northeastern corner of the IX Center. At first you might think that would be the worst possible location. But on second thought, it turned out to be a good place as it was nestled in between Porsche and Mercedes-Benz. Not bad, eh? With all the traffic those two brands pulled in, it was easy to talk with a steady stream of people throughout the day.

But when we ran out of brochures to hand out, we were faced with a dilemma. A lot of time people (or children) pick up brochures and never read them. Should we waste money just to make the brand look good or would there be a better way to get the message across without an exorbitant amount of money being invested?

I decided to distribute a double-sided sheet of paper with my “Why Volvo?” article on it. At the beginning of the article, it says, “Don’t buy a Volvo…”. If you continue reading, you’ll see that each main point continues the thought with and “if.” For instance, Don’t buy a Volvo … if you don’t care about safety. I thought this was a clever way of projecting the core values of the Volvo brand to those visiting our booth.

However, one of our salesmen has several people who didn’t finish reading the article. All they saw was the first line. So, they asked why someone was telling people not to buy Volvos. Now, my first instinct is to scream, “Read the rest of the article, dingbat!” But the salesman had a point. What was supposed to be a clever way of getting a point across was turning some people away from the brand.

Hmm… maybe we should just bring some brochures next year. ]]> http://andyrupert.com/blog/2010/03/05/marketing-lesson-at-the-cleveland-auto-show/feed/ 0 http://andyrupert.com/blog/2010/03/05/are-volvos-quirky-too/ http://andyrupert.com/blog/2010/03/05/are-volvos-quirky-too/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:23:48 +0000 Andy Rupert http://andyrupert.com/blog/?p=1249 “Sometimes a car is so spot-on, you don’t care if it’s the right size or has the best features or comes from your favorite brand. Meet Volvo’s C30 T5, a royal, rollicking romp of a small, two-door car. … The C30 T5 is a marvelous car. The look is evocative of the 1800 ES sport wagon Volvo fielded in the 1970s. To paraphrase a common comment from those who spied the C30 in parking lots: Volvo is making cool cars again. … The drivetrain is a delight. You’d expect some quirkiness because the C30 has the oddball approach to powerplants typical of Volvos. … The C30 turns out to be appealing enough to make you forget you went out to buy a conservative sedan, small SUV, large dog, or whatever, in the first place.”

Volvo C30: Pull up a seat and get comfy

Mercedes-Benz SLS

After the free breakfast given to all the salesmen of participating dealerships, I walked through the show while things were still being put together. There were a number of nice displays, but a lot was still in disarray. For instance, our Volvos were all parked against the wall in no particular order while the Mercedes-Benz display was almost complete. But there’s no need to lose hope. I’m sure everything will be in place by the time of the show.

I looked around for the new SAAB 9-5 but only found three cars at the display. It wasn’t finished, so I’m hoping that Mr. Spyker can pull a few strings and make it happen. In any event, the convertible looked very nice. Did you notice the slogan on the SAAB post? Waste leads to haste. Does that refer to the waste gate on the turbo?

There were a number of other interesting cars on display. Buick has the new Regal GS on a pedestal and it looks pretty nice. I couldn’t get close enough for an inside shot, but the exterior looks very good. Hopefully, this will help Buick sales to pick up. Lotus had their new vehicles, but the one that stuck out was a 1970’s model. And the Equus was there for Hyundai. It’s not my “cup of tea” but it seems to be a luxurious car that might compete in the Asian market.

More tomorrow after my 11 am to 5 pm shift. I hope to see you there!

Will you be there this year?

Leikin Motor Companies has been given a limited quantity of discount coupons and we want to give you the opportunity to take advantage of them. Just present each coupon when you purchase a ticket at the I-X Center and they will reduce the regular price by $2. Several of our customers have already taken advantage of the coupons and are going to meet us at the show on Saturday. You should as well!

After many months of speculation, SAAB is officially owned by Spyker. Victor Muller and Jan Ake Jonsson (along with a large group of lawyers, etc.) signed the papers for the transfer of ownership from General Motors to Spyker on February 23, 2010. This marks a new direction for the Swedish car company as they have been with General Motors for 20 years. Hopefully, the new owner will allow SAAB to be what is has always wanted to be: a safe, comfortable, sporty car unlike any other.

Now we await the completion of the sale of Volvo to Geely Automotive in China. The jury is still out as to what will happen after the sale. Will Geely allow Volvo to continue down the same path? What changes will come about in the future? If the new C30, C70, and S60 are any indication of what Geely wants, I think we’ll have a winner.

But, as always, we will see.

2011 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabriolet

The secret to the E-Class Cabriolet’s success is the thickness of its soft top. With a thick layer of insulation, the Mercedes-Benz soft-top ends up being almost an inch thick. The benefits are easy to see … and to hear. Take the convertible on the highway and attempt a phone call via the hands-free interface. You will be pleasantly surprised.

“On the road, the difference is audible from speeds of just 50 mph, for example when driving through a tunnel or overtaking a convoy of trucks. At higher speeds, the benefits of the acoustic soft top are even more tangible. For instance, it is possible to have a perfectly normal phone conversation in hands-free mode even when travelling at a speed more than 125 mph.”¹

After test driving a number of noisy soft-top convertibles, you will have to admit that this is an amazing accomplishment for Mercedes-Benz. But what happens when you want to make a phone call … with the top down? In prior years, manually operated air deflectors could be added to diminish the turbulence in the passenger compartment. But now, after four years of research and 20 patents², the designers have come through again with an innovation called the AIRCAP® system which would allow you to make a phone call with no problems at 75 mph! All it requires is the press of a button and “an aluminum, mesh and plastic air diverter blade rises from the top of the windshield frame.”² With the windows rolled up and the top folded down, the deflector causes the air to follow the same path it would have with the top up. This keeps normal air turbulence from affecting passengers in the front and rear seats. Imagine that! Even the people in the back seat can enjoy the ride!

Nicely done, Mercedes-Benz.

__________

¹ http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/14/detroit-preview-2011-mercedes-benz-e-class-cabriolet
² http://www.insideline.com/mercedes-benz/e-class/2011/2011-mercedes-benz-cabriolet-showcases-new-aircap-technology.html
³ http://www.autoevolution.com/news/mercedes-aircap-keeping-your-hair-in-one-place-14585.html