This is a quick one, unfortunately this is a paid Subscription, but Ford has stolen away Toyota marketing chief Jim Farley, this can only be a good thing and if you've ever watched a Toyota commercial, half the battle is getting the message out.
Toyota and Honda have become very adept at their gospel with a nice level of polish that's been missing from the domestic pulpits, I'm happy to see this as ford continues on its mission of becoming relevant again.
Scene, A shopping mall parking lot in any town USA, a lone consumer walks on his or her way to their store of choice, they walk oblivious to all the world around them, with only the reflections of the sun off of gleaming automotive metal to pull them out of their self absorbed comas, then suddenly the shape and unique glean of a particular car get their attention, it a car, not just any car but a new Chevy Malibu, they love the color and the shape.
The unique details of the metal and the paint work to entice the consumer, this is more than a reaction, it's a litmus test, the Kind of test that BMW and Mercedes and Toyota have learned to master and evoke out of their respective clientele
Ok, maybe this seems all a bit cheesy; believe me I'm good at cheesy, but I'm also good at seeing what looks like the right amount of styling and detail that spells a potential good seller, The new Malibu looks like it may just hit the sweet spot, the right amount of attractive looks and detailing and quality to entice the jaded buyer who have had plenty of Japanese juju over the years and are looking for something different.
Different meaning, something a bit more attractive that stirs the soul and gets the blood pumping for the family car buyer, the reliability aspect is something that has to stay the same or better. There's a lot of ground that has to be covered here and Chevy has to execute at 100 percent efficiency.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Joe
These hot off the presses (servers?)at Autoweek, It looks like caddy is adding another reason that I have to grow found of what they've been doing lately, after they stated several years ago that they would switch their entire line up to rear wheel drive they've done it again, Cadillac had announced that they will introduce a small rear wheel drive car to the brand by 2009 bellow their CTS line.
It's ironic that GMs Luxury division seems to be making all the moves that makes the Lincoln division come across like Pissarro to Superman.
