Chevrolet is having some pointed fun with its apocalyptic Super Bowl ad featuring the Silverado called "2012," only the fun is pointed directly at Ford, which finds it a little too sharp to be all that much fun. So on the eve of the big game, Ford sent Chevy a cease-and-desist letter to pull the ad and "pressured" NBC not to run the commercial, according to a report on Yahoo!'s Motoramic blog. Chevy has released a statement in response, which you can read after the jump, indicating that the ad will run despite Ford's protest.
Ford found no reason to chuckle at some of the commercial's claims, "particularly around durability." One in particular comes from a character that says of their now-deceased, F-150-driving pal, "Dave didn't drive the longest-lasting most dependable truck on the road. Dave drove a Ford."
Ford spokesman Mike Levine says his company has more trucks with 250,000-plus miles on the road than any other brand, which would appear to contradict the small print that appears in the "2012" ad that reads, "Dependability based on longevity: 1981-2011 full-size pickup registrations." Ford says its lawyers will decide what to do (if anything) after the ad airs during tonight's game, but Chevy's legal minions must have vetted the spot closely well before time.
Or Ford could take Chevy marketing honcho Joel Ewanick up on his offer and bide its time. Said Ewanick, "We can wait until the world ends, and if we need to, we will apologize."
Chevrolet continues its onslaught of Super Bowl ads released before this Sunday's big game, clearly hoping that volume plays in its favor when the points are tallied by marketing analysts on Monday.
Today's commercial, entitled "2012," stars the Chevrolet Silverado in a post-apocalyptic world. In this ad, Chevy reminds us of its oft-repeated statistic that its trucks are the longest lasting, most dependable trucks on the road, and it does so by imagining that the Mayans were right and that 2012 is our last year on Earth.
It's a well-done spot with lots of fun things to focus on - we're even amused by the soundtrack, which isn't what we'd immediately expect to hear as the backing music following life after an Extinction Level Event.
Follow the jump to view the end of the world through Chevy's eyes.
Just when you thought you'd seen all the Super Bowl ads there were to see, Chevrolet is jumping in with a whole new spot for the Volt. The General Motors plug-in hybrid has been struggling to make sales headway for a number of reasons, including a now-closed government investigation into the vehicle's safety. With negative press at its peak in January, Volt sales took a nosedive last month - GM managed to move a paltry 603 units. With some Chevy dealers refusing their allocations, the automaker is understandably keen to put the spurs to Volt sales. This Super Bowl ad features a host of very curious aliens attempting to comprehend the science behind the propulsion system in the Chevrolet Volt.
It would seem GM believes buyers are being scared off from the Volt because they simply don't understand the mechanicals in the plug-in hybrid. If that's the case, this new commercial should help clear up any mysteries surrounding the vehicle. Hit the jump to see E.T. in action for yourself.
If you, like us, were wondering how MG managed to snag Jason Plato away from Chevrolet in the British Touring Car Championship, well you had good reason to wonder. The racecar driver and Fifth Gear co-host had, after all, driven the factory-backed team to both titles in 2010 and landed himself third and his team second just this past season. But you can wonder no more, as the latest news from the BTCC paddock is that Chevrolet has withdrawn from the popular saloon racing series.
The news arrives as a bit of a surprise coming from the front-running team, particularly at a time when the grid has expanded enormously in the past couple of seasons. The reason? According to Autosport, Chevrolet wants to focus its energies on the World Touring Car Championship, where the same outfit RML that ran the BTCC team fields similar Cruze touring cars - driven by Yvan Muller, Rob Huff and Alain Menu - with considerable success: The RML Chevrolet team has claimed both the drivers' and constructors' titles for the past two seasons running, making it something like the Red Bull Racing of touring cars.
A longtime competitor in the BTCC, RML reportedly hopes it won't be long before it is back on the grid in the British series, and given that most of the cars in the championship are fielded by privateer teams, we wouldn't be surprised to see them return as early as next year. In the meantime, General Motors will be well represented in the series by Vauxhall.
The Chevrolet Sonic has been busy lately - taking part in a host of adventurous activities like sky diving, bungee jumping, kickflipping, and making a music video. We've seen snippets of a lot of the extreme sports activities the Sonic hatch has been involved in, but we have yet to see the music video for OK Go and its song "Needing/Getting." Chevy has just released a teaser to whet our appetites, however, as well as its latest full-length Sonic ad for the Super Bowl, both of which you can view after the jump.
The 60-second extreme sports spot is part of an onslaught of seven ads that Chevrolet will run before and during the game, and at least four of the brand's ads will be devoted to the Sonic. Follow the jump to check out the new spot called "Stunt Anthem," and if you like the song in the ad - The Fun's "We Are Young" - you can download it here.
BMW M goes Diesel, Ford Focus fleet sales numbers, California 2025 green car mandate
Episode #267 of the Autoblog Podcast is here with Chris, Dan, Zach and Chris Paukert this week. Topics include the addition of diesel-powered BMW M models overseas, the surprisingly high fleet sales figure for the Ford Focus, and a new green car mandate coming out of California. Your questions and comments power the end of the 'cast, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. We've embedded our Q&A module after the jumpfor you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!
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In the wake of last week's bruising hearing on Capitol Hill about the safety of the Chevrolet Volt (which itself followed an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that concluded plug-in vehicles do not "pose a greater risk of fire than gasoline-powered vehicles") former General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz has written a column for Forbes that strikes back against the media (especially conservatives) who are attacking the car he thought would be one of his most important legacies.
Politicians and members of the media on the right, from Mitt Romney to Neil Cavuto, have talked smack about the Volt, and Lutz says this "has attracted my attention and ire." In typical Lutz fashion, he doesn't mince words, writing:
The Oscar for totally irresponsible journalism has to go to The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News, with, as its key guest, Lou Dobbs. Amid much jocular yukking, the Volt was depicted as a typical federal failure. ... Boiled down to the subtext, Dobbs' message was this: "All Volts catch fire, and therefore all Volts have been recalled." That simply isn't the case. ...
To top it off, these two media pros lamented the fact that the same government that had forced GM to produce the Volt was now extending $7,500 tax credits towards its purchase, thus squandering even more of "our taxpayer" dollars on this failed Socialist-collectivist flop. Truth? The $7,500 tax credit was enacted under the Bush administration!
Don't let Lutz's words make you think he's taking a left/liberal stance. He's still a self-declared "conservative Republican" who hates that right-wing talking heads are spiraling downward into this sort of "deliberate misstatement of facts." They "have managed to make me embarrassed to describe myself as a conservative," he writes, adding, "Let's leave the 'invention of facts' to the left-wing climate-change alarmists." There - that should offend pretty much everyone who's not in the dead political center.
The world would be considerably less entertaining if we could all predict the future. Even so, the classic car gurus at Hagerty Insurance have cast a few chicken bones in an attempt to figure out which vehicles produced today might eventually turn collectible.
For starters, it begins with none other than the mighty Buick Regal GS. Hagerty says the vehicle is a win because it's the first Buick with a manual transmission since the fall of the Holy Roman Empire. The Fiat 500 Abarth also makes an appearance alongside an even hotter hatch, the Volkswagen Golf R. Of course, we're simply thrilled to see the sinister Audi TT RS make a showing. Hit the jump for the full list or view each vehicle in our gallery above.
Today's vehicles are more powerful, more efficient and safer than ever before. In fact, today's car buyer would be hard pressed to spend his or her money on a genuinely bad vehicle. But those overall improvements may have also led consumers to believe there are no real differences between the various products offered by the world's major automakers. According to the Consumer Reports 2012 Car-Brand Perception Survey, Toyota, Ford, Honda and Chevrolet have all seen their scores drop by double digits compared to last year.
The survey asks consumers to rate brands across seven categories. Consumer Reports says that by combining those categories, the organization can get a handle on how each brand is perceived in the marketplace.
This year, Toyota continued to lead in the survey, though its persistent recalls saw the brand's perception fall by 17 points this year. Ford, Honda and BMW all saw their perception scores plummet more than 20 points. The results may indicate consumers are seeing fewer differences between automakers as products continue to improve. While that's good news for smaller automakers like Hyundai, Kia and Subaru, larger names in the industry should be worried. Head over to Consumer Reports for the full report.
It's the two-minute warning in terms of Super Bowl advertising and Chevrolet still has some ground to cover. General Motors' largest brand is still mulling its advertising lineup with less than two weeks remaining until the New York Giants and New England Patriots meet in the big game.
Chevrolet has purchased seven spots. Exactly which vehicles will be featured and at what times is still stirring healthy debate at GM headquarters.
"Every day, we're changing the spots of what's running where," said Chris Perry, Chevrolet's vice president of global marketing and strategy. "We're probably going to push it to the end."
That comes Tuesday, Jan. 31 when NBC wants final decisions. Click past the jump to continue reading.
Okay, the new Ecologic environmental labels that will be coming to all new Chevy vehicles - starting with the 2013 Sonic - is a lot more than just an adhesive piece of paper. Last year, the EPA revamped its mileage stickers, and GM has realized that many people like more information about the environmental impact of the vehicle they may be buying. GM North America President Mark Reuss said at the show that, "Customers want companies to be honest and transparent about their environmental efforts and sustainability goals, and rightly so." This is why the information on the labels will be verified by the independent organization Two Tomorrows. The label campaign will be backed up with a website that includes "more information on the audit process and environmental features for each vehicle with an Ecologic label."
What's on the labels? Information about the car from its time "before," "on" and "after" the road. This means that environmentally friendly steps that GM uses in the manufacturing process (before), steps taken to improve fuel economy (on) and information on how much of the vehicle can be recycled at the end of its life (after). You can see a detailed example of the Sonic sticker by clicking on the picture above. Since Ecologic is going to be on all Chevy models, we'll admit we're interested to see how GM finds the eco side of the Camaro ZL1.
Two taxi drivers in Toronto recently found themselves on the wrong side of the law after officers stopped the duo for illegal "stunt driving." The drivers had their Chevrolet Impala taxis impounded and their licenses revoked for seven days after officers busted the two street racing early on the evening of January 25. The Toronto police haven't released any details about what spurred the two to show down on Younge Street, Canada's longest, or the drivers' ages. In addition, their employers are keeping their mouths shut about whether or not the duo will continue to have jobs after their mandatory license suspension lifts in a week.
According to our neighbors to the north, Younge Street once had a bustling street racing scene. Regardless of whether these two were settling an old score or just horsing around, running light to light near the crowded Dundas Square area is a recipe for disaster. Hit the jump to check out a video of the news report for yourself.
The 2012 Volvo S60 isn't likely to be mentioned in the same breath as the 2012 Chevrolet Camaro, but these two cars share a unique distinction. No, Volvo has not made a mid-year change to rear-wheel drive and V8 power, but it is joining the Camaro as a crash test ace. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration cranked up its crash-test rigor in 2011, and the Camaro has been the only car to completely ace all of the revised tests' categories. Until now.
The 2012 Volvo S60 demonstrates the brand's long held reputation for safety by becoming the second car to return perfect ratings in every category of NHTSA crash testing. That means this premium Swedish sedan stands up to a 35 mph frontal collision, 38.5 mph side-impact, and 20 mph simulation of a side crash into a pole better than other vehicles NHTSA has run through its gauntlet. There are a lot of vehicles out there with five-star ratings for this test or that, but only the Camaro and S60 have registered five stars in every evaluation, so far. Check out the videos of the tests, posted after the jump.
If you think the Chevrolet Sonic sedan looks a bit abbreviated now, you should have seen it before General Motors stretched the vehicle. Take a good look at the spec sheets for the Sonic hatch and Sonic sedan, and you'll likely notice the four-door is over a foot longer than its twin. According to Automotive News,GM felt that early design attempts at the sedan bodystyle were too stubby looking. While the four-door was always intended to be somewhat longer than the hatch, designers rolled in additional space in the vehicle's rump to help situate the vehicle's proportions.
All told, the Sonic sedan is a whopping 14.1 inches longer than the Sonic hatchback, and nearly all of that length is in the trunk area. That gives the Sonic Sedan 14 cubic-feet of cargo area, just 1.4 cubes less than the significantly larger Chevrolet Cruze.
One rear-drive coupe with over 500 horsepower would be enough for most automakers. But not General Motors. The biggest of the Detroit automakers just couldn't get by with what some rivals would put on a showroom turntable with more flood-lights than an ATF raid. That's why it makes the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and ZR1, the Camaro ZL1 and the Cadillac CTS-V. (And that's before we get into overseas products like the Holden Commodore GTS/Vauxhall VXR8.)
The question is, which one is best for burnouts? To bring us one step closer to the answer we all crave, our compatriots over at Inside Line took two such 500+hp GM super-coupes - the Z06 Centennial Edition and the CTS-V Coupe - down to the Streets of Willow for the fifth installment of their Burnout Super Test.
The hearing took place in the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform's Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending. Just from the title of the event - "Volt Vehicle Fire: What did NHTSA Know and When Did They Know It?" - it was plain to see that chairman Darrell Issa was not looking to mess around. Issa had General Motors CEO Dan Akerson, NHTSA Administrator David Strickland and John German (Senior Fellow and Program Director at the International Council on Clean Transportation) at his disposal, but he clearly didn't always like what they had to say. Issa and other Republicans questioned the "unnatural relationship" between the Obama Administration and GM as well as why it took NHTSA so many months to reveal the fire in November when it happened in June.
GM's Akerson stood up for the Volt, saying that the fire that's caused so much commotion only happened "after putting the battery through lab conditions that no driver would experience in the real world," according to his prepared remarks. Strickland said NHTSA "pulled no punches" in the Volt fire investigation - which recently ended after finding the Volt to be a safe car - but Issa was having none of it. He told Strickland: "I hear you, I don't believe you."
You can find the official Congressional website about the hearing (which includes a video of the entire session) here. The subcommittee's staff report, "Government Motors: A Preliminary Report on the Effects of Bailouts and Politics on the Obama Administration's Ability to Protect American Consumers" is available as a PDF. Be careful when reading it, though, as it starts by subtly misleading the reader. The report says:
Moreover, in the case of GM, the [Obama] Administration has offered substantial taxpayer funded subsidies to encourage production of the Volt. ... It has also extended a significant subsidy to encourage consumers to purchase the vehicle, offering buyers of the Volt a federal tax credit of up to $7,500 per vehicle.
A bit of research shows that the $7,500 tax credit was first put into law in the 2007-2008 Congress with the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008, well before there was an Obama Administration.
Barrett-Jackson 2012, Camaro ZL1 vs Shelby GT500, Volkswagen says it's really #1, C7 Chevrolet Corvette
Episode #266 of the Autoblog Podcast is here with Chris, Dan, Zach and Drew Phillips this week. Topics include the Barrett-Jackson auction, smack talk from the Camaro ZL1 chief, Volkswagen disputing GM's claim of #1 in the world, and a C7 Corvette sighting. Your questions and comments power the end of the 'cast, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. We've embedded our Q&A module after the jumpfor you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!
Get the podcast
[UStream] Listen live on Mondays at 10PM Eastern at UStream
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes
[RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator
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Elevating The Muscle Car Rivalry To A Whole New Level
Ford versus Chevy. It's one of the greatest rivalries in the world, joining the likes of Coke versus Pepsi and Michigan versus Ohio State. While the Mustang and Camaro can't be credited as the first two vehicles to start the Blue Oval and Golden Bowtie wars, it's fair to say the two muscle cars kicked the battle into high gear in the 1960s.
Wherever there are rivals, you can be sure there will also be healthy levels of both respect and distaste for one another. In fact, emotions from Ford fans following the debut of both the 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 culminated in Camaro lead engineer Al Oppenheiser being unwittingly cast in the lead role of another Downfall Hitler overdub spoof. Perhaps it was something he said...
Of course, none of this ZL1 versus GT500 smack-talk will amount to anything if either car isn't up to snuff. With that in mind, At Chevrolet's behest, we traveled to the Bondurant Road Course just south of Phoenix, Arizona to put the 2012 Camaro ZL1 through its paces.
We record Episode #266 of the Autoblog Podcast tonight, and you can drop us your questions via our Q&A module below. Check out our discussion topics or chime in to help determine what else the crew chats about this evening. Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes if you haven't already done so, and if you want to take it all in live, tune in to our UStream (audio only) channel at 10:00 PM Eastern tonight.
Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #266
Long before the first U.S. soldier laid a boot on Iraq soil in the first Gulf War, General Motors planned to build a manufacturing facility in the country. According to The Detroit News, the years since haven't been entirely kind to the automaker's sales efforts in Iraq. That's no shock given America's reputation in the Middle East nation, but its prospects are beginning to look up. Whereas GM once trailed even Renault in sales, the company managed to move 35,000 vehicles last year. Not bad considering the entire new vehicle market in Iraq totaled just 115,000 in 2011.
GM's sales largely consisted of SUVs and pickup trucks (like the locally available version of the Colorado seen above), though The Detroit News notes that some Chevrolet and Cadillac sedans have sold as well, too. That's particularly impressive given that Iraqi drivers aren't required to have insurance and kidnappers in the country have been known to favor those who drive high-dollar luxury vehicles.
