GM is messing up the advertising for the Volt

[greg woulf]

I'm a huge fan of the Volt and think it's just the right car to move forward.

My biggest criticism of GM on the Volt is the way they present it to the public. Most of the non-tech people I know have never heard of the Volt, so the way GM presents it means everything in whether they even consider it.

Locally GM has radio station ads, and those ads say something like, "...the Volt has a 40 mile all electric range." That's about the worst thing that they can say. People hear that and think the car will stall at 40 miles. They never say anything about convenience or that the car has a range only limited by the distance to the next gas station.

GM should be hammering operational cost savings, less depedence on foreign oil, convenience and reliability. Instead they're giving the false impression of a 40 mile limitation.

I hope someone gets their act together and puts together some better advertising.

[Joshua Bretz]

If the marketing people could drive the Volt, they would not be able to stop smiling for a long time. Instant torque, quiet operation, and low center of gravity combine to make an awesome driving experience. That's what the ads should focus on.

[Roger881]

I'm a huge fan of the Volt and think it's just the right car to move forward.

My biggest criticism of GM on the Volt is the way they present it to the public. Most of the non-tech people I know have never heard of the Volt, so the way GM presents it means everything in whether they even consider it.

Locally GM has radio station ads, and those ads say something like, "...the Volt has a 40 mile all electric range." That's about the worst thing that they can say. People hear that and think the car will stall at 40 miles. They never say anything about convenience or that the car has a range only limited by the distance to the next gas station.

GM should be hammering operational cost savings, less depedence on foreign oil, convenience and reliability. Instead they're giving the false impression of a 40 mile limitation.

I hope someone gets their act together and puts together some better advertising.

I'm actually shocked they're even running ads for it so soon. I agree the public is clueless on The Volt. 99% of people I talk to about the Volt think its a hybrid with the additional feature of wall socket recharging.

[DaV8or]

I have not heard or seen the ads, but I agree that it's a mistake for them to be touting the 40 mile range. Without explanation it sounds week. If they want to talk about the Volt now, they should just refer to it as a range extended electric vehicle and leave it at that. They could also say that most people would use little to no gas without the restrictions of a traditional EV. Putting the 40 mile range in the ad is a bad move. Leave specifics out and let the consumer discover what the Volt is all about on their own would be a better stratagy.

[MrBogey]

Agreed, if anything just say it gets 600 miles on a tank of gas and full charge.

[willdryden]

I knew it. They are already trying to kill the Volt. They are doing it the same way they did the EV-1. Bad ads.

[Texas]

I knew it. They are already trying to kill the Volt. They are doing it the same way they did the EV-1. Bad ads.

Relax. I think their Olympic ad is very good (so do many of the other posters). What's wrong with it?

[DaV8or]

Relax. I think their Olympic ad is very good (so do many of the other posters). What's wrong with it?

I thought it was a great ad, but again, the main point with the Volt was that it could go 40 miles with no gas at all. Without context, that sounds pretty lame. To some it sounds like you go 40 miles and then you're stuck by the side of the road. To others, that have heard about the Tesla, it seems really pathetic compared to 200 miles of electric range. They should just say it's an electric car with 400 miles of range and potentially as much 1000 miles per gallon, then send them to a special website that would walk them through the details. No lies and it sounds a lot more intriguing than just 40 miles no gas.

[Texas]

I thought it was a great ad, but again, the main point with the Volt was that it could go 40 miles with no gas at all. Without context, that sounds pretty lame. To some it sounds like you go 40 miles and then you're stuck by the side of the road. To others, that have heard about the Tesla, it seems really pathetic compared to 200 miles of electric range. They should just say it's an electric car with 400 miles of range and potentially as much 1000 miles per gallon, then send them to a special website that would walk them through the details. No lies and it sounds a lot more intriguing than just 40 miles no gas.

Good point. To me it sounded perfect... "It can go 40 miles BEFORE using any gasoline at all" That implies it then uses gasoline but of course we understand how it works. I'm hoping GM used a large amount of focus groups and asked those questions. If they didn't, who the hell is their advertising company? Maybe it's time for change, if only for the Volt. Like hire the company that does Apple's ads. It might be acceptable to go outside the ranks to ensure the correct message is getting out. We don’t need confusion right out of the gate. Perhaps an additional ad just going though the basics of the car. How is work using nice computer graphics. Zero confusion for the average child.