Why does Bob Lutz insist on comparing GM vehicles to those of his former employer, BMW? In the Sept. 21 issue of Automotive News, he says this about the new GMC Terrain, a “truckier” looking version of the Chevy Equinox crossover SUV:
“We will run Terrain competitive ads against the BMW X3. We won’t be shy about who we can compete with and beat.”
Quoting Automotive News: “Lutz acknowledges that the Terrain won’t beat BMW’s image but says GMC can beat the X3 on performance and fit and finish for much less money.”
Lutz: “For that extra $10,000, you don’t get anything more with an X3 than you do with a Terrain.”
That’s debatable, of course. I’m sure the Terrain will have some advantages over the older BMW (which has never been one of their best efforts, in any case.)
But a BMW buyer won’t look twice at the Terrain. So what is to be gained by spending marketing dollars money to make that comparison? Why not target all those crossover buyers who think GMC is just big pickups — if they know the brand at all?
Lutz’s fighting words ring familiar. He said virtually the same things about another GM car when he dared journalists to compare it to the BMW 3 Series. That car no longer exists: Pontiac Grand Prix.
