Focus groups loved the Silverado HD

DTB · February 8, 2019

I’m kind of amazed that GM even bothered to go on the defensive. On a side note, their focus groups haven’t worked very swell in the past.

https://www.autoblog.com/2019/02/08/gm-says-focus-groups-loved-chevy-hd-design/

Edited February 8, 2019 by DTB

magnum74 · February 8, 2019

The more I see it the more I like it. I feel the still shots they take don't flatter it but the live shots or driving shots it looks much better. I'll probably stick with a GMC, though.

jlong1984 · February 8, 2019

If I remember right, focus groups loved the Pontiac Aztek too.

rkj__ · February 8, 2019

I liked it before, and I still like it.

MORSNO · February 9, 2019

6 hours ago, jlong1984 said:

If I remember right, focus groups loved the Pontiac Aztek too.

And it quietly disappeared pretty quick after the real consumers saw it...… I saw a Buick Rendezvous a few weeks ago and thought, hell they made ugly even uglier!

ApertureX · February 11, 2019

The problem with focus groups is that you only take the opion of a very, very, very, very small group of people compared to the total amount of people that will buy the product. This is true of any industry and I have seen it bite many a company in the wallet. Get the wrong people in the group and you are now bent over a log wondering how you got there. Of course, the marketing guy is going to say it doesn't matter because he thinks people will buy it. If a design team gives you (as a marketer) rubber poop to sell as a table decoration, it's now your job to convince people that looking at cr@p on a table is classy for family get-togethers.

But to base a multimillion-dollar redesign with a complete retool on that small group's opinion is reckless without doing extensive research after the initial group weighs in. Either way, the group at Chevrolet that chose the selection of designs to present to this 'focus group' are still ultimately responsible for this backlash because they thought it was a design worth presenting in the first place. With all the cuts GM just made, someone should have thought, "Maybe this isn't the time to do something polarizing. Maybe since people like the 2019 1500 front design, we should stick closer to that and make changes in other areas to set it apart." Apparently, someone at GMC had that thought.

To be clear I'm not saying that if you like the redesigned Chevy that you are wrong. I'm saying that from a business perspective, the Chevrolet division of GM trucks made some poor choices before releasing a new product to the public.

Edited February 11, 2019 by ApertureX

redwngr · February 11, 2019

We won't know if it's 'poor choice' until they have been available long enough to see how they sell.

I've hated the look of most generations of Silverado, but they have always outsold Sierra. (yes, partly because of the fleet and commercial truck numbers)

I expect that to continue to be true.

35 years of GMC's 'here'

ApertureX · February 11, 2019

44 minutes ago, redwngr said:

We won't know if it's 'poor choice' until they have been available long enough to see how they sell.

The poor choice observation is based on the negative press that Chevy has already received so early before their actual release. This is bad for any product release from any company. Chevy's design decision based on their focus groups has now made marketing and selling the new HD's an uphill struggle to get over this bad press in an attempt to make the design a success. The sales numbers will later determine if they were able to overcome the early negativity and get past this or if their initial decision ends up turning from poor to costly.

redwngr · February 12, 2019

I get that, and wasn't trying to diss your comment.

Just wanted to offer an alternate view made after watching other generations of new chev/gmc, listening to similar comments about the silverado, and then watching them outsell the sierra's.

We've already seen a lot of softening of comments as more pictures, different angles, different lighting and more of the trim version views are available.

magnum74 · February 12, 2019

18 hours ago, redwngr said:

We've already seen a lot of softening of comments as more pictures, different angles, different lighting and more of the trim version views are available.

This. GM has awful stock photos. The trucks often look like they're squatting. Seeing many real life photos now and the truck gives me a much better impression than the initial GM photo did. I like the GMC more but in most cases I have liked the GMC more throughout the years anyway.

Edited February 12, 2019 by magnum74
grammar