Fuel efficiency and practicality may be driving auto sales, but the lines at a General Motors Ride & Drive event in Detroit Wednesday were longest to test drive two thirsty muscle cars: the Chevrolet Camaro and Corvette.
The event, held at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s downtown Detroit headquarters*, is part of GM’s Vehicle Advocate Program, which allows suppliers and vendors to take new metal for a spin. And judging by the reactions of the many Blues employees who took advantage of the event, GM did not disappoint.
The automaker wheeled out popular models including the Chevy Equinox and Traverse crossovers, Buick LaCrosse sedan and Cadillac SRX crossover. It also let employees behind the wheel of the new Cadillac CTS coupe, Buick Regal and hybrid-electric SUVs.
Blues employees Jackie Nadolsky and Randall Gutierrez check out a Chevrolet Traverse during the Ride & Drive event earlier this week. Photo by Craig Maki.
“This is really a grassroots effort to get people into all of our products,” said Wendy Stachowicz, manager of the Vehicle Advocate Program.
“It also helps us build relationships. Many times you’ll see groups of buyers and supplier employees doing business right out here on the floor of our parking lot.”
There are plenty of people these days who look disapprovingly upon GM because, like the big Wall Street banks and insurance giant AIG, it was the recipient of billions of dollars in government bailout money. That’s understandable; no one likes propping up private companies with public funds.
But some have gone so far as to call for a boycott of all General Motors products, which is a bizarre stance to take if you’re concerned about recouping taxpayer investment in the automaker ― a scenario, by the way, that is looking increasingly likely.
One GM employee I spoke to said morale at the company is better than it’s been in years, and added that employees were taking pride in producing high-quality vehicles after many years of making mediocre cars.
In fact, the automaker is suddenly finding itself struggling to keep up with demand for some of its products, and excitement is building ahead of the release of vehicles such as the Chevy Volt, a plug-in electric hybrid capable of traveling 40 miles without using gasoline.
It seems safe to say that more people in Michigan realize that throwing a lifeline to GM and Chrysler helped avert a much larger catastrophe for the state and country.
This state ― and indeed, the nation’s middle class ― was built on the backs of the Detroit Three. While the companies may never be the economic engines they once were, their financial and innovative strengths are needed now more than ever.
*Disclosure: GM is a Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan customer.
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