General Motors is placing quick response (QR) codes in certain rental fleets in an effort to market its vehicles. The QR codes, square barcodes that have been gaining popularity in recent years as part of advertisements and promotions, have been spotted inside Chevrolet Malibus rented through Enterprise.
Scanning the code takes users to a portion of the Chevrolet website, where they can find more information about the Malibu, including pricing, specifications, and dealer locations.
The GM Authority Take
Rental cars are a very natural approach to selling more cars, and we’re glad to see General Motors take advantage of this simply, yet (what we imagine to be) direct opportunity. If the rental customer likes what they’re driving (say, the Chevy Malibu), chances are they will at least be partial to finding out more information. And QR codes will offer up said information.
Plus, the new Malibu needs all the help it can get in the marketplace; whether that’s deserved or not (Forbes’ Magazine most disliked car of 2012, anyone?), is a whole other bag… of QR codes.
Comments
I hope it helps because it’s such a great looking car. It’s AMAZING how GM management screwed up this car and launch. They had the best timing to make this a hot seller and they blew it. Car was introduced BEFORE the refreshed Fusion, Altima & Accord. Altima did it right, car looks great and was the number one seller last month. Well deserved IMHO- Datsun saves!
With the Fusion, Altima, Accord & Camry so hot, Malibu will never recover and become a success. I wish they would fire the Malibu management team and replace them with the Datsun/Altima people, or steal some Fusion people. If the Malibu people couldn’t get it right with IDEAL conditions, they won’t be able to do the ‘Boo 2.0 reboot with any success.
Its an exciting design. Love the tail lights at night.
Having worked for hire car firms in the past I have had first hand experiances of customers wishing to purchase the very car they have rented.
This is a case where many need to understand the whole issue at hand.
The Malibu we have today is a very old car. It was shown to the media back in late 09 to gauge their opinion. At that time they loved the car as it was up to date and at the lead of the segment.
Well as we know the Chapter 11 came in and put many of these models GM rushed before the Chapter 11 on the Shelf. GM worked to get the most needed models out like the Cruze and others done as the present older Bu was still selling well.
As time went on the new Bu began to age before it ever came to market. GM knew this and that is why the update was in the works just months after intro. GM anticipated the issues at intro but had no choice. The problem was do you intro a new Bu with things that need up dated or do you stay with a car introduced in 08 and hang on for 2 more years. Well the new Bu was the lesser of two evils.
GM is well aware of the short comings and will try to buy time till this car is replace in a couple years. The update will address many of the little issues like leg room etc. The nose will get the update GM really wanted to match the Impala and coming Camaro,
In the mean time the new Cruze is just around the corner so the work on the new Bu will be full steam ahead.
As for the rental marketing it is GM putting on a good face and making the best of it. They know they will need rental sales to help here and if they can promote it to help sales it will help save face.
Lets face it if sales were up with the Fusion they would not be putting this car to rentals as easily.
As for sales help I am sure it may have sold a car or two but most rental leave a cheap odd smelling car in my memory and not one to rush to buy one.
The real issue here is to sell enough to Enterprise to help keep them moving out of the factory but not too many to kill resale value of the ones people buy. I took a real hit on my 04 GP as Enterprise has dumped many on the market over the years and they are great in number and cheap in price. Not something that helps resale or repeat buyers.
Again this is a big picture thing and there are many factors here to consider. GM is going to have to balance this one on the point of a needle and use care. They know what is at stake so I think they will do ok but I know they are not happy doing this.
“I took a real hit on my 04 GP as Enterprise has dumped many on the market over the years and they are great in number and cheap in price.”
I know you allude to it, but I want to make sure people understand its not Enterprise’s fault, it’s GM’s. They are (were) the ones overproducing and flooding the market with fleet models. And its not just the rental agencies, who basically are the bottom of the totem pole for all things in life (I know, I work for one), its government fleet vehicles too. GM has learned from the Japanese automakers (Honda especially, who is VERY stingy selling to rental agencies).
I was so upset when I test-drove the 2013 Malibu. I had gone in expecting that the new Bu would be my next car. I have a previous model Bu and I like it and the new one addressed the few issues I have with my current one. But then I discovered that they had ADDED a whole host of new issues! WTF! How could they get this sooo wrong?
The most annoying part was the legroom. The previous model was great for that. Front legroom and back legroom are great. The 2013 model screwed that up. Rear legroom is squished and front legroom is weird because the wheel well intrudes into where I normally would put my left foot. So the whole drive I kept twisting my body to the right.
So now I’m leaning towards the 2014 Mazda 6. Sweet driving car. I’ll wait to see what Chevy does with the 2014 Bu, but if they don’t address the legroom issues, it might be a Mazda in my future.
By the way, I’m one of the people who rents a car before he buys it. I only got my current Bu after I rented it for a long trip and really liked it.
Dang, I like that Mazda 6! Looks like mini-Fisker to me. Plus, that car is safe, I saw a 5 year old Mazda 6 take a high speed (50 mph?) T-BONE collision during a police chase on live TV and the driver only had a broken pelvis- I thought they were dead for sure. That thing can take a hit!
Great comments, but it still does not excuse GM/Boo incompetence. In pre-historic times, (the year 2009), they didn’t know a car in this class needed rear seat legroom?
Plus, everyone knows (everyone but GM) that cars sold to fleets hurt the resale, AND the image of a car. Unless you make a Ford Mustang, Chrysler 300, or a Dodge Charger- they are sold to fleets and it has no negative effect. I guess GM management never hear of those great designs.
I still think the current Malibu is THE BEST looking of all the cars in its class, BECAUSE, it has the most brand identity- it looks like a Chevrolet with its great design cues. Plus, GM screwed up the launch with that eco-engine debacle. GM management found a way to grab defeat from victory.
Alex, its worth pointing out that Enterprise Holdings (Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental, and Alamo Rent A Car) have done this on all ONE MILLION (yes, one million) company vehicles. To my knowledge, they also did this before GM did. It’s called OnRamp Concierge. There is no brand discrimination, every vehicle has a blue and orange tag with a QR code on the front driver side window (easy way to spot an Enterprise Holdings rental, btw). Renters can scan it, get more information about the vehicle itself and get “concierge-like” information about the geographic area (great if you are flying in to a new place and renting a car). Huge push from the very highest levels within Enterprise to ensure every vehicle has this tag.
http://www.onramp.ehi.com/
No one is blaming Enterprise for all of it but they are the largest buyer of rental GM cars. They just happen to be the one who dumped the most GP’s on the market.
GM is the one doing the fleet sales and the used sales are the direct result. As for government sales they are not as much a factor as their prices are not as low ball as the rental and cooperate fleets. Also the government uses up their vehicles pretty much till there is not much value left. That is the ones they do not lose like the Prius Atlanta bought a couple years ago and parked only to forget about them.
Honda is the poster boy of resale value as they have been able to keep supply and demand at great levels. The key has been happy buyers and not over building product to just keep UAW people working. GM for too long had it where it was cheaper to keep a plant open and dump product vs. closing the plant down. Now with the new contracts it is easier for them to adjust production.
Michael GM was trying to squeeze the new Bu in between the old Impala and the Cruze and there was little room.
GM still has a size issue till they get all the new products out. Now that the Impala is out and the Cruze is going a little smaller it will give the Malibu and Regal some more room to work in.
Same for Buick as with Cadillac at a lower price and Chevy not much lower it has pinched Buick with little room to grow. Now that the new Cadillac ‘s are coming it will give Buick the space to expand and fill the gap between the other two.
GM is a work in progress and they can not do it all at once. It will take a solid 10 years to get where they need to be and grow from there.
As I pointed out before GM knew it hurt resale but idle plants also cost more to close than to keep building cars. GM at the time found it less of a loss to dump the cars on fleets vs. closing the plants down.
Too many people on forums only deal with the surface issues and fail to dig down to the rocky bottom where many other thing affect the whole issue.
I know it is hard to know all the factors but keeping up with all areas of the auto industry helps. WSJ and other publications keep info flowing. Also it helps if you know people in the industry as you can learn things that help too.
Fleet sales will always be an issue for any major MFG but they need to learn to maintain or control production and keep it within cost. Also be smart with fleet sales with the use of older product that is paid off like the Captiva or even using the XTS for more profitable livery sales vs. using the new CTS. .
Yes the XTS was also one of the other cars shown to the media in 2009 and was shelved with the ZL1 [it was a Z/28 at the time] and other cars. The XTS was continued to build a bridge for older customer to the new product also to take livery sales and not damage the ATS or CTS resale. Don’t even think the LTS will be sold cheap to limo companies.
Now when I state clean sheet of paper cars the best examples are the new Bu as a pre chapter 11 car and the new Impala as a post chapter 11 car. The differences in money spent on development is striking and shows in the product.
Same even more so for the ATS and CTS as they are the first real post chapter 11 platform cars. GM has been doing a hell of a lot with so little and now they have the money and directive to do it right.
The new Malibu updates will add more rear leg room but the car will never match my 08 as the wheel base will not change. The update will be a very good car and will not look like a old Chevy as it will have the new Chevy face. The key will be to make some interesting models to make this car stand out. The sport models with many other brands are doing well to market these models. Now I would not call for a SS but I would love to see a well priced sport model with the turbo engine come to market..
The biggest thing here is GM is already having the Malibu labeled as a good rental car with it’s present short comings. I think it may have more wise to sell what they have to the fleets and do it low key as possible. Don’t declare the wart on your face as a birth mark.
Lets hope this works. It is a good idea and they need to move more of these. Overall this is not really a bad car.
Given gm’s mistakes with the bu, I’m looking forward to the return of the 3500 rebates.
Rebates while great for the buyer is a slippery slope for the automaker. .
Looks like a good idea