Team Code vs Team Tru

Here’s a Concept: Chevrolet Puts Next-Gen Buyers in Charge

Two concept coupes designed to inspire ideas and create discussion

Chevrolet introduced two concept coupes at the 2012 North American International Auto Show aimed at inspiring next-generation buyers to take the wheel and suggest ideas for a car they can co-create.

“Chevrolet has always stood for making the aspirational attainable for all generations” said General Motors North America President Mark Reuss. “These two concepts interpret that vision for a new generation. We’re seeking out our newest customers’ opinions, listening to their advice, and engaging them in new ways.”

According to U.S. Census data, there are 80 million American consumers approaching 30. They represent 40 percent of today’s potential car-buying public and a combined $1 trillion in purchasing power.

Over the past year, Chevrolet has conversed with young consumers across the United States. Based on their feedback, the Chevrolet concepts explore the styling and functionality this group of new buyers says they are looking for in a car.

2012 North American International Auto Show | Code 130R Concept | Chevrolet

Code 130R, the first Chevrolet concept, is a four-seat coupe with a simple upright profile. Painted in an all-new red metallic paint with matte anodized gold wheels, Code 130R features heritage performance-inspired styling and rear-wheel drive. With an aggressive front fascia, Chevrolet fender flares, straight body side and Chevy crossflag emblem, Code 130R makes a link to Chevrolet’s performance heritage.

Code 130R’s designers conceived the turbocharged engine to be tuned to work in tandem with eAssist technology. By shutting off the engine at stops, recapturing braking energy, and smoothing torque during acceleration, this concept takes automotive electrification to the next level and balances turbocharged performance with fuel economy.

2012 North American International Auto Show | Tru 140S Concept | Chevrolet

Tru 140S, the second Chevrolet concept is a front-wheel-drive, “affordable exotic” four-seat sporty coupe. The three-door hatchback was designed to be an attractive-yet-affordable sports car. Shown in an all-new matte white with Chevy performance chrome wheels featuring crossflag emblems, Tru 140S is designed to look confident, exotic, expensive and fast. Tru 140S is based off the same platform as the Chevrolet Cruze and the groundbreaking Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle with extended range.

Tru 140S designers want to demonstrate technologies typically found in more expensive cars, including direct injection and a starter-based stop-start technology, balancing internal combustion and electrification to deliver high value and improved fuel economy.

The concepts share attributes younger buyers say they value:

• Sedan-sized functionality in performance coupe form that seats four passengers
• Interior connectivity and convenience featuring innovative storage, WiFi, smart phone integration with Chevrolet MyLink and heads-up display
• 40 MPG with a 1.4L Turbo Ecotec engine with approximately 150 horsepower

“Young customers tell us they want functionality with coupe-like aesthetics. Both the Code and Tru body styles resonated with this audience,” said Frank Saucedo, director of the GM North America Advanced Design studio in Los Angeles where the two concepts were developed.

Inside the concepts, connectivity and personalization enable the individualization that the generation says is essential.

“This buyer prizes connectivity. Allowing them to stay connected by integrating their personal devices through MyLink and WiFi enabling the vehicle to be their own docking station,” said Saucedo. “The interiors currently exist in 2D only. This allows us the flexibility to continue the discussion and encourage more dialogue as we continue to develop these concepts.”

From Detroit, the pair of Chevrolet concepts will travel to major auto shows, key lifestyle events, one-on-one experiences and other venues such as college campuses. Chevrolet also will engage customers using the social media tools that young consumers use to talk with one another.

“For the car company that can successfully engage this generation, there is a tremendous opportunity,” said John McFarland, senior manager for Chevrolet Global Marketing, who heads youth research for the brand. “At Chevrolet, we want to build authentic and meaningful relationships with these customers on their terms. We want to hear what they have to say, engage them in our design process, and give them what they want – not what we think they want.”

History of GM Canada

The Road to General Motors of Canada
(Mid 1800 – 1918)

In the middle of the 19^th century, a young man in Tyrone, Ontario lived on a farm he had cleared using an axe with a handle he had made himself. The farmer’s axe handles brought a good price at the market in Bowmanville, but eventually he wanted to apply his skills to a bigger project. After carefully studying pictures in an old carriage catalogue, he made up his mind to build himself a horse-drawn sleigh.

“One Grade Only And That The Best”

As the farmer worked on his project, a neighbour asked if he could buy the finished sleigh. The farmer offered to make another just like it. He agreed to a delivery date, but the traveling blacksmith to whom he assigned the ironwork arrived late, and the farmer had to work day and night to finish the sleigh and keep his promise. The farmer subsequently added his own blacksmith shop to his farm operation. The business grew into a farm wagon workshop; the farmer, Robert McLaughlin, opened a carriage plant in Oshawa, Ontario, and eventually opened branches across the country. The Company outdid established competitors and earned a reputation for the highest quality.

From Carriages to Motor Cars

One of McLaughlin’s three sons planned to be a chemist; he went to the United States and established the Canada Dry Company. The other two became partners of the McLaughlin Carriage Company.

Around 1901, sons Sam and George went for a ride in the company bookkeeper’s automobile. Immediately hooked, they tried to persuade their father that making a horseless carriage would be a profitable venture, but he remained unconvinced, and Sam and George had to research the matter surreptitiously. In 1905, Sam test-drove several motor cars but quickly decided that the Buick was the car he wanted to make in Oshawa.

He nearly came to a manufacturing agreement with an old friend in the United States –Billy Durant, a partner in the Buick Motor Company–but the deal fell apart over the financial arrangements. Back at home, Sam and George finally got father Robert to agree to a plan to form the McLaughlin Motor Car Company.

Production was about to begin when the engineer fell seriously ill. After some hesitation, Sam sent a telegram to Durant and asked to borrow an engineer. The next day Durant arrived with two Buick executives, the original plans for collaboration were resurrected, and in 1908 the plant turned out 154 cars — called McLaughlins — with Buick engines.

Canadian Cars Earn a Reputation for Quality

Canada was fond of its McLaughlin. After a Buick won the first race at the Indianapolis Speedway in the United States, the McLaughlin’s advertising men wanted to cash in on the elaborate Buick advertising campaign. They persuaded management to change their car’s name from McLaughlin to Buick. When sales declined, the car was rechristened again – this time as the McLaughlin-Buick.

In 1908, Durant had assembled Buick and Oldsmobile into General Motors, but by 1910 he had overreached himself and was ousted from his company by alarmed bankers.

Undaunted, he started a new venture with a former Buick racing driver from Switzerland, Louis Chevrolet. The Chevrolet’s popularity grew so fast that by 1915 Durant’s Chevrolet shares were worth enough that he could regain control of GM.

Durant planned to build a Chevrolet plant in Toronto, and the McLaughlins were worried about competition with the Buick. One day while visiting New York, at lunch with Durant and a Chevrolet stockholder, Sam casually asked how the Canadian project was going. “Why don’t you give it to the McLaughlin Boys, Billy?” piped in the stockholder. “Well, Sam, do you want it?” asked Durant. In two days Durant and the McLaughlins had reached a deal. Robert McLaughlin –still not entirely convinced that the era of horse-drawn carriages was almost over—reluctantly agreed to the sale of his carriage business to make way for production of Chevrolets alongside Buicks at the Oshawa plant. As with the McLaughlin-Buicks, the Canadian- built Chevrolets had special appeal. Their bodies were made to Sam McLaughlin’s designs, and the McLaughlin plant applied a superior finish. On seeing a McLaughlin-Buick left standing outside General Motors’ New York office, a GM executive ordered it sent home: “It’s gathering crowds—and it’s no more like one of our Buicks than a St. Bernard is like a dachshund!”

Family Business Becomes General Motors of Canada
(1918 – Today)

The McLaughlins’ Chevrolets were as much of a success in Canada as Chevrolets were in the United States. By 1918, though, neither George nor Sam had sons interested in carrying on the business. In a five-minute meeting, GM management agreed to buy the McLaughlin business, but on one condition -that the McLaughlins stay to run it. Delighted with the vote of confidence, Sam and George became the first president and vice president of General Motors of Canada. Sam remained president until 1945. When he died in 1972, at the age of 100, he was still chairman of the board. Under his guidance, General Motors of Canada enjoyed tremendous growth and became a major contributor to GM’s total production.

GM of Canada Today

By its 30^th anniversary in 1938, GM of Canada had produced a million vehicles. In 1965, Canada and the United States signed the Canada-U.S. Automotive Products Trade Agreement (Autopact). The agreement allowed GM of Canada to increase its production capacity dramatically. More recently, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the U.S., Canada and Mexico has led to a wide-open automobile trade in North America. Today GM of Canada has the capacity to manufacture more than one million units in a single year –generating significant export earnings by shipping about 90 percent of those vehicles to the United States. It also satisfies a third of Canada’s 1.2 million unit market, the ninth largest automobile market in the world.

In the 1980s, GM of Canada began an $8 billion reindustrialization program. Now, the GM Autoplex in Oshawa is the centrepiece of GM of Canada’s manufacturing operations. It is the largest, most modern, integrated vehicle-manufacturing complex in North America.

When banks compete, You Win

So you’re ready to buy a new car, you’ve chosen the brand, researched the competition and chose a dealership to receive your business. Unless you are paying cash for your vehicle, the time will surely come to visit the financing department at the dealership or contact your bank lender. This is a key moment in the buying process for all consumers and it is important to understand all options.

Here at Old Mill and Eastside GM we employ Financial Services Managers. These highly trained individuals are the authorized representatives of several financial institutions. In addition to being able to arrange financing through the manufacturers captive financial source, GM Financial for example, our Financial Services Managers can often organize very favourable terms through other chartered banks. Our financial services managers are capable of arranging financing for your purchase to suit your needs. Such as stretch terms (72 or 84 months) or bi-weekly payments and they will shop rates for your loan between different lenders.

Old Mill GM and Eastside GM’s Financial Services Managers recommend that you do not use a line of credit to borrow and pay for the purchase of a new vehicle.

Here are some key reasons why:

• Floating interest rate – fluctuates with the prime rate.
• The bank has the right to withdraw money from your account to pay for your line of credit.
• Secured lines of credit use your home as collateral.  Default of payment for any reason allows the bank to take your home. These line of credit loans are in fact mortgages or second mortgages as the banks use to refer to them. These loans are demand loans with no specific maturity date, but payable at any time. Therefore you could receive notice at any time that you must pay off your loan in full – period. Scary thought. What would happen if you couldn’t pay it back right away? Would you lose your house to the lender?
• The bank may require the total balance of your line of credit paid in full if you die, become insolvent or bankrupt.
• If the bank sees any increase in risk to the security they can demand full payment.
• Home insurance costs may be higher due to the additional line of credit.

Know what you owe. We are committed to helping customers best understand their purchasing options and are committed to finding the right path for them and their family. For more information, visit Old Mill GM or Eastside GM and remember, when banks compete, You Win!

The All New 2012 Buick Verano

Be Savvy: How to get the most ‘bang for your buck’ when purchasing a new vehicle!

We know that leasing or purchasing a new vehicle is a significant financial commitment for you and your family. To better prepare yourself, we have put together a strategy to stretch that dollar and maximize your choice.

When you begin the process of acquiring a new car, chances are you already have a dream vehicle in mind. Most car dealerships have vehicles that are used as demonstrators. These ‘demos’ are well maintained and lightly used for the sole purpose of showcasing their features and benefits to consumers just like you. And the big secret is, you can buy a demo vehicle and save yourself a lot of money. Demos are only used up to 10,000 kms and have all of the benefits of a brand new vehicle. Here is a list of benefits:

• Current model year vehicle at a reduced price
• Well-maintained and essentially a new vehicle
• More bang for your buck! You can get a better model than you originally thought due to the price reduction or you can get into the vehicle that you thought was out of your price range
• Almost a full warranty is remaining on the vehicle – unlike buying a used vehicle who’s warranty is about to expire
• At Old Mill and Eastside you receive even more advantages
  • Complimentary 12 month vehicle protection as added consumer insurance
  • Aeroplan miles offered on vehicle service and on extended warranty purchases
  • The best customer service in Toronto
  • A portion of all vehicle sales goes directly to the Sick Kids Foundation
  • Convenient locations from East to West in the GTA
  • Extended service hours and available Valet Service

So the next time that you’re test driving a vehicle at a dealership ask yourself – Would they sell me this car at a discounted price?  The answer will most likely be yes!

Here’s to acquiring your dream vehicle…

100 Years of Chevrolet

About Chevrolet in Canada

Founded in Detroit in 1911, Chevrolet celebrates its centennial as a global automotive brand with annual sales of about 4.25 million vehicles in more than 120 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. The Chevrolet portfolio includes iconic performance cars such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long-lasting pickups and SUVs such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers such as Sonic, Cruze, Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including Cruze Eco and Volt. Cruze Eco consumes just 4.6 L/100 km on the highway while Volt offers up to 80 kilometres of electric, gasoline-free driving and an additional 500 kilometres of extended range. Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.ca, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/chevroletcanada or by following @ChevroletCanada on Twitter.

General Motors Canada Headquartered in Oshawa, Ontario, General Motors of Canada Limited (GMCL) employs over 9,000 people across the country and is a recognized leader in green manufacturing. GMCL markets the full range of fuel-efficient Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles and related services through Canada’s largest automotive dealer network, which employs over 23,000 people dedicated to delivering a top customer experience. GMCL also plays a leadership role in automotive design and engineering, engaging in innovative research and development partnerships with leading Canadian universities and research institutes. In addition, through its Canadian Engineering Centres, GMCL conducts development activities ranging from cold weather testing to the advancement of key electric vehicle and green technologies. www.gm.ca.

Here’s to the next hundred years…