Corvette Racing Will Continue - Chevrolet's Ed Peper

[Rob]

Executive says General Motors will stick with motorsports

But it will scrutinize how spending drives sales

BY MIKE BRUDENELL • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER • June 3, 2009

As a new chapter in the history of General Motors Corp. begins, auto racing will remain a stout marketing and advertising tool in its reorganization, said one of the company's most senior executives.
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Every dollar spent in the sport, however, will be closely scrutinized, said Ed Peper, GM North American vice president of Chevrolet.

Corvette Racing will run a pair of Compuware-sponsored Chevy Corvette C6.Rs in the GT1 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France. In past years, the Chevy contingent at the race was one of the biggest in the paddock area. It will be leaner but meaner this month, Peper said.

"The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of the key marketing activities of the brand," Peper said. "Corvette is the marquee brand for the company, but we've got to get maximum return for minimum spending."

Peper said GM owes it to fans to continue its presence in motorsports.

"They have been extremely loyal to us," he said. "We hope the fans will still have the opportunity to attend races. Perhaps GM competing will help their psyche during these challenging days."

Full Story: Executive says General Motors will stick with motorsports | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

 

[LT4man]

I was speaking to someone about this yesterday. I am glad to see GM staying in racing.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO SAVE THE !

 

[Kid_Again]

You know, even though Obama said that the government will not make day-to-day decisions for Government Motors, I think that's hogwash.

I wouldn't count on a mid-level VP knowing what is going to happen tomorrow at GM, let alone for a year. Heck, Fritz doesn't know that. It will be decided by the bankruptcy court and the largest company shareholders. If Gittlewhatshisname says the UAW wants the money originally ear marked for Corvette Racing to go to pay down residual UAW healthcare costs, it's gone.

'Way too early to assume anything -even to the continued existance of the Corvette brand.

Anyone see the interview with Bob Lutz that was at least posted to msnbc.com? He admits the Camaro's timing was ill-conceived and his idea of a halo brand is the Prius which didn't sell well but drove LOTS of people into the Toyota showrooms. The article was also highly biased against the Corvette but Bob was mum on that. He drives his '09 C6 back and forth to Ann Arbor every day.

We'll be very lucky indeed if the Corvette brand just treads water for a year or two until they figure out what kind of company is left over.

 

[Hib Halverson]

My guess is that "Corvette" will be a GM brand for a long time to come. What may change in the mid-to-long term is the form the product takes and its excecution.

Even the people who run the government jobs program which was once the GM we knew, are not dumb enough to eliminate or sell-off the Corvette franchise. One reason would be the political pressure that might come if that was done. The second is the marketing value of the name.

The big question marke is what form the car will take going forward.

My guess is the Z06's and the ZR1's days are numbered. I give 'em a year or two. After that we'll see some performance changes in order to meet the new CAFE regs. We also might see some things like a speed limiter (which the car has never had) similar to what BMW does with most of the cars its sells in N.A., or loss of the ability to disable SES systems.

Right now, with all the confusion and trauma the post-BK-GM is experiencing, Corvette is a sort of under-the-radar entity, but that might change once Congress realizes its taxpayer-funded jobs program is making products which can exceed 200 mph.