In the US Nissan Dealers Still Getting REDI (Retail Environment Initiative)

In the US, Nissan Dealers Still Getting REDI

Nissan's initiative to bring a fresh image to its dealerships - to correspond with the brand's resurgence - is coming along, report Nissan

North America officials. Nationally, about half of Nissan's 1100 dealerships have decided to participate in the NREDI (Nissan Retail Environment Design Initiative) program; more than 300 of those facilities are complete, while another 250 are in the design stage. NREDI began in 2001, when brand-strategy and design experts at Lippincott Mercer were hired to help develop Nissan's global brand image. One of the main aims of the program was to give the dealership the same brand identity that was being projected through marketing and promotions. But it calls for a whole new layout for dealerships, not just cosmetic details. Under the new plan, the sales, service, and parts departments are fully integrated, with parts and service no longer out in back. Many dealers have opted to build new stores; an example is Cool Springs Nissan, an NREDI-completed dealership that will be less than two miles from Nissan's new national headquarters in Tennessee. Windows and open floor space are an important part of this initiative - customers can now see the service check-in area from the showroom, and the parts department is directly adjacent to the showroom. The program remains optional for dealers, with some money available from NNA, though most of the bill is footed by the dealerships themselves. Nissan says that NREDI dealerships are showing evidence that the formula works, though: in 2004, NREDI-completed dealerships showed an average 57 percent sales growth, versus 33 percent nationwide for the entire sales force.
-Bengt Halvorson (The carconnection)

Chevy reality show in Indonesia ?

Could a reality show be accomplished for Chevy in Indonesia?

The below-mentioned excerpt from "The carconnection" made me wonder if it would be possible to use the following idea to increase awareness of the Chevrolet brand in Indonesia. What if Chevy participated in a TV reality show in which participants work on developing concepts for modifying their favorite Chevy?

Capitalizing on a trend of not only reality TV, but also a practice becoming more common where advertisers offer to produce a program that is as much brand advertising as entertainment content and assume most of the production costs.

/The Fairway Gourmet/, which runs on PBS, will in its second season be produced by the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau, and all the golf courses in next season's series of program will be in Hawaii. Unilever put together two specials built around its AXE Shower body wash: /The Gamekillers/ on MTV and /Exposing the Order of the Serpentine/ on SpikeTV. Going back further, Bob Vila's/Home Again/ series was produced by Sears and ad agency Ogilvy & Mather, and featured Sears Craftsman tools.

Captiva to muscle in on Ford's Territory ?

By Cameron McGavin
March 15, 2006

The Captiva was recently unveiled at the Geneva motor show and is expected to go on sale in Australia from the second half of the year.

As the photo shows, the production Captiva stays true to the theme established by the S3X concept car shown at last month's Melbourne motor show. Pricing, model line-up and final specifications are still some time off, but Holden has scratched out a basic picture.

For further info check out the Holden link : http://www.drive.com.au/click_thru/log_clickthru.asp?type=Editorial_masthead&address=/know

The Captiva is 4635 mm long, 1850 mm wide and 1720 mm tall - slightly smaller but well within shouting distance of its Ford competitor.

Power will come from a 3.2-litre version of the all-alloy Global V6 made in Melbourne and used in the Commodore, with drive sent to the ground via an active 4WD system that swaps between front- and all-wheel-drive, depending on conditions.

Like the Territory, the Captiva will be available with flexible seating for either five or seven occupants.

Holden says standard equipment and quality will be strong points, with electronic stability control part of the package.

The Captiva is a global vehicle for General Motors that will be built in Korea but Holden has had a big hand in its design and says it has been tested thoroughly in Australia to ensure it measures up to expectations.

Visit drive.com.au for all the latest motoring news and reviews.

Aveo : Modification

Modifikasi lagi. Kapan ada foto2 dengan modifikasi Indo? Untuk pameran Otomotif bulan Juli?

Aveo : Modifikasi

Aveo dengan Body kit

Chevy Optra : Modifikasi dari Filipina

Contoh modifikasi Chevy Optra dari teman2 di Filipina.

Bagaimana kalau kita mengadakan kompetisi modifikasi Chevy pada Pameran Mobil bulan Juli mendatang. Untuk Aveo, Spark, Optra, Blazer...

Chevy Zafira : Modification

Ini adalah hasil modifikasi dari Jerman

Chevy Captiva : would this be a viable argument for production in Indonesia?

Hybrids Lose Lifetime Energy Battle, Study Says

Hybrid advocates trumpet the environmental benefits of the gas-electric vehicles.

But a new study says that the overall energy picture for hybrid vehicles isn't as favorable as it seems. CNW Marketing Research, of Bandon, Ore., says that when the total cost of hybrids to the environment is calculated, including factors like recycling batteries into a "dollars per lifetime mile" figure, hybrids come up short against gas-powered vehicles.

CNW's energy cost per mile driven figured that the most "energy expensive" vehicle from 2005 is the Maybach at $11.58 per mile, while the Scion xB checks in at the bottom of the scale, at $0.48 a mile. Some hybrids, like the Honda Accord Hybrid, actually get higher lifetime costs than their gas counterparts: the Hybrid Accord has an energy cost per mile of $3.29 while the gas version's is $2.18. CNW accounts for the differences by citing the investments in lightweight materials along with the cost of recycling batteries.

Maybach : $11.58/Mile

Honda Accord (Hybrid) : $ 3.29

Honda Accord (Reg.) : $ 2.18

Honda Civic : $ 2.42

Hummer H3 : $ 1.95

Toyota Scion xB : $ 0.48

The auto industry as a whole, CNW says, has an average dollar per lifetime mile of $2.28; GM's HUMMER H3's figure was $1.949 per mile, lower than the Honda Civic at $2.42 a mile. "If a consumer is concerned about fuel economy because of family budgets or depleting oil supplies, it is perfectly logical to consider buying high-fuel-economy vehicles," says Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research, Inc. "But if the concern is the broader issues such as environmental impact of energy usage, some high-mileage vehicles actually cost society more than conventional or even larger models over their lifetime."

Now, could we consider this a viable argument for seriously considering the production and further development of the Biodiesel-powered Chevy Captiva in Indonesia?

Could the diesel-powered Captiva mark the rebirth of Chevrolet in indonesia?

Based on a number of seemingly unrelated events in the past few months
I would like to launch the idea of a rebirth of the Chevrolet brand in
Indonesia under the name of the Chevrolet Captiva.

In the past few years, the condition of the planet have finally made
people re-evaluate their contribution to pollution and global warming.
After clearly visible effects to our environment, most visibly in
natural disasters such as the tsunami in Aceh, heavy rain and floods in
Europe and tornados in the US, just to mention a few. Even up to this
moment the intensity of nature's wrath does not show any sign of calming
down.

Due to the world-wide increase in fuelprices the Indonesian Government
finally decided, after long debate to raise the price at the pumps by
over 100%. This in order to reduce the heavy cost of gasoline subsidies
to the national budget. As a result of these fuelprice hikes in October
2005, national automotive sales received a heavy hit, with the no.1
automaker in the country, Toyota losing up to 40% in volume.

A few days ago, the Audi R10 demonstrated at Sebring that diesel-powered engines are an alternative to be considered and in no way inferior to gasoline-powered vehicles by winning the 12-hour endurance race at Sebring in preparation of the 24hours of Lemans.

In short, I would like to conclude that in looking for efficient,
environmentally friendly power, diesel is an alternative that deserves
serious consideration. Placing all this into the Indonesian context
results in an even stronger argument. Indonesia located on the equator
with its tropical climate and very fertile soil is begging to be made
into a powerhouse of biomass production. In the automotive context,
biodiesel presents itself as an efficient and a potentially very
lucrative option in answer to the above-mentioned issues. Tying this all
into the Chevrolet product line is the "Chevy Captiva" launched last
month at the Geneva auto show.

It has been heavily tested and researched locally that biodiesel is an
economically viable and very tempting alternative to diesel-fuel to
power personal vehicles. I would like to suggest the idea of
introducng the GM-developed Captiva in Indonesia as a base of
production for ASEAN and a launchingpad in presenting Chevrolet as a
global corporate citizen living up to its responsibility in promoting
environmental awareness in an economic attractive way. By presenting the
diesel-powered Captiva as the flag-bearer for the relaunch of the
Chevrolet brand as an economic quality name involved in the development
and sale of a fuel-efficient SUV operating on low-cost (biodiesel :
Rp.3.500/L compared to diesel : Rp.4.500/L) fuel, resulting in
far-reaching savings to the consumer while at the same time promoting
the development of a new industry, biodiesel.

Biodiesel during combustion results in lower polution levels. Added to
this the abundant availability of the basic ingredients to produce
it in Indonesia (examples : recycled frying oil, Crude Palm Oil
(CPO) or even "Biji Jarak" all of whch have their individual benefits to
the environment) with the direct, visible effect of lowering
transportation and maintenance costs to the consumer.