Q. How do car companies gauge public reaction to concept cars for possible production? I’ve never been asked by a car company if I like or dislike a concept. Do the companies have people undercover listening to conversations?
I’m a General Motors shareholder and would like to let someone know what I thought of its concepts at this year’s auto show. I would have liked to tell someone what I thought of the Pontiac Aztek concept before GM started selling it.
K.F., Downers Grove
A. Great question.
Reactions are measured in a variety of ways. Because you’re interested in letting GM know your opinions, we called Wendi Parson of GM’s Design Studio public relations staff to get an answer to your question.
“We use lots of tools to measure reactions,” Parson said.
Independent research companies conduct surveys at auto shows, and automakers purchase the results, Parson said.
GM also conducts its own research, randomly cornering people (usually 300 or more during a show) and asking them to view the GM and rival concepts to answer a lengthy list of survey questions about each.
If, Parson said, GM is strongly considering production of a particular concept or production of a feature or component in a concept, it will follow with a private clinic or focus group.
Typically these involve consumers getting an invite in the mail for a hotel showing of a variety of vehicles to be judged top to bottom, front to rear.
Consumers will be asked such things as whether they like the design and creature-comfort features, and even how much they think the vehicle should cost.
Because all names are removed from the vehicles, consumers sometimes are asked what brand they think it is, valuable information to know if people think your $20,000 sedan looks like a $40,000 luxury brand, or your $40,000 luxury sedan looks like a $20,000 car. Sometimes the clinics also test favorable/unfavorable reaction to possible names.
At the shows, many concepts have a presenter who gives a rundown on the vehicle. The presenters are later grilled about how people liked/disliked the concept and what questions they asked about each vehicle.
And, yes, there is some old-fashioned eavesdropping, people who simply listen to what viewers have to say about the concepts.
Parson also said consumers are using the Internet to voice opinions.
“All divisions have Web sites with information on their concepts,” she said. “We’ve found more people clicking on to the sites to express an opinion.”
Q. My son, a poor, struggling grad student, purchased a new Nissan Sentra in 1998. Two days before Christmas last year, he headed for Minnesota and a long-awaited holiday with family.
At midnight, three hours out of Jackson, Miss., his transmission went out. The car had about 32,000 miles on it and was covered by a factory warranty.
The tow truck towed him three hours back to Jackson and provided the name of a repair shop where he was sure it could be repaired–after the long Christmas holiday. My son left his car there, rented another car and headed back to Minnesota.
When he returned, the repair shop charged him $2,100 to repair the transmission. Nissan rejected paying the bill because it wasn’t taken to a Nissan dealer.
It seems Nissan ought to honor the warranty or at least offer him what it would have cost to repair the transmission at a Nissan dealer.
S.M., Shoreview, Minn.
A. Sorry, your son may be poor and struggling, but even a grad student needs to check on the condition of a car more than three hours before setting off on a journey from Mississippi to Minnesota.
Why should Nissan reimburse you for work done when Nissan has no way of knowing:
– If the transmission really needed repair or the shop took advantage of a poor, struggling grad student.
– If the trans stopped working from a defect for which it was responsible.
– If the trans stopped working from the negligence and lack of care from a poor, struggling grad student–and poor and struggling would indicate not much time or money was spent on vehicle upkeep, in which case Nissan wouldn’t be responsible.
Had the car been towed to a Nissan dealership, your son’s travel might have been temporarily delayed, but you might not be out $2,100.
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Send questions about cars and trucks to Jim Mateja, Chicago Tribune, 700 N. Milwaukee Ave., Suite 135, Vernon Hills, IL 60061-1523, or send e-mail, including name and hometown, to jmateja@tribune.com.
