Midsize category battles some giant-size problems; Every carmaker needs strong entry but few succeed to differentiate their offerings.

Advertising Age, April, 2005 by Lico, Nick

Byline: NICK LICO

A commercial for the Saab 9-3 shows a business traveler trying to find his rental car. He presses the key fob as he walks past row upon row of black, similarly styled sedans until a light-colored 9-3 convertible catches his eye. Standing out from the crowd is exactly the challenge every carmaker faces with its product.

This test is clear for General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., which recently introduced multiple vehicles in the midsize segment. The cars in question, in addition to the Saab 9-3, are GM's Pontiac G6, Buick LaCrosse and Chevrolet Malibu, and from Ford, the Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego.

The midsize segment accounted for 55% of U.S. car sales last year. It is "an extremely competitive segment, if not...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Premium Content Partnership | HighBeam Research provides an in-depth online archive library of reference works.