GM To Revive Hummer Name, But Not The Brand, In A New GMC Pickup
General Motors is bringing back the name Hummer, but not the whole brand.
The automaker will build an all-electric pickup dubbed Hummer to be sold within the GMC brand in early 2022, according to a person familiar with GM's product plan. The story was first reported in the Wall Street Journal.
NBA superstar LeBron James will promote Hummer’s return, said the person, who wasn't authorized to speak about the program. GM will also air a commercial during the Super Bowl next month.
Read the article at Detroit Free Press.
Survey Finds American Consumers Not Embracing the Mobility Revolution
Nearly half of all Americans aren’t convinced autonomous vehicles will be safe but more than half would ride in one if it were government-certified to be safe.
The figures are contained in a wide-ranging report on American attitudes toward the “mobility revolution” released this month by Deloitte, the global consulting firm, based on responses from 35,000 consumers from 20 countries.
Key takeaways from the report:
- 48 percent of Americans believe the fully autonomous vehicles will be unsafe, and 58 percent indicated they aren’t willing to pay more than an extra $500 for self-driving technology.
- Nearly two-thirds of U.S. consumers believe they fully electric vehicles should be capable of traveling more than 200 miles on a single charge, while 41 percent believe they should have a range of at least 300 miles.
- Only 27 percent of U.S survey respondents said they’re willing to wait between 30 minutes and an hour to recharge an electric vehicle.
- Nearly a third of American consumers said they wouldn’t pay any more for a vehicle that communicates with other vehicles and road infrastructure to improve safety.
Read Deloitte’s full report here.
A Call to Action: The Keys to Effective Content Marketing
By Ed Pierce, Fleet Industry Marketer
As a regular “Call to Action” column reader, you have seen my oft-times mentions of investing in content marketing. It is the foundation of your marketing tactical calendar!
Yes, many professionals these days think of content marketing only in terms of a digital program, but “content” provides fodder for promotional and branding messaging in any marketing effort. Public relations, media relations, direct marketing, email marketing, sales presentations, seminars and webinars, and so on depend on strategic messaging.
Here are some characteristics of a compelling content marketing program to consider:
- Content should reinforce your company's "go-to" market strategy and brand.
Start by meeting with your organization's prospective content providers and leadership team to talk strategy. Understand the strategic plan, mission, core competencies, and the competitive marketplace. Then, collaboratively build a list of topics that consistently evoke key salient messages with a constant tone of voice and style. Keep things simple: focus on one major area and find new ways to drive a singular marketing or positioning point of view. Communicate and agree on the direction for promotion across all of your chosen channels. Then, track your progress in its delivery among the target audiences.
2020 FLEXY Award Nominations Now Open
As you know, the FLEXYs are a true fleet management industry award.
Every fleet management professional is welcome to submit an entry for the Fleet Excellence Awards, regardless of where their fleet is based in the world. Nominees are not required to be Members of NAFA Fleet Management Association and are not required to have a CAFM® certification. Further, there is no cost for submissions.
The Fleet Excellence Award winners are chosen from a blind voting process. FLEXY submissions depend solely on the quality of fleet-related accomplishments.
Each submission contains a summary of the registrant’s work in 500 words or less. Should the judges need more information, the registrant will be notified.
Winners will be honored at NAFA’s 2020 Institute & Expo. in Indianapolis, IN.
In-Car Displays of the Near Future: Holograms and Changeable Surface Textures
These infinitely cool interior technologies are just around the corner.
Continental 3D Lightfield Centerstack
"Flat was yesterday," proclaims the fact sheet explaining this new screen technology that Conti says will be rolling out in 2023. The screen uses liquid-crystal technology with LED backlighting, but the key to the 3D look is a diamond-like diffuser that sends that backlighting up through the LCD.
Funai Electric Holographic Touch Display
Japanese consumer electronics company Funai Electric showed a really cool holographic display that featured a screen mounted flush with the top of the instrument panel that, when viewed from the driver's seat position, appears to create a head-up display that hovers above the dash.
Read the article at Motor Trend
