orig source http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061215/AUTO01/612150414/1148/

GM tightens up usage of SS label

Sharon Terlep / The Detroit News

General Motors Corp. is rethinking the way its uses the SS moniker that has adorned souped-up Chevrolets since 1961.

SS -- for super sport -- has traditionally signaled performance versions of vehicles like the Camaro, Impala and most recently the Cobalt sedan.

The automaker felt it was getting a bit carried away with the label after putting it on the most recent version of the Malibu midsize sedan. So now only cars with the best horsepower, braking power and handling will get the title.

It's part of GM's bid to stoke sales by building exclusivity into some models, a move the automaker hopes will burnish the overall image of a brand and make other vehicles from the same nameplate more attractive to buyers.

"Not every car that has some extra features and fancy racing stripes can be an SS," said Ed Welburn, GM Design global vice president.

GM will start the transition with the introduction next year of a new sport version of the Equinox compact SUV. The vehicle will have 42 percent more horsepower than the basic Equinox and other performance enhancing features, but will be labeled a sport as opposed to an SS. At the same time, GM will no longer offer a SS version of the Malibu.

"That's one that probably shouldn't have gotten the SS label," Chevrolet Marketing Director Cheryl Catton said.

Automakers often use special edition vehicles to give their brands an image boost. Such vehicles rarely deliver high sales numbers, but can help generate buzz around a company's lineup.

"They might want to be more careful with the vehicles they stick that badge on," said Brian Moody, road test editor with Edmunds.com. When used properly, he said, sport labels "may drum up interest in the brand down the line."

The image boost that comes with distinguishable lineups can help improve a vehicle's selling power as well as increase its resale value, another important factor for car buyers.

Each brand gets own identity

GM has struggled to define its vehicles in the eyes of consumers, with a murky brand portfolio and often indistinguishable characteristics between its cars and trucks.

But the company has made it a top priority to turn that around and give each brand a distinct identity. Buick, for example, will aim for an image of luxury and refinement. Pontiac wants to come across as stylish and performance-oriented.

"For this to be a truly great company, we need to deliver on the product side," said GM sales chief Mark LaNeve, speaking Thursday during a media preview of the GM exhibit under construction at the North American International Auto Show.

LaNeve said GM is having success already that has helped stem market losses in the automaker's North American operations. He said GM expects to hold or slightly increase its market share -- about 25 percent at the end of November -- in 2007.

Part of GM's image efforts will go public next month at the auto show, where the automaker is entirely rebuilding its display to showcase each brand separately yet still under the GM umbrella.

"Now, from the beginning, we build a car to match the characteristics of the brand, " LaNeve said.

i still wish they would produce the colorado SS damn GM

I think it's about damn time! They have been diluting their own image for long enough, when you put SS on everything it loses it's meaning,





www.drluc.ca

Luc Sipkema wrote:I think it's about damn time! They have been diluting their own image for long enough, when you put SS on everything it loses it's meaning,

well they basiclly had SS on everything in the 60s except the trucks

Chevelle SS
Nova SS
Monte Carlo SS
Camaro SS
Impala SS
El Camino SS

Caprice was a lower trim of the Impala

I think the only car that wasn't an SS was a corvair (besides the corvette)but then again Yenko did make some special ones

I've been saying the same thing. Way to liberal use of the SS badge lately - come on, Malibu SS ? It just doesn't deserve it.





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CodeRedZ24 (aka Geeds) wrote:
well they basiclly had SS on everything in the 60s except the trucks

Chevelle SS
Nova SS
Monte Carlo SS
Camaro SS
Impala SS
El Camino SS

yea but the difference is that when they put SS on those cars they came with some balls



My car may run 18s, but I can do your taxes in 10 seconds flat.
JBO lube - they would never have enough in stock and we'd never see RodimusPrime again

They need to look at dare I say.... Dodge! They only slap SRT on their baddest of the bad vehicles. Damn near every one of their V8 SRT vehicles has at least 425hp.

Rob





Sold 2/2/05

Black Ops Ecotec wrote:I've been saying the same thing. Way to liberal use of the SS badge lately - come on, Malibu SS ? It just doesn't deserve it.

unless it was the old malibu course which was the top of the line chevelle

yea i agree they should tighten it up, although the trailblazer ss is pretty bad ass, and i think the cobalt should sitll hold the name

CodeRedZ24 (aka Geeds) wrote:

Luc Sipkema wrote:I think it's about damn time! They have been diluting their own image for long enough, when you put SS on everything it loses it's meaning,

well they basiclly had SS on everything in the 60s except the trucks

Chevelle SS
Nova SS
Monte Carlo SS
Camaro SS
Impala SS
El Camino SS

Caprice was a lower trim of the Impala

I think the only car that wasn't an SS was a corvair (besides the corvette)but then again Yenko did make some special ones

nova and impala came with a 6cyl for a SS in the early years

and caprice was the upscale of the impala , more luxo , then later went the other way and impala became the top model



and SS was first used for the corvette , but never a production vehicle

1956 - July

* Work begins on Project XP-64, a sports/racer built for the upcoming race in Sebring. The car is named the Corvette SS (Super Spyder), or Sebring SS. A clay model of Zora's design is made, and shown to management. [3] [25] [7] [110.79] [114.9]



taken from here - http://www.corvettemuseum.com/library-archives/timeline/1951.shtml

Well, it was as bad as the dealership-issued Cavalier SS where it was nothing more then a Cavalier with a bodykit, rims, and fake duel exhaust, lol. Literally, the second pipe is just a tip that is bolted onto the bodykit, LOL

REDGOTE wrote:They need to look at dare I say.... Dodge! They only slap SRT on their baddest of the bad vehicles. Damn near every one of their V8 SRT vehicles has at least 425hp.

Rob

what about the srt 4!!!!

SRT4 is still faster than the Cobalt SS.. I think Cobalt should lose the ss symbol myself..




Red 2005 Saturn Ion-3 Coupe

i think the balt shoudl keep it (not cause i have a balt, i really dont care cause i dont have an SS)
but its a good bang for the buck in performance...lets think of the 67 camaro SS, It wasnt a leader in HP..it was a lower priced, well rounded car in its era...same with the ss/sc balt...the SS/Na on the other hand should be an RS

the malibu...no dosnt need it

trailblazer...while its nice it just dosnt fit the SS Image to me..no SS trucks

the monte carlo SS need some more balls

the impala SS coulda used a bit more as well

ss cobalt n/a is a joke, definitely remove that one. i also think they should get rid of the impala ss, because its a 4 door that still looks crappy, and yea, it has a 300 hp v8 (which nowadays is not impressive), and its fwd. they should drop it.

SS trucks they have to keep, such as the silverado. colorado....unsure on that one. cuz the cobalt has the same dilemma, the only problem is that there is competition like the srt4, so that's where it needs the badge. i also dont know about the trailblazer, because the simple fact is, its a BAD ass suv.

My opinion the only ones that should have it (and this pretty much makes one nice car per segment):
camaro - muscle car on its own
silverado - truck
trailblazer - suv
cobalt - sport compact

maybes:
monte carlo - if they would just redesign it already and make it a bad ass car, but it has to be different than the camaro.
impala - if they could make it like an srt8 300c



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- Sold my beloved J in April 2010 -

Thank god GM is coming to there senses. Yes Dodge only puts the SRT label on it's top of the line sport models. Yes even the SRT-4 sure it's still a neon but with the Stage 3 package on the newer ones it comes in at over 300HP from the dealer and even comes set up to run race fuel as well.

Dodge had to start doing something right after they screwed the Charger up.



Had to change sig because some dickhead is mad it went 1 letter over size

I agree the non S/C SS cobalt should lose the SS while the S/C one should keep it

GM NEEDS THE COLORADO SS

everyone on the colorado site has pretty much been begging for one













yes thats me next to it hehe

Strangely I recently saw a new Chevy Colorado with SS badges drive past me on the street. I remember wondering if it wa a dealer install or factory. The exhaust sounded more aggressive and it had what appeared to be minimal ground effects(not like the Xtreme). I was going to check to Chevy website to see if the Colorado was being offered with an SS appearance package. I completely agree with GM's decision to tier "SS" for the top performance versions of their cars and trucks. Malibu was not worthy of an SS badge. I sort of hope that GM drops the Monte Carlo name and comes back with Chevelle name. I wouldn't want the Chevelle name on the currently styled Monte Carlo, maybe something instead a more modern interpretation of the muscle car with maybe a hint of styling cues of the 1969 Chevelle. I believe a HHR "SS" will be debuting shortly so get ready to nickname it "Hearse". :-)


"...nevermind maneuvers lieutenant, just go straight at them!"
-Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar

Blue Shark wrote:Strangely I recently saw a new Chevy Colorado with SS badges drive past me on the street. I remember wondering if it wa a dealer install or factory. The exhaust sounded more aggressive and it had what appeared to be minimal ground effects(not like the Xtreme). I was going to check to Chevy website to see if the Colorado was being offered with an SS appearance package. I completely agree with GM's decision to tier "SS" for the top performance versions of their cars and trucks. Malibu was not worthy of an SS badge. I sort of hope that GM drops the Monte Carlo name and comes back with Chevelle name. I wouldn't want the Chevelle name on the currently styled Monte Carlo, maybe something instead a more modern interpretation of the muscle car with maybe a hint of styling cues of the 1969 Chevelle. I believe a HHR "SS" will be debuting shortly so get ready to nickname it "Hearse". :-)

there is no real colorado SS in production

the concept colorado SS also had a LSx in it yummy



Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Saturday, December 16, 2006 8:31 AM

about time the only cars that should hve it are the supercharged cobalt the monte malibu and not any freaking wagons or trucks

thank god they never put it on the aveo

there should be an ss camaro again



1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85

you all know how i feel (see sig)

Chris Foresta wrote:you all know how i feel (see sig)

was waiting for you to chime in

And the first thing that GM should do is remove the "SS" on the Cobalt, Malibu, Impala.
The biggest insult is having the "SS" moniker on a on a weak, FWD, POS sub-compact.
Name the Cobalt anything... Z24, LS Sport, Z20-S/C, Crap on wheels, etc. Anything but SS.
My theory, SS should stay with RWD cars mainly (maybe trucks), V8, (or at least with HO V6 or F-I V6)




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-----The orginal Mr.Goodwrench on the JBO since 11/99-----

I agree and I don't. I think GM is trying to copy the SRT and SVT formula...
If it's a performance derivative within it's class than I don't see any harm
using the SS label... the only thing worst than bastardizing a moniker, is
failure to run a tight marketing strategy. A car is merely "the steak", but
the marketing behind it is what generates "the sizzle".




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