Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 8, 1995 TAG: 9502090028
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Or like "Sahara," suggests John Grettenberger, General Motors Corp. vice president and Cadillac general manager.
Grettenberger joins Rick Wagoner, president of GM, and a bevy of other important people on a cassette-tape tribute to the "almost cat-like ... sleek, agile, spirited" vehicle. It is to be introduced in fall 1996 to get the attention of well-to-do baby boomers.
The campaign for Catera - working name 0688 - has begun with a package to news media types who can't resist listening to a tape sent in a sleek black folder with an indexed spiral manual that feels good enough to wear.
Catera, which will be made in Germany by Opel, has been developed as a joint effort by GM of Europe and Cadillac. It's their entry into the under-$35,000 luxury car market, their answer to the Accura Legend, the Lexis and the BMW 325.
There are big bucks to be made in that market, although that's not how the Catera cast would say it. To them, it is a market for "confident, discriminating people who make informed decisions" and can appreciate an international vehicle.
Coincidentally, it is a market in which sales increased 18 percent in 1994; it is the fastest-growing segment of the car-buying market.
According to GM, "79 million people were born between 1946 and 1964," and that's the group Catera was made to attract. The target customer is 45 years old, with a median household income of at least $75,000.
In the target group are people who always have been willing to buy foreign cars and, therefore, might like this one because it looks European on the outside, the executives said. Inside, though, it's pure American, complete with air conditioning and cup holders.
GM execs expect the name to build into an identity almost separate from the manufacturer. The promotional materials devoted four pages to details about the name-selection process.
It began in August 1993 when marketing experts, Cadillac dealers and employees were invited to submit entries. Candidates included Pegasus, Helios and Ascent. More than 1,000 ideas were narrowed to 12 and tested on owners of competitive European and Japanese vehicles and owners of Cadillac Seville STS in four U.S. cities and Toronto.
Next, the list was refined to eight names and tested in three U.S. cities and in Paris, Duesseldorf and the Far East. The strongest names that emerged were "Genisis," "Catera" and "LSE," which is what the show-car version of the Catera was called when it debuted at the 1994 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Genisis was tossed out because it wasn't original and could have been a trademark problem because of its association with a computer game and rock 'n' roll band, Grettenberger said. LSE was too indistinct.
Catera sounded just right; it "sounded phonetically good after Cadillac," he said.
Continuing on the subject of cars: The Glove Compartment Car Care Book (W.W. Norton & Co., $3.49) bills itself as including all the information needed to keep a car running smoothly with few expenses.
Along with tidbits such as the best oil to use in a car in Alaska (5W20) and a radiator flush that gets rid of "little pieces of crud" that build up in the coolant, the book moves to definitions of U-joints and explanations of the mysteries of transmissions.
The book, which is a lot like the "I Am Joe's Kidney" series of stories, offers information about the alternator and reveals why brakes "bleed." It also could function as a support system for vehicle illiterates, because it includes service coupons that remind a driver how to care for a four-wheeled friend.
This is stuff to know if you want to run with the Catera crowd.
by CNB