GM: How about some ZL1 only colors?

[Z4me]

Originally Posted by Number 3

But the modern paint shop in an automobile plant can't do more colors. Typically 10 to 12. Any more than that and you are adding significant cost for less sales.

You have to do a change over to a new color. And the more colors the more change overs.

And in some cases, you are running multiple models through the paint shop and some of the colors have to be shared.

Lots of good reasons why you won't see more choices.

At this point, for every color added one has to be removed.

And if you want even 1 exclusive ZL1 color, you have to reduce the color choices by 1 for the Coupe and Convertible. And that is counter to the "need more colors" discussion here.

Specialty colors can be done, but with a lot of effort.





Don't you be dissin' my yellow Sky now



Wow so you think it would be good if GM offered the same colors as Ford?

You won't ever "overcome" the lack of sales of what you think are good colors. If you are limited to 10 or 12 (and you are) which one do you pick? If you are in a business you pick the most popular ones voted on by customer with $$$. It's just that simple.



Colors are cliniced more than you know. They are picked with careful thought and effort.

As Scott said, I actually love Synergy Green. Whenever I see it I marvel at how the shape of the Camaro pops...........................I'd never buy one though.



You and apparently 3 others.



Limited runs are tough. Not sure how much that would cost, but I don't think it would be cheap.



Just look at the sales number of colors, not just Camaro, but the industry. Funky colors are cool to look at if it's someone eleses. Most people vote with the $$$ for two reasons, they like it and they think they can resel it easily. There is another lesser reason for those that intend to keep them for a lonngggg time, how good will it look in 20 years.



It looks good on the right car and in dark colors IMO. I had a Ducati ST4S in matte grey. It was awesome. But bright colors? No thanks.



On the right car it can look good. In the wrong car with the wrong wheels and trim can look pretty bad.

But this is no different than the whole discussion on color. Some people like matte paint and would pay for it from the factory.............just not enough to devote 1 of your 10 to 12 colors for at least a year.



Green and yellow are not top sellers on other cars..............or Camaro for that matter.



You don't do bold strokes with paint. You can't just undo it either.

Again, most people voting with their own $$$ aren't going to pay for bold strokes. They will still buy silver, white, red, black as the primaries.



As Fbodfather said, GM could offer 10 regular colors and 20 shades of blue and we would still have this thread. It's a fun thread, but when you are discussing which shade of blue is the best blue we aren't really going to resolve anything because there is no right or wrong anwer.

Very well thought out and to the point post. Thankyou!

[dr damon]

good insight Number 3, i just think GM could at least switch out rally yellow for one that is a little closer to bumblebee.

[lbls1]

Number 3,

Continuing to make excuses for not doing something, while your competition is doing the exact opposite....and making sales, will continue to keep a brand name behind. No one is really interested in why a particular color didn't make the cut. A company's goal should be to provide what its potential buyers want. I do not accept the reasoning of the camaro not being able to support different color options when I see its direct competitors doing just that.

It might not be such a bad idea to take some competitive notes from rivals in order to make a business better.

In the end, if I am asked to spend 55g then I expect to be satisfied in all aspects. (Niche) Cars do not sell based on logic. Cars sell from an image standpoint. No one will listen or care about why attractive colors won't sell on one model when there are other makes of cars (not necessarily performance) that are offering them. If the only thing on the pallete is silver, black and/or white then it begs the question of whether one should go thru the pains of coughing up possibly fifty-five thousand dollars for a run of the mill hue, when for half that price you might get a vehicle with a color that "does it". Not that a zl1 could be termed as "any vehicle", but then again its closest competitor seems to have some innovative thoughts on color and appearance packages.

I can wait for silver, black (a very long wait) or white,..........but a Lemans Blue or a heritage color might make me think in terms of "this year" instead of maybe next year.

[SummoneR]

Originally Posted by lbls1

Number 3,

Continuing to make excuses for not doing something, while your competition is doing the exact opposite....and making sales, will continue to keep a brand name behind. No one is really interested in why a particular color didn't make the cut. A company's goal should be to provide what its potential buyers want. I do not accept the reasoning of the camaro not being able to support different color options when I see its direct competitors doing just that.

It might not be such a bad idea to take some competitive notes from rivals in order to make a business better.

In the end, if I am asked to spend 55g then I expect to be satisfied in all aspects. (Niche) Cars do not sell based on logic. Cars sell from an image standpoint. No one will listen or care about why attractive colors won't sell on one model when there are other makes of cars (not necessarily performance) that are offering them. If the only thing on the pallete is silver, black and/or white then it begs the question of whether one should go thru the pains of coughing up possibly fifty-five thousand dollars for a run of the mill hue, when for half that price you might get a vehicle with a color that "does it". Not that a zl1 could be termed as "any vehicle", but then again its closest competitor seems to have some innovative thoughts on color and appearance packages.

I can wait for silver, black (a very long wait) or white,..........but a Lemans Blue or a heritage color might make me think in terms of "this year" instead of maybe next year.

I think you missed the point. The wants of the few does not dictate the want of the many. Ford is offering a light blue...(that looks like a smurf IMO) GM offers colors that sell. What has been selling more? Mustang or Camaro?

Point made.

[lbls1]

I didn't miss a point. I wasn't referring to which brand sold more (You might want to check June's camaro, mustang sales). I was referring to the image of a company that is willing to do different things as opposed to staying the norm. One can buy a normal color on a car for half the price of a zl1.

I am pointing out that if you want to make the image of a car stand out...and possibly sell, then you should offer color or colors that are interesting, other than the basics. Its a similar analogy of a typical chevy dealer having the corvette in its showroom.....its a car that's different and a car that attracts customers. Whether it sells a large volume or not is less important as its ability to draw potential customers into a showroom, which could lead into a sold car.

Additionally, if you are banking that the car will sell on its hallowed past image (zl1), then why would a company not reinforce that image with a visage of its heritage?

Counter point.

[ShnOmac]

Originally Posted by lbls1

Continuing to make excuses for not doing something, while your competition is doing the exact opposite....and making sales, will continue to keep a brand name behind. No one is really interested in why a particular color didn't make the cut. A company's goal should be to provide what its potential buyers want. I do not accept the reasoning of the camaro not being able to support different color options when I see its direct competitors doing just that.

You know the GT500 only comes in 5 colors right?
Camaro is still ahead of Mustang in sales for the year.... you are only looking at one month.
You are one person and not the "potential buyers" as you put it. Look at the sales by color and you will see that you are in the minority.

[ShnOmac]

Originally Posted by lbls1

I was referring to the image of a company that is willing to do different things as opposed to staying the norm. One can buy a normal color on a car for half the price of a zl1.

Whats different about the competition.... GT500?
It comes in 2 blues, white, red and silver....

Pay half the price of the ZL1 and you get a hell of a lot less car.... I dont understand this point at all.

[lbls1]

Originally Posted by ShnOmac

You know the GT500 only comes in 5 colors right?
Camaro is still ahead of Mustang in sales for the year.... you are only looking at one month.
You are one person and not the "potential buyers" as you put it. Look at the sales by color and you will see that you are in the minority.

I did not make an analogy on sales or quote the gt500 in that paragraph.

You missed my point entirely about the subject of the offering of different colors. Chevy says that blue could not sell on camaro, thus they're not offering it on camaro. I am countering that instead of suggesting that "brite blue"...as an example..doesn't sell, that one should look at why "bright blue" is selling and/or is continuing to be offered on camaro's direct competitor.

[Eric's Blue]

This is just a techinal question with no emotion behind it either way. When a car company researchs a color line for any new car model, how do they go about it? I would imagine Black and Red are pretty standard, but the rest? And then dealing with various shades etc?

For FBody Father or whoever else can answer it?

[ShnOmac]

Originally Posted by lbls1

I did not make an analogy on sales or quote the gt500 in that paragraph.

You missed my point entirely about the subject of the offering of different colors. Chevy says that blue could not sell on camaro, thus they're not offering it on camaro. I am countering that instead of suggesting that "brite blue"...as an example..doesn't sell, that one should look at why "bright blue" is selling and/or is continuing to be offered on camaro's direct competitor.

We are in the ZL1 section and you said the competition so I just assumed....

If a color does not sale why would you keep it around?

Just because a color looks good on a different body style does not mean it is going to look good on yours.

[SummoneR]

Originally Posted by lbls1

I didn't miss a point. I wasn't referring to which brand sold more (You might want to check June's camaro, mustang sales). I was referring to the image of a company that is willing to do different things as opposed to staying the norm. One can buy a normal color on a car for half the price of a zl1.

I am pointing out that if you want to make the image of a car stand out...and possibly sell, then you should offer color or colors that are interesting, other than the basics. Its a similar analogy of a typical chevy dealer having the corvette in its showroom.....its a car that's different and a car that attracts customers. Whether it sells a large volume or not is less important as its ability to draw potential customers into a showroom, which could lead into a sold car.

Additionally, if you are banking that the car will sell on its hallowed past image (zl1), then why would a company not reinforce that image with a visage of its heritage?

Counter point.

My apologies, I see where you are coming from now, and I can't say I don't agree. Very good point. It would be nice to have. But If it's not feasible it's not.

[Number 3]

Originally Posted by lbls1

Number 3,

Continuing to make excuses for not doing something, while your competition is doing the exact opposite....and making sales, will continue to keep a brand name behind. No one is really interested in why a particular color didn't make the cut. A company's goal should be to provide what its potential buyers want. I do not accept the reasoning of the camaro not being able to support different color options when I see its direct competitors doing just that.

It might not be such a bad idea to take some competitive notes from rivals in order to make a business better.

In the end, if I am asked to spend 55g then I expect to be satisfied in all aspects. (Niche) Cars do not sell based on logic. Cars sell from an image standpoint. No one will listen or care about why attractive colors won't sell on one model when there are other makes of cars (not necessarily performance) that are offering them. If the only thing on the pallete is silver, black and/or white then it begs the question of whether one should go thru the pains of coughing up possibly fifty-five thousand dollars for a run of the mill hue, when for half that price you might get a vehicle with a color that "does it". Not that a zl1 could be termed as "any vehicle", but then again its closest competitor seems to have some innovative thoughts on color and appearance packages.

I can wait for silver, black (a very long wait) or white,..........but a Lemans Blue or a heritage color might make me think in terms of "this year" instead of maybe next year.

I'm sorry, "continuing to make excuses"??????

Just trying to give the conversation some factual reasons WHY it is the way it is.

You apparently just want to say, "because GM doesn't do EXACTLY what I think they should do........" I simply try to point out the rationale and a bit of fact.

No other high volume manufacturer offers more than 10 to 12 colors in a paint shop. Sorry if you think that is an excuse. Go to "buid your own" and see how many colors you can pick from.

All you seem to be saying is GM is a failure because GM doesn't offer either a) colors YOU like or b) the exact same colors Ford does.

I did try to point out sales figures, again sory for that excuse, clinic data where GM actually asks customers years yes YEARS ahead to determine what colors will be the most popular on next years and the year after products. But again sorry if you think that is an excuse.

Or are you simply saying "I'm spending $55,000 (not sure where that number comes from) so I should get whatever I want????? Go to any OEM and see how much it would cost you for a custom color? And how much that car costs.

This is the major problem and what I try to defend. Most to nearly all customers will be completely happy with the color pallet for the Camaro and the ZL1. And as Fbodfather and I have tried to point out, that will not and never will satisfy everyone. So unless you open a custom shop you have to worry about most. But claiming GM is failing simply because you aren't getting the color you want is simply wrong. GM is not a custom fabrictor or custom paint shop. It simply by the nature of the business has run x jobs per hour.

So lbls1, if you simply want to say you want a custom color that's fine. You are the customer. You can want that and there is nothing wrong with that. But don't run in here claiming GM isn't considering their customers (they are) or isn't doing what the industry does for selecting paint colors (they are - they actually are years ahead with the paint manufactures) or providing colors that satisfy most customers (they are - I haven't seen anything in JD Power or CR that indicates otherwise)

lbls1, have you been in an assembly plant? Have you watched the cars go through the paint shop and bake ovens? Just asking because you might understand this a little better if you get the chance to some day. It's quite interesting and has huge implications with the EPA not to mention the technical aspects of painting a car.

And just to be clear, very clear, I was adding fact to the discussion, not making excuses.

[lbls1]

Wow....alright some points:

A. I did not accuse gm of being a failure. That's over-glorifying the point.
B. Its a moot point as to whether I've been a part of the paint process or an assembly line or even the decision making process of the car. Again an over dramatization of my argument.
C. The point that I am focusing on is the statement that a particular color (ABM and similar hues as an example) could not sell on camaro. My criticism is that if the color was a slow seller in the past for camaro, then why was it offered again for the 2010 model, only to be pulled after one year? Was it a good decision to produce that color, especially if the manufacurer had historical data on the sales of similar shades of the color, only to withdraw it after investing in its production?

One can state facts, figures, production specifications continuously. It doesn't resolve the fact that if a company offers a color, only to drop it in a year, that they could claim that the color itself doesn't sell. If a similar color sells (or is being offered for more than one model year) for other car manufacturers, then it begs the question of why chevy could not sell a color as opposed to the color itself as the reason for not selling.

D. The number of colors didn't come into question. I actually applaud the fact that chevy offers a variety of colors. When the time comes and if zl1 is still on the market then I will probably look to buy one. I am making the exception of the reason why one color isn't being offered on Chevy, when a comparable (ford's blue shade is different...to be fair) color has been offered in camaro's direct competitor as well as other brands.

[lbls1]

Originally Posted by SummoneR

My apologies, I see where you are coming from now, and I can't say I don't agree. Very good point. It would be nice to have. But If it's not feasible it's not.

No biggie. Just attempting to make my point. Its all good.