Frankfurt show – Chevy’s muscle-car image not for Europe Countries

Chevrolet is unveiling the convertible version of its iconic Camaro model at Frankfurt, while the coupe is being seen by European audiences for the first time.

But despite its iconic name, Chevrolet is still struggling to make sales headway in Europe.

European head Thomas Sedran believes, however, that the brand can improve its position among European buyers.

“The market in Europe is tough anyway and we have had a difficult 2013 so far but we decided not to try and buy market share,” Sedran tells Headline Auto.

“We have pulled out of low margin business such as daily rental and motability – we need to make money and we are in the cage with some big gorillas.

“Retail is doing well across Europe with 110,000 sales to the end of August, but if you add in Russia then the picture is very different, boosting our numbers to 340,000.”

Sedran’s biggest challenge is brand awareness. Certainly Chevrolet is a very well known name but the perception is wrong, focused on cars such as the Camaro rather than its Euro range of mainstream vehicles.

“This is not about US cars, it’s about cars that are very European in style and driveability,” he says.

“We need to appeal more to younger customers to help differentiate our cars from Opel. The fact is we are not among the top five when people are choosing a car.

“We will concentrate on our brand values which are expressive design, value for money and a good price. We will push the fact that Chevrolet enables people to stay connected and that’s very important for young buyers.”

Could Chevy use its halo cars, the Corvette and Camaro, more to help pull customers into dealership? “It certainly works at a motor show but these cars are in short supply so it is not possible for all dealers to have them,” Sedran says.

“We are looking at other ways, for example placing these halo cars in movies.”

Chevrolet’s strategy globally is to build vehicles where it sells so could it utilise some spare Opel capacity? According to Sedran there has been no decision yet on European production.