Chevy Bolt Won’t Yield to the Haters
The 2015 Chevrolet Bolt EV Concept
The Chevy Bolt is a proud, strong, independent electric car, and it doesn’t have to change who it is in order to feel validated. The haters gonna hate, and the Bolt’s gonna Bolt.
That was the message that Chevrolet marketing boss Tim Mahoney sent loud and clear recently when he rejected speculation that the Bolt will change its name, which some argue is confusingly similar to that of the Chevy Volt.
“The decision is made,” Mahoney told USA TODAY, with a touch of angry defiance in his voice, we imagine. “The name won’t be changed.”
According to him, the similar-sounding names create some good “synergies,” and the Bolt/Volt association “connotes good things.” (Wait, that John Travolta cartoon is a “good” connotation?) Mahoney even argued that the potential confusion “can be an advantage,” possibly.
What’s in a name? Another look at the Bolt EV
“Anybody can do one study and get it to say what they want,” Mahoney said, before touting the fact that Chevrolet had done two studies in which they asked potential car shoppers what they thought of the Bolt name. “Same result [both times], it did well.”
Hopefully for GM, Mahoney’s right about the Volt/Bolt name confusion not being a big deal. But if Chevy’s got a Ford Mustang competitor called the “Colt” planned for the future, then all hell is gonna break loose.
News Source: USA TODAY
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