Faces of GM

2011 Cruze: My First Drive

August 5, 2010 at 3:00 am

Quick Stats
Days: 55
Double shot espressos: 29
How many times I’ve said the word “Cruze” in the past month: 2,783 (roughly)
Bug bites last week alone: 10

The Cruze National Media drive ended on July 30th. We spent six busy days in Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C. Friday was hands down the best day for me because I got to take the Cruze for a spin on the drive routes. I’m no media drive expert, but I thought the soft rolling hills of the greater D.C., area were simply the perfect way to show off the zippiness (that’s probably not a technical term they use over at Milford) and responsiveness of the Cruze. It seems like the automotive media guests in attendance felt the same. Not all the reviews are in, but the first reviews have been overwhelmingly positive! If you haven’t seen them, you can find links on the Chevy Cruze Facebook page.

Being part of all the festivities was a great learning experience, but it was certainly exhausting. It was possibly even more tiring than my last quarter of school when I had 4 projects and 4 finals in a span of 9 days. So this leads me to the first of my key takeaways about media drives…

Key takeaway #1: Putting on a media drive is really, really, (did I mention really?) hard work.

If you’re one of those people always looking for the next great challenge, forget climbing Mt. Everest and organize an automotive media drive. Having been involved in the final month of preparation and then watching said preparation play out over 6 intense days, I can say without doubt, the amount of thought and detail involved is unfathomable to anyone outside of automotive communications. Let me paint a rough picture… thirty cars, unpredictable weather, the always reliable U.S. airline industry (sarcasm intended here) and urban traffic makes for one tricky week of events.

So major kudos and respect to Lesley Hettinger, Klaus-Peter Martin, Jan Thomas and Pete Lewis who put the whole shebang together.

I also got to spend some time with GM’s amazing engineers and designers. In the end, I was really touched by their passion and dedication. They invest years of hard work into each and every element of the car, so that when we put the keys into the ignition, all the elements magically and effortlessly come together and we can drive without worrying.  All that engineering and science that surrounds you like a cocoon basically becomes an afterthought. Their tireless attention to detail is what allows us to shift our focus to the road, the music coming from the radio, and conversations with our passengers. I suppose in a way, they allow us to live our lives. This leads me to my second key take-way….

Key takeaway #2:  It has to start with an amazing product.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a marketing student so I am a firm believer in the power of branding and image. However, like anything in life, nothing can stand on its own. For branding, its foundation is a strong product. Without it, the outreach and advertising becomes a mere farce. Granted I am new here and just getting to know everybody, but I can already tell that the team behind the Cruze truly believes in this product. There’s a pride and confidence, that many readily admit, hasn’t necessarily been there in previous Chevrolet compact cars. I think the technical whizzes behind the Cruze have given marketing and communications a great start.

Amidst all the craziness, I miraculously found myself with a couple of free hours one night. I called up a friend living in the city and we went out for a late dinner. We grabbed a table on the patio overlooking Dupont Circle and about an hour and a half later, I left the restaurant with a full tummy and no less than 10 bug bites. Turns out that a few other GMers had some run-ins with bugs too, which leads me to my third and final takeaway…

Key takeaway #3: There are a lot of gross and crazy insects in the Washington D.C. area.

The coolest moment of my week was chatting with Motorweek’s John Davis.  Quick digression, my family and I used to watch Motorweek every Saturday morning on PBS. We were never a car crazy family, but for one reason or another, we watched it every week so John Davis is the epitome of an automotive journalist to me. So back to the story…. Shooting the breeze with the awesome John Davis, he told me that Washington D.C. was built on top of a swamp and because it was surrounded by hills, the city was essentially in a bowl. Utilizing my left-brain thinking skills of deduction, I have concluded:

Swamp =>  humidity + bug friendly climate

The crazy bug story doesn’t end there. Mark, one of the very talented photographers, told me about an entomological phenomenon that occurs only once every 16 years in the greater D.C. area. The phenomenon I’m referring to is the cicada. Apparently billions of cicadas come out of the ground, so many that they darken the sky, smack into windshields and then eventually all die and fall to the ground. Thankfully we missed the cicada plague; however, I did randomly find one on my way to the airport! Of course I had to take a picture of it!

So there we have it. My first automotive media drive in less than 1000 words. I was a little nervous before it all started, but I’m really glad I got to be part of it. I got to drive an awesome car, made some new GM friends and saw my first dead cicada! Overall not too shabby of a week.

Here’s a video I found about the Cruze’s design with words from the people who helped design it.

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