Ironically enough, today's post from your friendly non-driving blogger will be all about cars. Go figure, huh? I'm thrilled to share my experiences at a recent General Motors' Main Street in Motion event.
Let's start off with the first image we were greeted with upon pulling into the stadium parking lot.
Yeah. I may not get behind the wheel myself, and I'm not usually one to even notice the "coolness" factor of cars out on the road... but this? Holy cow, this was a beautiful sight.
Now that we've covered the gorgeousness that almost 50 brand-new little red Camaros all in a line can be, let me explain a bit about GM's Main Street in Motion. I attended their recent event in Landover, MD, set up in the gigantic parking lot of FedEx Field last week. The event was open to anyone who wanted to attend, but I was thrilled to be invited to a special media event that included a tour with a particular focus on the safety features of the new General Motors line up. (Oh, and the media badges were super cool, too.) I was happy to even run into a bloggy friend at the event, Thien-Kim of I'm Not the Nanny.
Who just happens to look great behind the wheel of a Chevy!
As explained to us by Larry Peck, an experiential marketing manager of Main Street in Motion, the event is on a 24 city tour bringing the largest single collection of vehicles in one place to consumers across the country. With over 70 models and over 130 actual vehicles on site, attendees have the opportunity to test drive and compare both General Motors' vehicles as well as cars from their competitors all in one place. It's important to note that the the GM and competitors' makes are all similarly equipped, to provide as Peck put it, "an apples to apples consumer experience."
Seven test-drive courses were set up-- Chevrolet Car/Crossover, Buick Car/Crossover, GMC Crossover, GMC Large SUV/Truck , Chevy Large SUV/Truck, Performance Car Course, and the Volt Course-- along with large tented areas for each of the brands. In the tents, attendees can ask questions of the Product Specialists about the GM cars' features, but the one thing they won't find anywhere on site are salespeople. Nope, not a one. That's another point that I feel is worth emphasizing- this is not a sales event. While the Main Street in Motion event is most likely to be attended by folks looking to buy a new car, any actual sale is not the focus of the day. Imagine it as a way to magically combine three months' worth of Saturday visits to different dealerships into one single weekend. Alongside the GM vehicles are cars available for test driving from Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Acura, Nissan, Ford and Hyundai.
I could give you all the little details, or you could check out the FAQ. I think the latter will be easier for both of us.
During our tour, we were shown some vehicles that were either crashed or cut away to highlight the different safety features. Let's allow the pictures to do the talking again:
This crashed Chevy Cruze, an IIHS "2011 Top Safety Pick" with a 5 star overall vehicle score for safety from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, will deploy up to ten airbags in the event of an accident, depending on the severity. Notice the side airbags in the back, and the ones placed near the knees of the driver.
In the luxury SUV category, the Buick Enclave, another Top Safety Pick with a 5 Star overall rating, claims several safety features that help protect passengers in the case of a rollover crash, which may only constitute a small percentage of overall crashes, but carries a higher risk of fatalities. The side curtain airbags are impressive, and unlike other vehicles, the airbags stay inflated for five full seconds, which is actually quite long considering the fact that most crashes are over in a fraction of that time. In the case of multiple rollovers, this feature could literally be a life saver. One of the Product Specialists talked about the industry lead that General Motors is taking with its work in rollover research, with a facility in Milford, Michigan devoted to this work.
From talking about safety in the tent areas, our group then moved on to watching it in action. Over on the Stabilitrak course, we got to watch for ourselves the difference made by this electronic stability control feature that comes standard on over 90% of GM vehicles. With three professional race car drivers on hand to do the demonstrations, we watched as a GMC Terrain was driven through a course of cones that included very sharp turns, meant to simulate what would happen if you had to suddenly swerve to avoid something in your lane. For the first go, the driver turned the Stabilitrak feature off on the vehicle and we all gasped as we watched the vehicle pitch one way and then the other. On the second drive through, the Stabilitrak was turned on, and the difference was significant.
Wanna see?
Not only did we watch from the parking lot, hubby and I each got to experience what it felt like to be a passenger in the demonstration! I did take video during my ride, but the video view from the inside is just too bumpy to make it watchable. (Though I am happy to report that my involuntary verbal outburst was surprisingly of the G-rated variety.)
Next came test drive time for us. Hubby and I decided to stick to the Chevy course, since our babysitting hours were close to winding down, where we got in the driver's seat and passenger seat, respectively, in these beautiful vehicles:
The Volt was certainly interesting- technology just keeps getting better, and for folks whose lifestyle can fit this type of electric vehicle, the advantages are incredible. Hubby liked driving the Traverse, saying lots of driver-kinds-of-comments about the smoothness of the ride or the pickup or something like that. I enjoyed sitting in the passenger seat, which was comfortable. For our own personal vehicular needs, unfortunately, a car just isn't going to do it, and even the largest of the crossovers, the Traverse, wouldn't suffice for space and utility. With the kids' car seats and the need for regular use of the third row, we truly are a minivan needing family of five. My personal hopes are that General Motors will one day jump back into the minivan market, taking tips from the other foreign companies that are dominating that portion of the industry today, as well as incorporating some of its own cutting edge technologies in the safety and fuel efficiency areas.
Overall, I left the event feeling impressed with and quite proud of General Motors' outreach to consumers. It takes a good amount of confidence in one's product to bring out your vehicles and those of your competitors and just let the consumers make up their minds. While we didn't drive any of the other company's vehicles due to our limited time, over at the Chevy course, we could have done a direct comparison of the models we did drive to the Ford Explorer, Ford Taurus, Honda Accord, Honda Civic, Honda Pilot, Hyundai Elantra, Nissan Maxima, Toyota Camry, Toyota Corolla, and the Toyota RAV4. Imagine if we had been in the market for a car or crossover? What an opportunity.
Main Street in Motion:
- No cost.
- No salespeople whatsoever. None.
- Product Specialists on hand to answer questions.
- Twelve more stops across the U.S. through the end of the year- NY, PA, MA, NJ, CA, TX, FL, MO, IL, MN, WA, and GA.
- Test driving opportunities of "performance cars" like the Camaro and Corvette. Oh! Did I forget to mention that?
Hubby behind the wheel of a Corvette (even though it was yellow, I still had Prince blaring in my head)
Hubby drooling over a Camaro
While I never thought I'd be blogging about cars, I am thrilled to have been invited to be part of a media event at Main Street in Motion. Especially knowing that my own father spent over thirty years of his career tirelessly working for this company, in one of the oft-celebrated American jobs politicians like to talk about, I'm happy to spread the word about this incredible event. If you're looking to purchase a new vehicle, regardless of any previous notions of GM, I'd highly recommend the event simply for its usefulness-- where else are you going to find 70 different vehicles all in one place just waiting for you to test drive them?
And honestly, it's worth it just for the sight of the smiling Camaros all lined up. I truly hope this is a fixture of all the events.
**Disclosure: I was invited to attend a Media Overview of Main Street in Motion, where we were treated to a buffet lunch and a special guided tour, as well as the opportunity to jump any lines for test driving, which Hubby did in fact take advantage of just once. (Can you guess??) All opinions (and photos!) are genuinely my own.
Feeling proud of this American company,
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