Automotive News
By Laura Clark Geist
May 26, 2008
Although the Acadia crossover is helping GMC attract female buyers, the truck brand's overall progress at building its female customer base appears to have stalled.
The GMC Acadia went on sale at the end of 2006. CNW Marketing Research estimates that 53 percent of principal drivers of the Acadia are women, compared with 40 percent for crossovers generally.
Said Acadia marketing manager Hugh Milne: "We're clearly getting there with the females with Acadia."
Of all vehicles GMC sold last year, CNW says, women were principal drivers of 44 percent, up from 43 percent in 2006 and 37 percent in 2005.
Through April, GMC's U.S. sales were down 10.8 percent from the first four months of 2007, at 131,058 units.
GMC dealers say they hope the Acadia will cause more women to look favorably on the brand.
"Women don't want to be the minivan mom anymore," says Phil Parker, sales manager of Village Pontiac-GMC in suburban Chicago.
"The Acadia gives them something upscale and stylish, while giving them what they need to do day to day."
Parker says about 70 percent of his dealership's Acadia sales are to women. Some trade in import vehicles for the crossover, he says.
Milne said GMC cut back on TV advertising of the Acadia last year after demand exceeded production capacity. Instead, he said, GMC promoted the Acadia in magazines and on Web sites and TV shows that attract large female audiences.
This year, the "Ellen" talk show featured four women driving an Acadia from New Orleans to Los Angeles. Host Ellen DeGeneres also did an infomercial for the Acadia on her show, Milne said.
Making GMC more appealing to women prepares the brand for other family-oriented vehicles, Milne told Automotive News.
"There's going to be additional crossovers added to the portfolio," Milne said. "They are going to appeal to women and family buyers."
GMC is expected to introduce a crossover smaller than the Acadia by 2011.
Andrea Hoffman, a marketing consultant and former Mercedes-Benz USA executive, says GMC should focus on getting women into its dealerships through test drives and other events.
"Word-of-mouth referral is three times as likely for a woman as a man," Hoffman says. "Women talk more — that's just how we are."
