Ford hope to sway import friendly buyers

[rickaren]

Battling for California: GM, Ford hope to sway import friendly buyers

Posted on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at 1:14 PM EST. (Employee News)

General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. arrive at today’s Los Angeles Auto Show with a lineup of new fuel-efficient vehicles in hopes of impressing Californians, who might determine whether the future models succeed or fail, the Detroit Free Press reported.

California—America’s No. 1 new car market—also is regarded as a trendsetting state, but consumers there have long preferred foreign brands, the paper said. To turn that trend around, GM has this week been promoting the electric-drive Chevrolet Volt, which is still a year away from production, and it plans to debut the U.S. production version of the Chevrolet Cruze compact car during the auto show that kicks off today, the Free Press said. Meanwhile, Ford is showing a more powerful, fuel-efficient Mustang muscle car and the U.S. version of the Fiesta subcompact car, the story said.

“They have to do well” in California “if they’re going to do well in the U.S. overall,” Aaron Bragman, an industry analyst with IHS Global Insight, told the paper. “It’s basically taking the fight to the imports—which really is what’s out there.” (Detroit Free Press)