CN Confidential: snakes on a car

Snakes see orange over AMG, Holden dealers spill the beans on an Opel-coloured future and the TAC takes its propoganda to tacky new heights in rural Victoria...

Whether it's from the www, the latest motor show or the back doors of a carmaker near you, Carsales Network Confidential features the good oil other sources either won't publish, don't care about or don't know. Heard an automotive rumour or new model tip? Then let us know - editor@carpoint.com.au

Serpent seduced by 'Jaffa'
It's not every day that you get to witness a snake and a bright orange C 63 Mercedes simultaneously in the wilds of Melbourne.

The two came together at the Midsumma Festival, a lifestyle event held in Birrarung Marr on the Yarra River to celebrate queer culture. Mercedes-Benz had on display 'Jaffa', the orange C 63 Mercedes AMG that was originally unveiled at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney three months back.

Apparently one of the visitors to the Festival brought along a pet snake, which was attracted to the high-performance AMG model. The owner of the snake explained to David McCarthy, Senior Manager Corporate Communications for the prestige importer, that snakes can't see all colours, but orange is one they can see.

McCarthy tells us that a lot of human visitors to the festival objects were drawn to both the reptile and the car -- as the pics show. Benz was there supporting Sircuit Bar in an official sponsorship agreement and McCarthy estimates that "there were at least a thousand people" who checked out the C 63 during the day he was there.

"The sales people ran out of business cards," he told the Carsales Network. The arrival of the snake led to the attendees twittering away to their hearts' delight. McCarthy believes it was a remarkable turn of events that helped promote the brand strongly on the day.

"It was just extraordinary," he said.

In McCarthy's view, car companies are missing out on sales because they don't tailor their marketing to address interest in the automotive industry from the gay and lesbian community.

"There's an assumption," he said, "that gay people are not interested in cars..."

The lustre of Opel
Since the announcement that German GM brand Opel would launch in Australia, there's been plenty of discussion -- but not among Holden dealers and their employees it seems. The word is that Holden has clamped down on its staff discussing the subject of Opel with the media.

That hasn't stopped the media drawing their own conclusions independently of course. There are plenty of opinions among the country's motoring press, so let's offer a few examples to illustrate how Opel's introduction here might pan out.

The first is Volkswagen, which Opel aims to rival with a product range upmarket of Holden's Korean-built imported models. VW has been marketing its range aggressively and is the tenth most popular brand in Australia. It's about 2500 vehicles away from moving up into eighth place -- and with the Amarok joining the range this year (in fact the local launch is next month), Volkswagen's almost a certainty to overtake a couple of Japanese importers.

So if Opel markets itself along the same lines, can it be similarly successful? Some in the media don't think so. It takes a long time to establish a brand and Volkswagen's 'meteoric' rise is one of those overnight success stories 20 years in the making. The importer relaunched its passenger cars in the early 1990s after several years of selling just its commercial vehicle range here. With the rise of the Deutschmark, the volume-selling brand could no longer compete with upcoming Japanese brands throughout the 1980s.

Volkswagen's example could give hope to Opel and its local staff, but it will take Opel a number of years to establish itself here and it won't be able to draw on its long-standing connection with Holden, for obvious reasons.

Renault is a contrary example of just how hard it can be to establish even a well-known name in the country -- and Opel is not 'well-known' other than within the circles of very well informed punters.

With the imminent reintroduction of the Saab brand to Australia, the Swedes are hoping that they can revitalise the brand name with new product, including the company's first SUV, the 9-4X. Opel will likely watch Saab's progress very attentively.

But you know the brand that is possibly the best pointer for whether Opel will succeed? Isuzu Ute...

The manufacturer of the D-MAX and its local import arm arrived here two years ago, during the depths of the GFC, with a fairly conservative sales forecast and nothing in the way of new product. Yet the company has seen slow but steady growth in sales since its local launch. The importer is basically marketing a vehicle that shares its looks and mechanicals with Holden's original RA model Rodeo and most of the underpinnings are found in Holden's Colorado also -- the two vehicles are even built in Thailand by the same company. Isuzu Ute is selling the D-MAX in numbers above the original sales forecast and is proving that a former supplier to Holden can do well on its lonesome.

Perhaps Opel could take a lead from the commercial vehicle distributor.

Despite Holden's directive to staff not to discuss the matter, someone who works in sales at a Holden dealership knows someone else working for the Carsales Network and did agree to provide his anonymous opinion as to how the local launch of the Opel brand might affect Holden in Australia:

Opel cars coming here may not impact too much on sales we think, as the Opel brand will target a more luxury premium market I would say. Holden in Australia targets mainstream buyers... although those buyers want quality vehicles and are also price-conscious and focused.

On hearing Opel was coming I initially thought [there would be] perhaps more opportunities to sell if there were to be joint franchises possible. Colleagues have similar thoughts.

Having stopped the Opel Astra/Vectra [we haven't] really noticed a drop in sales as such -- as they have been replaced by the  very popular Korean-built Cruze, which is still selling strongly. Also the Barina and the Captiva are also proving very popular.

Repeat business [from Astra/Vectra owners] is hard to define definitely, but we are seeing owners who have a Barina still trading into the new Barina -- and similarly [there are] the Astra owners trading into a new Cruze.

Not sure that the introduction of Opel will impact greatly with repeat business as we think that price-focused buyers will see the benefits of the Holden brand when comparing to the Opel. Holden's strong branding in Australia will hold it in good stead regardless of the Opel launch.

And when you really think about it they are both GM brands. Upside could be the opportunity to consolidate GM branding with perhaps joint franchises.

Confused signals sent by road safety stunt?
The township of Speed, in Victoria's Mallee region is a willing partner in the latest promotional campaign by the state's principal road safety body, the Transport Accident Commission (TAC).

In a press release issued a week ago, the TAC announced that it and the small municipality have jointly established a Facebook page, 'Rename Speed', exhorting visitors to the page to click on the 'like' button to register their support. Once the site records 10,000 'likes', the town will change its name from Speed to 'SpeedKills'. In exchange the TAC will donate $10,000 to the local Lions Club.

This week, one of the Melbourne daily papers also published a story concerning one of the town's residents, a certain Phil Down, who was reportedly planning to change his name to 'Phil Slow Down' in sympathy with the road safety message.

Where does one start with this sort of bandwagon campaign? It's almost admirable in itself because it donates to a worthy charity. It gains the attention of media readership well beyond the borders of the township itself, not least of all through the avenue of social media. And by relying on an old established catchphrase ('Speed Kills') the campaign has immediate recognition and penetration within the wider community.

There are many positive elements in the campaign -- if you're a marketing or PR professional.

But...

The TAC is buying the collaboration of the community through a donation that would be hard for any charity to knock back. In other circumstances that's called payola.

There's no reason to think that the campaign is likely to change the behaviour of drivers most at risk either.

One might argue that any effectiveness in the decades-old catchphrase, 'Speed Kills', is possibly eroded by a campaign that seems frivolous on the face of it -- and that's presuming that you even subscribe to the view that 'Speed Kills' offers any value to the community's broader road safety strategy.

The phrase itself is deemed simplistic and fails to address all the causes of road toll fatalities. Speed can certainly be a contributing factor, but it's hardly the only factor in any given crash.

For instance, a report compiled by the Monash University Research Centre estimates that as many as 0.8 per cent of all road fatalities between 1997 and 2004 are actually suicides. 0.8 per cent doesn't sound much, but it's about 11 fatalities a year throughout the country. Each one is someone's daughter or -- more likely statistically -- someone's son. Those are the known statistics, based on crash investigation data that indicated the vehicle was under full control at the time of the impact or the pedestrian stepped out in front of a heavy commercial vehicle fully aware of his or her actions. Little is known as to whether other single-vehicle crashes or pedestrian fatalities might also be suicides. Taking one's own life by car is just one type of road-related fatality that is overlooked in the 'Speed Kills' propaganda.

Perhaps a new series of phrases might be introduced, among them 'suicide kills'. Such a slogan might illustrate to road users just how equally ridiculous is 'Speed Kills'.

And perhaps we could pass the hat around to donate to the TAC. The safety body could then change its name to TACKY.