GM has one of the largest advertising budgets on the planet.  When your cars are crappier than the competition in quality, appearance, reliability, and brand image, there is only one thing left for them to do to sell cars.  Push the MPGs.  While the news I’m about to share with you generally received a warm reception from the press and blogs, I can only see a marketing gimmick.

Lead by Chevrolet, GM is launching a new product line called XFE.  XFE stands for eXtra Fuel Efficiency (clever) and its an all encompassing approach to increase the fuel economy of their cars.  Depending on the vehicle, GM has updated the transmission, altered aerodynamics, tweaked the engine, and changed to low rolling resistance tires.  The net effect is an increase of 7%-20% in fuel efficiency, with SUVs on the lower end and small cars on the upper.

A round of applause does go to the epically failing car manufacturer for offering these new models.  There are a few things that bother me though.  First of all is the low rolling resistance tires.  Putting aside the fact that they are generally louder on the road, low rolling resistance means low resistance while going and stopping.  So it does require less gas to keep the car going at speed, it requires more braking to stop.  Not only does this mean you might burn through your breaks faster, but your stopping distances will increase as well.  I’d like my car to stop better and get better mileage, please skip on the tires GM.

Also, the fuel sippers of the XFE range are in the small cars, like the Chevy Cobalt.  A normally fine machine, the XFE can only be had with the stick shift in this car.  I can drive a stick with a gun to my head, but most people don’t know how and don’t want to learn.  Sticks are fun, but when you commute through the city and park on a hill, sticks are not fun.

The final note of annoyance, is the fact that XFE will only be available in limited quantities.  Not every Cobalt with a 5-speed has XFE, so certain options like a sunroof might keep me from getting the XFE.  When was the last time you even saw a non-sporting car with a stick?  They are out there, but oh so rare.  Less than 5% of my 2008 Accord is sold with a stick.  On the optimistic level Chevrolet and GM might have 20% sticks.  But again only a portion of that will be XFE.  Finally, sticks are going away for the sedan version next year which means XFE Cobalts will only be in coupe form.

This leaves me with the real reason GM did this in the first place.  Marketing.  Even though the Cobalt’s city mileage is still not better than the competition, they got the competition beat on the highway.  This means GM commercials now get to say their mileage is better, convincing Joe Average America ALL the Cobalts on the lot are more efficient.  So Joe runs down to the dealership, but finds he wants an Automatic coupe.  Since the commercial doesn’t state which transmission and option choices offer the fuel efficient model (and he doesn’t look at the window sticker), he ends up with an automatic and the luxurious feature of cruise control.  Cruise control is not available with XFE.  So what kind of mileage will Joe get with his automatic?  22 city/31highway (XFE would be 25/36).  That mileage is terrible.  Why?  Because with my Accord which has 1/3 MORE power and weighs 500 lbs more will get 32 in mixed city and highway driving (full disclosure EPA Highway is 31).  Oh, what’s the mileage of an automatic Civic with cruise control? 25/36.

Its a total marketing ploy that unfortunately will work.  GM you suck, but damnit it will work; because hey, this is America.

Autoblog
And Jalopnik

By The Weakonomist

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