This is so funny...

http://jalopnik.com/5814455/japanese-dudes-love-american-trucks

Americans always say they want a Japanese car, but all Japanese want are big ol' American trucks!! Funny how it works out that way.... We each make our cars fit for our terrain, so you can see what happens here...

GM is getting into gear!

Ok, so it is no secret that I genuinely like General Motors. Even if I wasn't currently employed by a subsidiary of the company, I would be rooting for them. I like cheering for the underdog, and right now, GM's a bit of an underdog.

Granted, I will be the first person to say they did it to themselves - absolutely they did. But now they have bridges to mend and work to do. And what do you know - they're actually doing it! In the past year and a half, America has seen more improvement from GM than they had a decade before that, and there's only more great things on the horizon. Here's some taste of what's happened and what's to come:

-First, since ditching the Cobalt and re-doing the Malibu, Chevrolet is saying goodbye to the last of their blander vehicles, the Aveo. The Korean-made Aveo seemed to have been rushed onto the American market in the mid-00's to compete with the small city cars that had become popular during the beginning of the gas crisis. Basically, it seemed to be there just to give Chevy a car that was tiny and fuel efficient. It was a good little car at times, but it was a supremely boring one. Now, they are replacing it with the well-conceived, American-made Chevrolet Sonic. This car is meant to be for the Aveo what the Cruze was to the Cobalt last year - a completely revitalized entry into its segment, instead of a mere nameplate change. Like the Aveo, the Sonic will have a hatchback and sedan edition, and like the Cruze, the inside will be completely overhauled to include a state-of-the-art console in every vehicle. You can see a photo of the Sonic at the top of this post.

-Second, they have redesigned the Malibu for 2013. Besides the fact that it looks great, there are two other positive things worth mentioning: GM is trying to create a lot of hype for this release, and they did it without changing the name. Okay, I am going to be honest - and let me stress that this is just my opinion, not that of any one else or the dealership - I did not care for the Chevy Malibu from 97-07. I thought it was lackluster at best. Then the 08 came around. It completely change my mind, and I think it did the same for a lot of people. The advantage of keeping the Malibu name is that it is an established product - good or bad, people know the name. I think that 9 times out of 10 people will choose an established name product over something they've never heard of, because at least the establish product has been tested and there are other buyers out there, for better or for worse. Once Chevy has got the Sonic and Cruze well established, I'm hoping that they don't go anywhere near those names for many years to come.

-Thirdly, GM seems to be hitting their stride with their other brands. Cadillac, Buick, and GMC are all running smoothly. Cadillac is veering towards more performance cars, while Buick is taking up the Caddy's previous market of comfortable luxury boat-cars. (I happen to drive one of those older Cadillac boats, and I must say I am glad GM has kept this style going with Buick; I'd be sad to see it go.)

And finally, if I may, a personal wish list: please redesign the Impala as a urban-themed city sedan, like Ford's Taurus. Impala is begging for a makeover, and I think the ticket to increasing sales is capturing young urban professionals. Right now it's sized as a family vehicle, and Chevy has two of those already in the sedan category, in addition to their extensive line of family CUVs and SUVs.

I'll probably have another post on the Impala issue sometime soon, but I'm signing off for today!

VIDEOS, VIDEOS, VIDEOS!!

For the past few weeks, we have been working on our next big project - YouTube videos for every single one of our used vehicles!!

Now, plenty of dealers like to brag that they have videos, but what they have are mere slideshow presentations of still photos. We have actually taken a Flip camera to each and every piece of machinery on our lot and filmed them to show you, the customer, a virtual walkaround. Some times still photos can disguise the little dents and scratches on a car, but as many Hollywood actresses can tell you, you can't hide anything from a film camera! Additionally, providing a full fledged video for our customers lets the cars and trucks out there really sing and show off their good qualities.

So next time you are interested in a vehicle at Payne Chevrolet, go check out our YouTube channel here. Or shoot me an email at kh@paynechevrolet.com and I'll send you one personally!

At the channel, you can also find customer testimonials, employee interviews, and more. We are very excited about this new development, and we would love your feedback, so comment, Facebook us, whatever you want to do to let us know how these are looking.