2007 Chevrolet Kalos SE from UK and Ireland - Comments

The discussion was about brand equity.

If you care to read the above comment you will note that putting all models to one side, the Chevrolet brand is held in higher esteem by the UK public than others such as Hyundai/Kia etc.

Q.e.d.

After 76 comments, I think I will agree to disagree.

Most of the people who look at this thread will own a Kalos or otherwise be a Chevrolet fan and therefore will be biased anyway. I would have been interested if you posted the same question to other brand owners about Chevrolet brand equity in the UK and had a balanced response from them.

Like I have said numerous times, Chevrolet have poor brand equity in the UK due to their awful model range to date. Some people remember the "proper" old Chevys of old (not Daewoos) and do not know about the range of the last few years.

Again, I will say that their image may improve when they launch better UK models like the Beat and Cruze, which may compete with the class best - we will have to wait and see.

Surely you cannot state that the Matiz, Kalos, Lacetti, Tacuma etc give better brand equity than the Cee'd or I30? Maybe five years ago before the others (like Skoda) improved, or in the future with better models, but currently, no way!!

I will agree to disagree, but would welcome a balanced response from anyone who is knowledgeable the current range of the brands in question and has no ownership bias.

Why would Chevrolet put 'plus it's a chevy' in their adverts... Surely that can't be a good thing?

Maybe Hyundai and Kia do have more stigma attached, but it's probably only because the UK market has actually heard of these makes of car, and thought Chevy meant Chrysler or something, LOL.

I think what you fail to understand is that a manufacturers brand equity is not solely based on its current range, but is built around a multitude of factors.

If you believe that the Ceed and I30 have now suddenly raised the Kia/Hyundai brand equity above mainstream manufacturers such as Vauxhall, Ford, Chevy, Nissan etc than you are undoubtedly wrong.

As the previous commenter stated, Hyundai/Kia have stigma attached; as the magazine article explained, UK buyers are brand sensitive and unless they are elderly, do not wish to be seen in Hyundai/Kia. This was precisely the point that was made some 2 months ago.

Incidentally the reason they put the "plus it's a Chevrolet" or "Chevrolet... it's a real plus" is simply a play on words, due to the fact the Chevrolet emblem is shaped as a plus +

Well, we'll agree to disagree - it's hard to believe anyone could be persuaded into perceiving a car brand's equity by much other than the models they sell, unless they believe any old advertising thrown at them.

I30 or Lacetti?

Cee'd or Lacetti?

Fabia or Kalos?

I10 or Matiz?

Lame donkey or Tacuma?

I know where I see Chevrolet - at the bottom of the pile!

Anyway, we'll never convince each other, so have fun!

And I know where I see Hyundai/Kia/Proton...all at the bottom of the pile - an embarrassment to be seen in.

Keep comparing old daewoo models to new Kia/Hyundai models if it makes you feel better, in that way you can continue to convince yourself about the brand equity of the Kia/Hyundai group.

And keep shopping at Lidl - it's quite in keeping with the hyundai/kia image.

Are you being serious? The fact is that most of the current Chevrolet models ARE rebadged old Daewoos:- the Daewoo Matiz is now the Chevrolet Matiz, the Daewoo Tacuma is now the Chevrolet Tacuma, The Daewoo Kalos was renamed the Chevrolet Kalos then facelifted as the Aveo. How can you possibly argue against the facts?!

Without stating the obvious, were you aware of this or the fact that in the last few years the other brands mentioned have pulled their socks up released some cars well reported to be excellent, hence all the comments?

I really do not care at all about Hyundai/Kia/Skoda brand equity- I drive none of those brands and as I said without ownership bias, I will assess the new Chevrolet range (which will replace the current old Daewoo range) fairly as and when it arrives in the UK.

Must go, off to Lidls now.

As previously stated, I said I would fairly assess the newer Chevrolet range after my harsh comments about the Kalos and the other current UK models, which are mainly old Daewoo models.

I am currently in Poland and have visited the Chevrolet dealership which is selling the Cruze now, ahead of the UK launch, with the base car at 49,990 PLN and the high spec car I looked at was 63,000 PLN. Dividing this by 5 gives approx UK prices of 10-12,000ish GBP as list price if the prices reflect the Polish prices.

My first impressions of the car were very good with the car being fresh and stylish with some nice detailing and visible GM parts used. The interior was equally good with nice trim, quality dash and instruments and a general Opel feel to it. Apart from a loose bootlid interior trim piece and the lack of top coat lacquer around the boot and bonnet visible rain channels, I found it hard to fault the new Cruze at this price, but did not get chance to drive it.

I have been very impressed by how Skoda has gone from being a joke brand to a respected player in the UK with very high customer review ratings across the board. They did this by using proven VW/Audi parts under a budget name to produce some fine cars at reasonable prices. If the Cruze is the start of Chevrolet using some good GM technology under their own budget name and producing good cars at a sensible price, they will rightly do well and earn respect. Shame about the awful gold badges, though.

The future could be bright if the Cruze is as good as it appears and gets good NCAP ratings. It certainly looks good inside and out and shows a definite move away from the poor range Chevrolet currently offers. The GM tech should make it reliable, but let me see the NCAP tests before making judgement!

I bought a Chevrolet Kalos 3 month ago and I am very much satisfied with its fuel consumption and road grip.

Further to 20th April 13:09.

I have noted with interest the five star NCAP rating the Cruze has achieved, which is a great result, bearing in mind their previous abysmal one star rating for the Aveo.

As said before the Cruze appeared leagues ahead of the existing model range at the time, and this does go to show that Chevrolet have upped their game much like Kia did with the Ceed, Hyundai with the I30 and Skoda did with the Fabia and Octavia.

I can now take the Cruze as a serious contender, due to it being part of a new range which is leaving behind the horrors of the Kalos/Aveo, Tacuma etc etc.

Great result and worthy of praise. I await the new Spark and Volt to see whether Cheverolet can build a range with a class contender at each price point.

Yes the Chevrolet Cruze wiped the floor with the offerings from Hyundai and Kia.

It seems that your safety concerns regarding GMDaewoo are somewhat unfounded.

In fact, correct me if I'm wrong, but I hear the 96% rating achieved by GMDaewoo/Chevrolet is the highest ever awarded by euroncap for a passenger vehicle.

It's no surprise Chevrolet UK are inundated with orders for the Chevrolet Cruze and backed up until early spring.

Although I changed over to a new BMW 3 series, I would still far rather have a Chevrolet Cruze than any Kia/Hyundai offering.

(In fact once my 3 year warranty is up on my BMW, I may well return to Chevrolet for service as I don't much care for the "attitude" of the BMW reps)

Incidentally time to get some facts straight.. the hatchback Chevrolet Kalos/Aveo achieved a 3 star rating with Euroncap.

The Chevrolet Aveo saloon achieved a 2 star rating with one star struck through. (At least Chevrolet had the common sense not to release this car in the UK)

The Hyundai Accent (definitely available in the UK) achieved a 1 star rating by your terms of definition.

Just as Skoda, Hyundai, Kia and others were abysmal years ago, they improved greatly recently - first Skoda, then Kia, then Hyundai, now Chevrolet.

At the time of the original thread posting in 2007, Chevrolet were generally very poor and Skoda, Kia etc were LEAGUES ahead. Chevrolet is now chasing this lead and have now got a serious contender with the Cruze and will likely improve their range further with the Spark and in time, the Volt.

I don't believe in blind brand loyalty, hence my effort to post the recent objective positive comment about the new Chevrolet on this thread after their much improved result.

You adore Chevrolet and hate Kia etc, but who cares - be objective and get over it!