GM Welcomes You to the Lab

Since I own 60% of General Motors I am always pleased when the automaker takes a step in the right direction to keep the public excited about the brand. Since you also own that same 60%, I would like to keep you abreast of the company’s latest web venture titled “Lab.” You can view the content at http://thelab.gmblogs.com/.

In essence, GM created this slick and hip website to open its design studios to the public and garner their opinion on projects in the works. So interested is GM in wanting you to feel an integral part of the design process that they use the tagline, “We want your opinion.”

Visitors to the site can find an array of projects by GM's advanced design team and glimpses of ideas still in process. Bio’s of many of the team members can also be found on the site. It may not be interesting to know that chocolate ice cream is a designer’s favorite flavor, but at least it humanizes the people designing your potential next new car.

Through this online community, consumers can share their input on designs and technologies being considered for future GM projects. The design team at the Lab will also float around ideas from their drafting boards. The site features a lot of YouTube videos and Flickr photos to bring the design projects to life.

The site is refreshing if only for the fact that most automakers typically take extraordinary means to hide future product designs in secrecy. Whether some of what they are showing is contrived remains to be seen, but the project is a step in the right direction.

GM needs to try to play catch up with marketing opportunities like the Lab website.

The automaker also has nothing to hide. Many consumers and industry insiders look at GM as running the hot design shop right now. Over the last few years a new wave of young designers have created the next generation Chevrolet Camaro, Buick Enclave, Chevy Malibu, Cadillac CTS Coupe and Converj and the new Buick LaCrosse, all vehicles in my mind that show exceptional creativity and style in their look.

While the GM design shop may be “hot” most folks looking to purchase an American car are heading to Ford showrooms. They’re stylish and they work. What GM’s Lab website neglects to show is how well its cars perform and hold together mechanically. Hot is good for a limited market for niche cars such as the Camaro, but they have to prove that their cars will perform well for the majority of the masses who seek a car for basic transportation.

A little more info on performance and expectations will add traction to a micro site that is thinking out of the box.