auto_editor

Every now and then I get hooked on an idea for a feature/article that I can't let go but can't really "research" either.

But (hopefully) I can get the latest one figgered out with your assistance (as you're the most qualified group I know):

Why was the Aurora seemingly allergic to Oldsmobile badging?

Not only was there no "Oldsmobile", but they even deleted their then-new "speared-oval". In fact, they even went to far as to create a "wiggly A" logo for the engine cover!

Wikipedia says "As a symbol of its clean break from other cars in the lineup, the Aurora bore no Oldsmobile badging or script save for the radio/CD/cassette deck and engine cover."

[Wikipedia dropped the ball on that last one, BTW. Their own photo of the 4.0-liter engine clearly shows the A and NOT an Olds logo. ]



How did they expect to sell these cars? If you saw one, and really liked it, you'd have no idea who made it (and therefore to which dealership you should go to get your own).

I just can't get my head around it. So, here's your chance to be a real, live "expert source" for a real, live journalist (for whatever that's worth).

I'm counting on you... don't fail me now!

aliensatemybuick

Same deal with my 1998 Intrigue...only said "Oldsmobile" on the radio.

QMaster

They left the Oldsmobile name and symbol off because the brand management marketing geniuses hired from Proctor & Gamble, and most of the business media insisted that Oldsmobile's problem was that people associated the name Oldsmobile with old people. That is also why the cars had no name ties to Olds history. The marketing folks could not get their heads around the need for good product, mostly because their big egos had them believing that they could sell anything with effective marketing. Turns out that they were wrong.
They should have called the Aurora "Toronado" or "98", and offered it with "W" coded options packages, at the same time resurrecting Olds' history and performance heritage. They probably would have sold more cars and Olds might still be around. The Intrigue should have been the "Cutlass".

Diego

I've had the impression that the P&G folks and the "Oldsmobile is for old people" thing were two different things from two different eras (so to speak) of GM. :twocents:

Oldsmobile was trying to shed their stale image, and calling the Aurora "Toronado" would have been a mistake in my opinion.

GAOldsman

This was probably sent to everyone interested in buying the Aurora in '98 Anywho it's interesting to me and signed by Darwin Clark Oldsmobile's GM at the time

1969w3155

The downside to that, is if yoy saw one on the road, and liked it, how would you know where to buy one? I have been into AutoWeek and other car mags for decades, so I would have read about it, and known about it, but how would the average consumer know? I always thought that it was dumb, if not insulting to leave the name off of the car.

72 cutlass455

When I was a young kid I thought Oldsmobile's were for African Americans all I seen was the ads from the coach and how well they built them a the luxury of the cars.

lazy394

seems about the same time Toyota did Lexus and Mazda did Eunos etc.
Toyota was the only one that pulled it off.

My 2 bobs worth

QMaster

Thinking about it, I believe that Diego is correct. I think that the P&G brand management debacle came after Olds tried to shed it's stale image. But I do not believe that forgetting all of your heritage and history, and not branding your product without your brand is an effective way to ressurect the brand. i believe that this was a mistake. The Oldsmobile they wanted to forget was the Olds of the late 80's /early 90's if I remember correctly. Back when they insisted on slapping the Cutlass name on everything, and the Toronado was downsized to ridiculous proportions.
Without a doubt, they damaged the brand and model names with some poor product and marketing. Whether or not Toronado and Cutlass as models could be saved is debatable, but not having the Olds name on the Aurora was not an effective way to resurect the brand. All water under the bridge now...

slantflat

I saw an Aurora pre-production car at the Chicago Auto Show, oh whenever it was first introduced to the public. Kind of a dark cinnamin brown if I recall, and if you looked closely between the tail lights, you could see the Rocket symbol under a coat of gloss black paint.

Lady72nRob71

In small relation to this, my Caddy has NO Cadillac name badge anywhere outside. Just a logo on the front and back (which is obsure). I have had several people ask me what it was.
I get the feel that GM thought that their high level cars should be recognised by only appearance and a logo. Whatever...

MDchanic

Well Mercedes has nothing but "Daimler-Benz" on the "Check-Mark" sticker in the corner of the windshield, Volkswagen doesn't say it anywhere that I know of, and BMW only says "BMW" within the logo.

I think they're trying to look German.
Trouble is, that just points up exactly how German they aren't.

Kinda like white kids walking down the street in baggy pants with neck chains and their baseball caps on sideways

- Eric

TripDeuces

If you read the small print under the Aurora name it says "Made Exclusively For Oldsmobile By General Motors"

auto_editor

The Aurora stepped onto the world stage as the Indy 500 pace car for 1997 with no Olds badging in sight...





But then in 2001 they stopped treating it like a bastard stepchild and the Olds name and logo were emblazoned across the whole hood!





What changed? Why did Olds decide to boldly label the pace car and yet continue to NOT label the ones they were selling to the public?

[And how ironic is the 1997 image of the badgeless car posed in front of iconic Olds pacers of yore? Was that an attempt at adding "Oldsmobile-ness" subconsciously?]

What a waste. Being the provider of pace cars is VERY expensive, with costs that make Superbowl commercial prices look like pocket change. I can see using brand "minimalism" on an iconic vehicle like the Corvette, but NOT mass-marked car like these.

So what number coffin nails were these?...

Randy T.

That is referring to the engine, not the car.

Randy T.

Original poster. It's a simple explanation, the car is not an Oldsmobile Aurora, it is an Aurora by Oldsmobile. It does say Oldsmobile on the radio.

I can also tell you at the 100 year Oldsmobile mark, the early '97 Auroras have a little Oldsmobile emblem below the Aurora name on the rear panel. I have one of these panels.

five711.jpg

wmachine

John is essentially correct. This was also the era the *all* of the automakers were afraid to look different so the cars, logos, etc. all looked alike for the most part. But Oldsmobile suffered from horrendous marketing that resulted from GM's ineptness (and ultimate plan to phase out Olds) and the injection of divisional marketing that was generic consumer marketing that had no idea of the automobile market. John Rock was the last semblance of any true leadership that Olds had, and he found out he was pretty much emasculated by GM. Shedding their image has been one of the biggest mistakes that GM has and continues to make.

Rocketowner

I am and always have been a huge Oldsmobile fan but they made several terrible decisions ,such as putting Chevrolet engines in Delta and other Oldsmobiles without knowledge to loyal customers, that placed confidence in Oldsmobile for building a superior product,and not informing the public at all before making this move!That could be compared to buying a Lincoln and finding out later that it had a Pinto engine. Huge mistake! (Name Shame) Larry

Octania

Oldsmobile was trying to shed their stale image
============

Good idea, look how that killed Mopar when they brought back that stupid "Hemi" name. Outmoded stale outdated crap. Oh, wait, they sold millions of them.

God forbid they educate people on the Olds name, history, etc. Recall and introduce to newcomers the concept of a 442 and what that meas.... back when it meant something.

But, I am not an educated brand manager.

Hemi.

Still milking that cow.

popeye1978

The most-successful companies are not necessarily the best run, just the least-poorly run

I wonder if any instructors of business leadership and/or marketing ever use the story of Oldsmobile as a case study

- Denys