GM Starts Effort To Rebuild Reputation Of Chevy Volt

DETROIT (WWJ) - One day after GM's CEO defended the Chevy Volt in front of a congressional committee, the company is in the midst of a major promotional campaign to portray the Volt is one of the most technically advanced vehicles in the world, designed and built in America.

General Motors has begun running a TV commercial, entitled "Morning in Hamtramk" that shows an assembly line running through small town USA. It refers to the Volt as the vehicle "America Had to Build."

That follows up on full page newspaper ads that GM has run that call the Volt a "technological moon shot" and "the most significant step in U.S. history."

"The opportunity for is is to really get in and totally reveal the transparency of what really happened, where the car is, and why I think it's really the most technically advanced car on the planet," said GM North America President Mark Reuss.

Coincidentally, Reuss is in Washington DC, to speak to that city's auto show, where he can carry his message to lawmakers and regulators.

The Volt was given a clean bill of health last week by government safety investigators. But, GM CEO Dan Akerson says the publicity given to a fire following a June crash test has done "collateral damage" to the Volt's reputation.

The Volt has also become a symbol of the government assistance given to General Motors, with many opponents of that assistance portraying it as a vehicle forced upon the company by an administration interested in pushing electric car technology.

"It's really become a symbol for more than just electric vehicles," says Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of Edmunds.com. "I mean, the Leaf doesn't rile people up like the Volt does."

General Motors began development of the Volt in 2006, more than three years before the company filed for bankruptcy. A concept version was shown at the 2007 North American International Auto Show, with the final production version unveiled by then-CEO Rick Wagoner at the company's September 2008 centennial celebration.

General Motors recently backed off on sales projections of the Volt, saying the plan now is to meet market demand.

Reuss admits that rebuilding the Volt reputation will not be easy.

"I don't have any silver bullets for what we do with the Volt, in terms of public perception. It's going to be a lot of tough work."