Simon Lamarre has an interesting blog on the new Volvo C30. In it he has an fascinating post (BLOG NO LONGER EXISTS) where he shows how different his interactions with the media and actual customers are in terms of their concerns and conversations. It brings up an interesting question – are cars being designed for consumers that actually purchase them or for mainstream press? Should car companies go directly to customers first? Would a car company that built cars for people by listening to blogosphere and other feedback lead to better cars and a competitive advantage for that brand?
This is certainly interesting to ponder as for me as Acura made a great car that I’ve owned for over a decade that I love and they now don’t make any models with appropriate headroom – even though they cost three times more! Based on my first experience with the Acura brand, I should have been a customer for life, but their engineers are not listening.
One more note on Volvo, as I mentioned last week they are doing so many things right at present but it’s clear that thy need to close the loop by actively listening to and acknowledging blogosphere feedback. I was surprised that they weren’t based on the other factors that I had seen in visiting the dealer.
The automobile company that figures this out will create a unique competitive advantage.