The Chevy Challenge

If you've been around for awhile, you'll remember the "Pepsi Challenge" in which blind taste tests were conducted between Pepsi and Coke. The Pepsi ads showed how pleased and surprised consumers were when they realized they liked Pepsi over Coke. It was a very effective ad campaign.

Now Chevy may be trying the same idea, according to this report from Mark Tapscott:

A Chevrolet marketing exec wants dealers to pit the 2008 Malibu against the most popular car in America, the Toyota Camry, right on their showroom floors.

Now this is the kind of aggressive marketing that can put GM and Chevrolet back in the battle for America's most popular car. Automotive News reports that Cheryl Catton, Chevrolet's director of car marketing, is encouraging dealers to put a Camry in their showrooms right next to the new Malibu.

Rick Kranz at Automotive News quoted an unnamed dealer saying Catton is encouraging dealers to do the previously unthinkable "so people can see the difference in styling, the interior, pricing and features."

I'll tell you what - first run both cars for 75,000 miles under identical real world conditions and then compare repair bills. If the test Camry is like my company car, the owner will have put on new tires and changed the oil. That's all. Will the Malibu shape up as well?