When the Insignia, a new car from the General Motors brands Opel and Vauxhall, is introduced this week at the London Motor Show, it will come, fittingly, with some new insignias.
Opel, General Motors' biggest-selling division in continental Europe, and Vauxhall, its equivalent in Britain, are getting new logos as the company aims to "send a message that something is happening with these brands," said Alain Visser, chief marketing officer at GM Europe.
The new Vauxhall badge shows the brand's longtime mascot, a griffin, in a bigger, bolder way, zooming in on his upper body. The mythical beast, which joins the head and wings of an eagle to the body of a lion, also appears more three-dimensional; previous versions of the griffin were flat.
The Opel logo, a stylized lightning bolt, also gets more depth in the redesign, though the general shape is unchanged.
In giving Opel and Vauxhall an updated look, General Motors joins a series of other automakers, including Volvo, Fiat, Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz, that have recently refreshed or redesigned their logos, seeking an edge in a difficult market.
Can a new logo really make a difference?
"Many of these manufacturers slightly erroneously think that if they sharpen up their logos, it will sharpen up their designs, too," said Giles Chapman, an automotive writer based in London who is the author of a book on the subject, "Car Badges." The book is called "Car Emblems" in the United States.
But Visser said there was more to it than that. The overhaul of Opel and Vauxhall includes a series of new or redesigned vehicles, culminating in the Insignia, a midsize car. By giving the logos a more modern look, he said, GM intends to underline Opel and Vauxhall's recent emphasis on technology.
"A changed logo should be a symbol that something more fundamental has changed," he said. "There has to be substance behind it."
For Fiat, at least, the switch to a new logo has coincided with an upturn in the Italian carmaker's fortunes. A little more than a year ago, Fiat ditched a blue, circular emblem, replacing it with a red, shield-shaped design, featuring the Fiat name in tall, elongated letters.
Giorgio Brenna, chief executive of the Western European operations of Leo Burnett, an advertising agency that works with Fiat, said the change reflected an effort by the company to reconnect with Italian consumers put off by its association with the exploits of the longtime controlling family, the Agnellis.
The new design harks back to a previous logo that appeared on the company's cars from the 1930s through the late 1960s. Its most prominent use has been on a new version of the Fiat 500, the Italian people's car of the 1950s, '60s and '70s - a time when, Brenna said, there was more of a community spirit in Italy.
In trying to get closer to consumers as it was putting the finishing touches on the new 500, Fiat set up a Web site where it allowed people to contribute ideas on the design of the car.
"The new Fiat is a human brand, not just a financial holding company," Brenna said. "The logo itself is a summary of all these characteristics."
Automakers move more cautiously when their logos have become instantly recognizable icons of upmarket consumerism, as they have at the German car brands BMW, Audi, and Mercedes.
Mercedes has been quietly phasing in a new logo in its marketing material - a two-dimensional version of its three-pointed star, replacing a shaded, 3-D design. But the shaped version of the star is still being used on Mercedes cars.
General Motors, by contrast, is trying to attract attention to the changes in the Opel and Vauxhall logos. The company is spending "well over £5 million," or $10 million, just to replace the signs at British Vauxhall dealers, said Andy Gilson, Vauxhall's marketing director.
"Does a new logo make a difference? On its own, no," he said. "It's got to be part of a wider process."
IHT - Eric Pfanner - Published: July 18, 2008
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