General Motors Launches 24-Hour Test Drive Program en Español.

General Motors is offering consumers in the continental United States an opportunity to learn about its vehicles through the 24-Hour Test Drive program, the first of its kind. The program invites consumers to spend an entire day or night with a GM vehicle of their choice from a designated demo vehicle pool at participating GM dealerships. Hispanic consumers are also being invited to participate through a fully integrated Spanish-language campaign.

The national Spanish-language advertising campaign, “Pruébame 24 horas,” plays on the concept of a consumer’s love affair with a new car. The commercial, which is running nationally on the main Spanish-language networks, includes various scenes of people taking GM vehicles home, and happily waking up to them in the morning, with the perception that they have decided to buy the vehicle

“We at General Motors are very excited to bring this program to Hispanic consumers. Latinos are very demanding consumers; we like the best and we would like to try before we buy, making this initiative strongly relevant to our community,” commented Sonia Maria Green, Hispanic Marketing Director. “We’ve got great products to share, and we’re convinced that consumers who experience our cars will recognize the quality, style, and safety found in GM vehicles.”

All GM divisions are included in the program, including Hummer, Saturn and Saab. The only vehicles not included are those with limited production: HUMMER H1, Cadillac XRL, Chevy SSR and Corvette.

Information on the 24-Hour Test Drive program in Spanish is also available online by visiting http://www.gm.com/pruebame, or by calling 1-800-508-1050. The site allows consumers to learn about program guidelines, view eligible vehicles, find a list of participating dealerships and schedule a test drive. It also allows those who have participated in the test drive to provide feedback on their experience.

The ”Pruébame 24 horas” campaign is part of General Motors’ continued outreach to the Hispanic market through culturally-relevant communications. Most recently, the company created an institutional spot with Gary Cowger, President of GM North America, speaking in Spanish describing the company’s commitment to delivering high quality products, an auto industry first. According to industry research entity R.L. Polk, 67 percent of current GM vehicles came back to buy another vehicle in 2002, the highest loyalty rate in the industry.