Buzz Lightyear to the rescue.

After more than a year of searching for a new marketing theme, Chevrolet says it has landed the right person to deliver its message: comedian Tim Allen, also known as "The Santa Clause," Tim Taylor from "Home Improvement" and, of course, Buzz.

The first real look at Chevrolet's future ad plans comes Tuesday, as the brand debuts commercials for its new Chevrolet Cruze compact car.

GM is aiming the Cruze at 20-somethings and empty nesters. And both groups may recognize his voice, although possibly because of different gigs.

Many may also recognize Allen's voice from the "Pure Michigan" commercials touting the state he called home as a child. He's also no stranger to autos, since he owns several souped-up cars.

GM intends to use the Cruze, which goes on sale in mid-September, to convince customers who have flocked to Toyota and Honda that it can make a high-quality compact sedan.

In revealing Allen's new role on Friday, GM touted him as a car guy whose collection includes two vehicles he helped personalize: a 1996 Chevrolet LT5 Impala SS and a 2000 Cadillac DeVille DTSi.

Allen, a comedian who grew up in Birmingham, is most recently famous as the voice of Buzz Lightyear in Disney and Pixar's "Toy Story" movies and the voice behind the "Pure Michigan" ad campaign. He also starred in "The Santa Clause" films and TV's "Home Improvement."

Even if some don't recognize Allen, his voice is nice enough to carry the commercials, said Jim Hall, principal at 2953 Analytics in Birmingham. Chevy needs only to stick with Allen to make sure it gets the message across, he said.

"Consistency is far more important, to tell you the truth, than who" voices the commercials, he said.

Chevrolet has lacked marketing consistency for about a year. The brand's marketing turmoil started last summer, when the brand began publicly looking to replace its 5-year-old "American Revolution" tag line. After deciding to remain tagless, Chevrolet in April broke off a 91-year relationship with ad agency Campbell-Ewald and said it would give its advertising contract to Publicis Worldwide.

The result of that relationship was the tag line "Excellence for All," which appeared only in print ads before U.S. marketing boss Joel Ewanick arrived in May and promptly canned the slogan. Days after arriving, he fired Publicis and chose Goodby, Silverstein & Partners as Chevrolet's agency.

The upcoming Cruze commercials will present the first extensive look at Chevrolet's new marketing approach. The Cruze campaign, titled "Accolades," will include comparisons with competing vehicles like the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla and will quote car reviewers' praise of Chevrolet's newest offering, GM said in a statement. Cruze will also have its own marketing tag line, Chevrolet small-car marketer Margaret Brooks said this week, although she declined to reveal the slogan.

Contact CHRISSIE THOMPSON: 313-222-8784 or [email protected]