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When the Car Dealer Loses the Script: A Buick Sob Story

June 4, 2013 by Tom Williams 3 Comments

2014 Buick Regal GS

Sure, we’ve all seen them-the cheesy tv commercials the local car dealership puts on your local tv station. Gimmicks, cheap suits you wouldn’t wish your worst enemy to be buried in, godawful production values and ad copy written by an eighth grader fronted by car salesmen whose acting is so wooden they would not stand a chance of landing a role even the smallest town’s local theater group. You either cringe, or laugh out loud at just truly awful it is. It’s one thing when the ad is by your local Honda, Chevy or Toyota dealer. The cars speak for themselves, and in many cases, sell themselves based on reputation alone. The buyer can laugh off those horrible commercials.

That’s fine when you are one of the best selling brands out there, but what if you are a brand trying to establish a new identity? A brand trying to come off as a premium one at that? That changes things. As automotive journalists, myself and Founding Editor Gary Grant have seen firsthand just how hard car companies try to foster a certain image to their prospective buyers. The work they do is exhaustive, I assure you. You, the car buyer, or casual enthusiast, many not see it, but major car manufacturers today have entire departments focused solely on social media, public perception, and are constantly trying to find new ways to reach out to new car buyers.

Take, for example, Buick. After GM’s restructuring, Buick stands alone as the gap between Chevy and Cadilliac, but was saddled with an aging buyer demographic and somewhat stale cars. Not the sort of thing that gets your adrenaline pumping. Buick’s current line, with the LaCrosse, Regal, and Verano are all fine cars seeking a new, younger, yet affluent audience. The cars are good, but Buick has a long way to go of changing the mindset of car buyers under the age of 60 to want their car.

Buick fully understands the image problem. A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to attend a special event in Boston, the hippest, most vibrant city in all of my native New England. In an effort to tap into Boston’s young, affluent car buying market, the idea was to combine the allure of fine cuisine with the opportunity to see, touch, and sample the latest and greatest Buick has to offer. Not an inexpensive undertaking, but fine food is a clever way of attracting the desired crowd. And hey, even if they do not actually buy a Buick, the casual Bostonian foodee is surely going to tell his/her friends and family that the new Buicks are actually pretty cool cars.

So, you see, Buick is trying their hardest with updating their image, with quality cars to back it up. But…those dealer ads. I won’t name them, but the local Buick dealer is airing a promotion called ‘A Buick for a Buck.” That is, a one dollar down payment for your brand new Buick. The advertisements are relentless, but the tagline on each commercial is the dealer ‘just wants to get you a loan.’ It brings the car down to the lowest common denominator. That it isn’t even about the car anymore.

And therein lies the problem. Buick is trying their hardest to build good cars, and rebuild their image with the aim to appeal to a broader audience-namely, a more affluent audience. But the local Buick dealer is the face of your company, and their message to the car buying public in your area is we will get you a loan as long as you have a pulse. In thirty seconds, the millions of dollars Buick has invested in their cars, and their marketing efforts have instantly evaporated. Buick wants to be an aspirational brand, but with tv commercials like these, they cannot. Buick, as a company, has set its sights on Lexus, but with ads like these, it literally leads a path to Lexus’ door, since they never put junk like this on the air.

Buick, you’ve done the hard work of building a good car. You know you need to reach out the the buyer you want, and you are. But the dealer is where the money changes hands. Sure, I could have gone to Boston, enjoyed the beautiful city and fine food as a backdrop to your cars and come away impressed. But my local Buick dealer keeps telling me if my credit is awful, or if I have one dollar, I can have a new Buick. And to the dealer, don’t tell me you can just get me a loan, tell me you can sell me an awesome car.

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Scion’s xB and xD on Final Lap

April 30, 2012 by Tom Williams Leave a Comment

The winds of change are blowing at Scion, as a recent report from Wards Auto indicates the youth-focused brand is killing of the boxy xB and small four-door hatchback xD. Vice President Jack Hollis, the corporate face of Scion said there were no plans to replace either car. This is a shocking revelation for the xB, which until 2011 was Scion’s best selling car since coming to America in 2004. The first generation xB was a success for its huge funk factor that made it endearing to the finicky youth market Scion was chasing. In 2008 Scion introduced the second generation xB, which was larger, less boxy, more powerful and much heavier than the outgoing car.  In Scion’s attempt to mainstream the xB to a broader audience, they killed the cool factor and sales dropped like a rock.

The demise of the xD comes as less a surprise. Introduced as a 2008 model in the US, the xD offered more contemporary styling than Toyota’s Yaris, but few seemed to notice or care. It didn’t help that Scion barely promoted or marketed the car in any meaningful way, so it’s no wonder the average subcompact car buyer knew the car even existed. With sales stuck around 10,000 cars a year for the past two years, the xD likely won’t be missed.

So that leaves Scion in a very different position in terms of product from when they first launched in America, and just recently in Canada. We have the front-drive sport coupe tC, the pint-sized iQ, and Scion’s anticipated rear-wheel drive sport coupe, the FR-S. An ultra-tiny subcompact and two sport coupes sound like a pretty thin product portfolio, so Scion’s decision to kill off both cars with four doors at once seems to make less sense, as they have now eliminated every family seeking Toyota reliability in a more interesting wrapper, as well as any first time buyer wanting a car to road trip with his buddies.  It is especially sloppy product planning for Canada. You can’t enter a market trying to establish a brand identity and within two years kill off two of the three cars you introduced yourself as. There is a gaping hole being left in Scion’s product line, and Jack Hollis’ assertion of no direct replacement leaves me with serious doubts about the future or relevance of Scion.

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Acura Announces Pricing for 2013 RDX

March 25, 2012 by Tom Williams Leave a Comment

The RDX, Acura’s smallest SUV doesn’t get talked about much here at The Garage. First introduced as a 2007 model and motivated by a turbocharged four, the RDX has always lived in the shadow of the larger MDX, the brand’s best-selling vehicle. It hardly helped that mainstream auto media largely ignored the RDX, which is priced just under more recognized cars like the Mercedes-Benz GLK or Infiniti EX.  Worse, many see the RDX’s size and assume it is just a plush Honda CR-V-it is not. In any case, Acura is introducing the second generation, 2013 RDX. Whether any past misconceptions of the last RDX can be dispelled remain to be seen.

The most notable change from the last generation RDX is the loss of the turbo four cylinder engine in favor of a 3.5L V-6 with an additional 33hp on tap, paired to an all-new six-speed automatic. An RDX with front-wheel drive will start at $34,320USD. The RDX will come standard with leather seats, power heated front seats, power moonroof, Pandora internet radio, and a rearview camera. All-wheel drive will cost an additional $1,400. The only option after that is the Technology Package, which adds AuraLink satellite communication, voice-recognition Navigation, a 60GB hard drive, dual-zone auto climate control, surround sound, power lift gate and bi-xenon HID headlights for $3,700 extra.

I can see Acura’s product planners thinking that a V-6 RDX was the way to go given its direct competition. I was present at the Acura stand at the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit when the RDX was unveiled. There was no energy or enthusiasm from Acura for the RDX, and the audience of a few hundred auto journalists fed on that, and none of us cared either. It is that attitude that frustrates me about Acura today. In 1986 Honda took a huge gamble on creating a Japanese luxury brand named Acura during a time when no one associated Japanese cars with luxury. Honda created Acura, and three years later Toyota created Lexus, which destroyed Acura in sales.

I will reserve final judgement of the 2013 Acura RDX until I get the opportunity to drive one, but my fear is Acura continues to play it safe with cars no one feels any passion for. Stay tuned.


 

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Retrospect: BMW’s ‘The Hire’

November 15, 2010 by Tom Williams Leave a Comment

The automobile industry has been mired by the recession for so long, it is difficult to recall happier times when money-and creativity flowed in the marketing of cars. BMW broke barriers in automobile advertising in a way no other automaker had done in ages. Between 2001 and 2002, BMW released eight short films straight via their internet site, directed by the most renowned movie directors in the business. There were two commonalities between all the films-first, all the feature cars, were obviously BMWs, and second, the driver, Clive Owen, whose dashing good looks and steely demeanor are on a James Bond level.

The art of the films were impressive, but the purpose was to sell cars. And BMW reaped the benefits. After the first films went online, there were eleven million viewings in the first four months. Two million people registered to get more information from BMW. Sales of BMW cars increased 12% from the previous year.

This series on The Garage features some of my personal favorite films from the series. We will start with “Hostage”. Click to view, and there is more information about the film after the jump.

[Read more…]

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Vodaphone puts Lewis & Jenson to work

June 22, 2010 by Gary Grant 2 Comments

Some of the best ads ever created actually have little to do with the actual product being sold. Vodaphone has gone that route with their newest ad. Sort of.

When Lewis Hamilton and Jensen Button are left alone to assemble a Formula 1 car, Vodaphone hopes to show how important a network is. Really, they’ve shown that the two drivers know how to have a bit of fun. They’ve also shown that Lewis is at least a little bit handy with the tools, while Jens doesn’t appear to even pick one up! All in all, a good bit of fun.

Video after the break. Be sure to watch the full screen, full HD version.
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Chevy vs Chevrolet

June 10, 2010 by Gary Grant 3 Comments

The social media networks have been humming today about the fate of the term Chevy. It seems there was a memo that went out to GM employees that was perhaps poorly worded in which employees were instructed not to use the nickname in their communications. Some folks felt that The General was trying to move away from the less formal Chevy in favor of Chevrolet.

To settle things down and set the record straight, GM social media guru Jo LaMuraglia sat down with Alan Batey, who is the VP of Sales, Service & Marketing for Chevrolet. We’ve got the interview after the break.
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Ford offers up freebie Pchop app for iPhone and iPod Touch

October 21, 2008 by Gary Grant 1 Comment

I love cool tech stuff, but I’ve always been pretty much behind the times. Until I got the iPod Touch that is! Not only does it become a road test tool with the aid of Dynolicious, but now I can mod photos thanks to the folks at Ford.

You see, the good folks at Ford figure that the average Flex buyer is a hard core techie and they’d like to be the ones to supply the Flex owner with some additional coolness. With the help of the techies at the Tao Agency, they have created the Flex Photo Lab which is available for iPhone and iPod Touch for free from the app store. Sort of like a Photoshop lite, the app offers 6 different filters to mix up your pics. The Kaleidoscope filter promises to be the most fun here.

Also on tap is a little marketing tool called Discover Flex that allows users to see the Flex inside and out, and find your local Ford dealerships using Google Maps.

Get all the details after the break
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What in the world is Team Polezei up to?

June 14, 2008 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Those who pay attention to the offbeat but increasingly mainstream world of cross country motoring records are well aware of the accomplishments of our friend Alex Roy and his motley crew of automotive miscreants known as Team Polizei. They may also be aware that Herr Roy swears that he has sworn off any further pursuits of long distance infamy.

Herr Roy has been alternately praised and criticized for his shameless self promotion over the past few years, but more recently that promotion has taken somewhat of a different tack. It seems now that Roy is intent on the world domination of the Team Polizei brand. But to what end? The clues are substantial, yet Roy isn’t talking. Well, not about the end goal.

Is there an end goal, or has the goal already been accomplished?

Exhibit #1: The release of Interceptor 144R, a race prepared yet street legal Euro spec M5 in Team Polizei livery.
144r-11.jpg

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No Bull

January 13, 2008 by Jeff Bressler Leave a Comment

jeffs-camera-254.jpg

One of the tough aspects of broadcasting radio from the Detroit Auto Show is that you are literally glued to a chair in the studio. With an interview every 15 minutes there is virtually no time to attend any of the spectacular press conferences that unveil new hardware.

I was sort of caught off guard when I looked out of our Macomb entrance, street level studio glass window and saw a heard of cattle on the street. 115 longhorns to be precise. Dodge was using the cattle to usher in the 2009 Dodge Ram.

I guess longhorns in that number are more impressive then Rams.

I ran outside to take a shot.

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Dodge aims to set new Guiness World Record – For Scrapbooking!

August 30, 2007 by Gary Grant 1 Comment

dodge_scrapbook.jpg

With the rebirth of The New Chrysler, the marketing gurus at Auburn Hills have their work cut out for them as they try to reinvent the brand. Cutting out in fact is exactly what they have in mind to promote the 2008 Dodge Caravan. Given that families are the most likely to be in the market for a new minivan, what better market to tackle than millions of craft obsessed Moms?

With the help of Better Homes & Gardens scrapbooking experts, Dodge will attempt to break the Guiness World Record for the World’s Largest Photo Album. How do they intend to break this cut and paste record? By inviting consumers to add their memories to Dodge Caravan Page In History album, Dodge hopes to fill a 20 page, 9 x 12 book with Caravan memories. Oh yes, that’s 9 feet by 12 feet! This is going to be one BIG photo album.

To learn how you can join the paper cutting fun, read the full press release after the break
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