Friday, January 30, 2009

Bye Bye Fun Cars

Due to the slow economy and poor market conditions, car manufacturers are downsizing their product lines and cancelling the production of cars that they consider to be slow sellers, non-practical and/or gas guzzlers. We've got word that cars like the Honda S2000, Dodge Viper, Hummer H3, Lexus SC, Saturn Sky, and Chrysler PT Cruiser are all cancelled for production in 2009 and beyond. This is unfortunate, as many of these are fun, iconic cars that also serve as a technology showcase and halo model for that manufacturer.

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Monday, January 19, 2009

Auto Marketing 101 - The Starting Price of a Vehicle


We've noticed that marketers at car companies have started to change their marketing tactics. They no longer tout performance features like 400 horsepower or luxury features like navigation systems. Nowadays, many of the ads just jump right to the point and highlight the thing that matters the most -- the price, which is usually presented in a "starting at $xx,xxx" format. Here are a few examples from a random sampling of this week's ads:


Of course in reality the "starting price" is just the teaser and no one really gets to buy a car at the starting price. I wonder, does the slogan "truth in advertising" apply to the auto industry?

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Tuesday, January 6, 2009

President Obama's Limo

Here is a spyshot of President-elect Obama's limousine - it's a Cadillac that has 8 inch thick doors. While it doesn't quite resemble any one model, it does have the hand stitched seats and familar Cadillac logo. It hasn't been painted black yet, but it will by 1/20.

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