Marketing

After five years of waiting and about $1 billion spent to become a sponsor, Toyota Motor Corp. has decided not to run advertisements in its home country connected to the Olympics during the Tokyo Games as concerns grow in Japan about the spread of COVID-19. Toyota and Panasonic Corp. are the only two Japanese companies

There are two schools of thought on how dealerships should approach advertising in a time of low inventory. One, said Sariah Heaton, marketing director for Jerry Seiner Dealerships in Salt Lake City, is to pull back on spending while dealerships have so few cars to sell. “A lot of dealerships are really, really slashing their

CHICAGO — In a world where shopping for electrified vehicles can be confusing, Chrysler has created a website to promote the benefits of its Pacifica Hybrid in simple ways. The automaker uses everyday items to help people understand how long the lithium ion battery will last. The microsite, whypacificahybrid.com, says the plug-in minivan’s battery could

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct Tom Dobry’s new title, which Lithia has confirmed is different than what is stated in its 8-K filing. Lithia Motors Inc. is shuffling its executive marketing positions, bringing back a former executive and media expert as the new leader of the department. The dealership group hired

Next time you’re hungry for a snack, you might want to try cracking open a Ford Maverick owner’s manual. Oreo is making a limited-edition package that’s camouflaged as the 2022 Maverick’s manual as part of its “Oreo Thins Protection Program” promotion. The “Camo Pack” is disguised with the Ford Motor Co. Blue Oval and a

CHICAGO — The arrival of an electric Ram 1500 pickup in 2024 would be a stark shift for the brand and set it up for the future, but it wouldn’t require much of a messaging tweak on the marketing side. The focus on capability, which could actually improve with an electric powertrain, wouldn’t need to

For one of its most critical product launches in years, Infiniti is emphasizing star power, not horsepower. Nissan Motor Co.’s luxury brand has enlisted entertainment and sports celebrities to create buzz around its second-generation QX60 midsize crossover for an influencer-themed launch campaign when it arrives this fall. The three-row crossover is Infiniti’s sales powerhouse, driving

CHICAGO — The Chicago Auto Show kick-starts a new phase in the turf war between the revived Ford Bronco and the venerable Jeep Wrangler. For the first time at an auto show, both SUVs will have their own off-road courses for attendees to compare them side by side. The Bronco’s adventurous “Built Wild” outdoor obstacle

Some of the hottest new vehicles revealed by automakers lately — including significant new electric vehicles — have mostly remained online. Only a few industry insiders and journalists have been able to see them up close. That changes this week with the Chicago Auto Show, which will feature highly anticipated vehicles such as the Ford

The rapid transition to electrification has presented a challenge for marketers: How do you reposition decades of brand equity built on traditional automotive values for a new greener, cleaner world? Volkswagen’s “Voltswagen” controversy showed that it’s a delicate task.   Stellantis tackled the subject on Thursday, presenting slogans, or mission statements, that sum up each

HORSESHOE BAY, Texas — Forget the boring training videos and bulleted brochures. To better acquaint its retail network with the 2021 Bronco SUV, Ford Motor Co. ditched the standard informational materials for a unique, hands-on boot camp in the mud and rocky crags of Texas Hill Country. The automaker invited representatives from each of its

Volvo plans to change the way it names its cars starting a new full-electric flagship that will debut next year. Instead of carrying over the XC90 moniker, Volvo will deviate from using letter and number combinations for its Tesla Model X rival. “This car will have a name, more like a [newborn] child,” Volvo CEO

Record-holding dealer Billy Fuccillo Sr., known for his “It’s huge!” advertising slogan and splashy marketing efforts, died June 17 at home in Sarasota, Fla. He was 65. “Known for his legendary generosity and larger-than-life personality, Billy was thoroughly committed to the communities he served and to the people who knew him as a friend, a

LOS ANGELES — Honda has chosen a forward-looking name for the battery-electric crossover that it is developing with General Motors for the 2024 model year: Prologue. The Honda crossover will use GM’s Ultium platform and batteries, but Honda will develop the vehicle’s body style and interior. The Honda-GM venture also will develop a battery-electric Acura

John Oliver says he has a great script for a car dealer to use in a commercial, and he’s willing to offer it for free. But only on the condition that the dealer signs a contract to produce and air the ad before ever reading the script. The comedian made the offer on the Sunday,

Tier10 ad agency set up shop in Paragon Honda’s photo studio last year to shoot a YouTube pre-roll campaign for the CR-V crossover. It had the vehicle, of course, a product specialist to run down the list of features and a ring light to add a polished aura. The only thing missing was a high-tech

You can’t hang them on a wall, but Volvo’s Polestar brand wants customers to treat its cars like pieces of art just the same. To that end, the brand is allowing customers to buy a Polestar 1 by trading in art from their collections. “All forms of art, including paintings, sculptures, photography, installations and more

YouTube users know the routine. Open a video, wait for the pre-roll ad, hit “skip” a few seconds into the ad if allowed, then watch the desired content. That creates a tough proposition for advertisers, which have just seconds to get consumers’ attention as they jump from video to video. But Paragon Honda in New

Like dealership groups everywhere, Jones Junction had to figure out how to continue attracting customers’ eyes to its available vehicles during the COVID-19 pandemic. As businesses scaled back in-person operations last year, the dealership group in Bel Air, Md., employed a strategy it had been testing since early 2018 by ramping up digital retailing at

Since last July, a little-known automaker in China’s southwest has dominated the world’s largest electric car market, outselling bigger players and even Tesla Inc. almost every month with a tiny, bare-bones EV that starts at just $4,500. The Hongguang Mini is the brainchild of SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co., a joint venture between SAIC Motor Corp. and

Ford Motor Co. is unveiling a compact pickup called the Maverick this week, declaring it to be “the truck you didn’t see coming.” We beg to differ. “Months of rumors, spy shots and speculation have all led to this moment,” Ford said in a statement last week. But it somehow forgot to mention that development

DETROIT — One of the worst-kept secrets in the auto industry is out: Ford Motor Co. on Thursday said it plans to reveal a compact pickup called the Maverick next week. The automaker has tapped actress Gabrielle Union to help reveal the 2022 Maverick on June 8 via social media and the streaming service Hulu.

Convenience retailer 7-Eleven plans to put at least 500 electric vehicle fast chargers at 250 stores across the U.S. and Canada by the end of 2022. That’s up from 22 existing charging stations the chain currently operates at 14 stores in four states. The plan to install the fast chargers comes as 7-Eleven says it

When a Virginia high school was in danger of having to cancel its prom for the second year in a row because of the pandemic, the used-car dealer across the street literally rolled out the red carpet to save it. Brandon Wright, owner of Wright Way Motors, hosted the Covington High School prom in his

A Nissan dealership in Virginia sold all five Leafs on its lot for a total of $4.95 last week. The upside for the store was that each buyer also paid full price for the least popular full-size pickup in the country, the Nissan Titan. The dealership, Hart Nissan of Nova in Springfield, advertised the two

Olivier Francois has a passion for building brands. Now he gets to indulge in it even more as the marketing chief of Stellantis, which combined the nine brands of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles he knew well with five more from PSA Group. Francois, known for ambitious Super Bowl ads and a knack for blending musical acts

Professional wingsuit pilot Peter Salzmann soars over the alps in his native Austria using an electrified wingsuit by BMW i. The scene was captured for a November 2020 video to promote the automaker’s eDrive technology. An electric twin-propeller drive system, including an energy storage unit, were integrated into the front of the suit. Salzmann jumped

What weighs about 4.5 tons and has a big trunk in the front? If you said either an adult male Asian elephant or the 2022 GMC Hummer EV pickup, you’re correct. But only one of them can go from 0 to 60 mph in about 3 seconds. We assume an elephant can’t crab-walk, either, though

The electric F-150 seemed to be everywhere last week, even before Ford Motor Co. formally introduced it. President Joe Biden did hot laps on a test track in front of the White House press corps, Rachel Maddow spent a large portion of her cable TV show discussing the pickup, and on “The Tonight Show,” Jimmy

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. on Monday opened F-150 Lightning order banks for commercial owners, promising lower ownership costs for a key demographic the company hopes will help it establish early dominance in the electric pickup market. Ford said the base trim of the Lightning, focused on commercial buyers, will be called Pro. It said