Marketing

The service slowdown caused by the pandemic hit Woody Buick-GMC in Naperville, Ill., hard, says General Manager Jerry Roberts. Repair order counts were down about 35 percent, he says. “We had to go out and attract more business to keep people employed.” The dealership’s service marketing budget is still modest, but it grew by 70

Automakers and tech companies have sought to cultivate the trust of consumers as they’ve developed and launched driver-assist systems that many consider a prelude to self-driving vehicles. Those efforts may be misguided. Consumers often are confused by the performance capabilities and limitations of driver-assist systems, which can control some steering, acceleration and braking tasks. Motorists

As COVID-19 state mandates shut down dealership retail sales, more targeted marketing efforts with bigger budgets were shifted to fixed ops departments that remained open as essential services. “Many dealers made massive cuts to their marketing budgets, but they didn’t touch service,” says Alexi Venneri, CEO of marketing firm Digital Air Strike. The sudden importance

LOS ANGELES — Mazda North America has drawn hundreds of entries for its “Mazda Heroes” initiative that will gift a special edition of the MX-5 Miata sports car to 50 U.S. residents who have supported their communities during the coronavirus pandemic. As the Oct. 25 deadline approaches for nominations, the automaker has received tens of

DETROIT — The 2021 New York auto show is moving to August, four months later than planned, organizers announced Tuesday. The event, which was postponed and later canceled this year because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, will take place Aug. 20-29, with a press day Aug. 19, officials said. The 2021 event was originally slated

LOS ANGELES — The evolution of an auto brand is never complete, but Acura marked a major milestone last week in a decade-long journey to put some significant distance between itself and its corporate sibling, Honda. Acura unwrapped the redesigned MDX crossover in a virtual presentation, marking the fourth and penultimate vehicle in its lineup

Lordstown Motors says its upcoming electric pickup, the Endurance, is the perfect truck for a working Joe. So the Ohio startup has hired Joe Burrow, the Cincinnati Bengals’ rookie quarterback, to be the star of its first marketing campaign. Burrow, who was the No. 1 pick in this year’s NFL draft, is the ideal choice

During homecoming festivities at Prairie View A&M University in Texas and North Carolina Central University in Durham last fall, Ford Motor Co. invited football fans to check out a tailgate — and the rest of its F-150, too. Ford provided more than 500 F-150 test drives to fans at the two schools and at the

DETROIT — GMC’s goal with the debut of the Hummer electric pickup next week is broad awareness, not only of the vehicle itself, but also the GMC brand and General Motors’ electric future. GMC’s reveal campaign for the Hummer EV begins next week, with spots during Game 1 of the Major League Baseball World Series

LOS ANGELES — A year ago, the mantra being pushed by Honda executives was that “cars matter” — a compelling message for a brand that derived almost half its volume from sedans and hatchbacks at the time. But as the market continues its relentless shift toward crossovers and pickups, it turns out that trucks matter

DETROIT — General Motors plans to reveal its long-anticipated Hummer electric pickup during Game 1 of baseball’s World Series on Oct. 20. GM, after a nearly 10-year hiatus for the Hummer name, will start production of the EV under the GMC brand in fall 2021, according to a promotional video. “We cannot wait to finally

Tesla Inc. has dissolved its U.S. media relations team, website Electrek reported on Tuesday, in yet another unconventional move by the world’s most valuable automaker. Reuters could not immediately reach the EV maker to verify the development. Unlike its peers who splurge millions of dollars on advertising and marketing, Tesla has largely shunned traditional channels

Long before California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered a 2035 ban on new gasoline-powered light vehicles in the state, the auto industry was working hard on electric vehicles. Their driving performance is now shockingly good. Their environmental benefits — while a function of how electricity is produced — are proven as well. Mainstream automakers as well

Last week, I did something I hadn’t done in seven months. I hopped on a plane and traveled for work, having been invited to the media introduction of the redesigned 2021 Rolls-Royce Ghost in Austin, Texas. Automotive News readers may recall a time when our pages were populated with seemingly random datelines from across the

From economic stresses to increased work-from-home numbers, byproducts of the COVID-19 pandemic are giving pause to car shoppers who might otherwise consider an electric vehicle to replace their internal-combustion-engine model. But this is just a short-lived bump in the road that will be followed by a rebound in consumer interest in EVs. There are compelling

ATLANTA — Porsche Cars North America is expanding adjacent to its headquarters in metro Atlanta. The sports car maker will begin construction of a service center and a classic factory restoration center next to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The 33-acre “multimillion-dollar development” will also be used to expand the Porsche Experience Center performance track, the

Three years ago, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Chief Marketing Officer Olivier Francois approached Carl Sagan’s widow, Ann Druyan, with an idea: Would it be OK if the brand used her husband’s famous “Pale Blue Dot” passage in a Jeep ad? It was, on the face of it, an outlandish pitch. Sagan’s words, which described a picture

There’s a series of a dozen children’s books called Who Would Win? in which the author explains what would happen if two animals faced each other in a hypothetical battle to the death. Among the matchups are “Hammerhead vs. Bull Shark,” “Green Ants vs. Army Ants” and “Wolverine vs. Tasmanian Devil.” Now Ford Motor Co.

TOKYO — Toyota Motor Corp. and advertising firm Dentsu Group Inc. and have agreed to form a business alliance and establish two companies to improve Toyota’s communications and digital transformation strategy, Dentsu said in a statement Wednesday. Both the firms will operate under a holding company, of which Toyota will own 66 percent and Dentsu

Three years ago, Fiat Chrysler Chief Marketing Officer Olivier Francois approached Carl Sagan’s widow, Ann Druyan, with an idea: Would it be OK if the brand used her husband’s famous “Pale Blue Dot” passage in a Jeep ad? It was, on the face of it, an outlandish pitch. Sagan’s words, which describe a picture of Earth

Patience does not appear to be a strong suit of Igor Krezic. The Bosnian man was so eager to get behind the wheel of a Tesla Cybertruck that he had his company build him one out of a Ford F-150 Raptor. The company, Stark Solutions, spent eight months disassembling the Raptor and transforming it into

Nissan North America — which for years has relied on college football — is shifting a significant portion of its media to the National Football League in the latest sign of how the coronavirus is upending brand marketing calendars. The automaker will continue putting money into college football, where it will air its “Heisman House”

‘There’s only one Bob ROOOHHHRRR-man!’ The Bob Rohrman Auto Group has used that familiar tag line for decades in its ubiquitous TV commercials in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. Rohrman, who died last week at age 87, appeared as dozens of wacky characters in his ads, from painter Bob Ross and actress “Roberta Rohrmanspoon” to his

The Los Angeles International Auto Show scheduled for November will be postponed by six months because of the coronavirus, setting up a calendar packed with major U.S. auto shows next spring. The L.A. event, which had been scheduled to run Nov. 20-29, will now take place May 21-31, 2021, according to three people familiar with

The Washington Auto Show is getting a later start next year because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, show organizers said Thursday. Next year’s show is set to run March 26 through April 4 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in the nation’s capital. The event had been scheduled to run Jan. 29 through Feb.

When the Ford Bronco disappeared in 1996, so did the legendary pitchman it was named after, John Bronco. The Bronco is headed back to dealerships soon, but John Bronco is still missing. That’s the — completely fictional, of course — story behind an upcoming mockumentary starring Walton Goggins as a rodeo-riding, road-racing sex symbol. John

Cadillac is getting its ducks in a row as it prepares to create a fully electric lineup within the next decade. The Lyriq, a midsize crossover unveiled this month, features a return of the ducks that the brand dropped from its logo 20 years ago. The ducks — officially, they’re merlettes — appear on the

DETROIT — No auto show? No problem. The coronavirus pandemic is prohibiting consumers from getting an in-person look at Ford Motor Co.’s newest vehicles through elaborate show displays, so the automaker decided to take one product directly to their homes. Ford on Thursday announced an augmented reality feature called “driveway dealership.” It allows users to

Brian Murphy’s 2007 Nissan Frontier will live out its retirement at the Tennessee plant where it was made 13 years ago. The Illinois man, who works as a delivery driver, swapped out his trusty pickup for one of the first 2020 Frontiers last week. Nissan gave Murphy the new truck so it could memorialize his

Audi last week apologized for a social media ad that some critics called too provocative and others said showed a young girl in danger. The ad showed the girl leaning against the grille of an RS4 station wagon. The caption: “Lets your heart beat faster — in every aspect.” After complaints poured in, Audi removed