Motor Authority - blog Tag: Marketing

Editor's note: High Gear Media wants you to write for us. Here's what happens when you do--you get published alongside the pros, if your post is smart, well-written and has the grammar goods. Congratulations to Kinder Essington for being the first-ever High Gear Media enthusiast to be published on one of our core sites--TheCarConnection, Motor Authority, GreenCarReports and CelebsandCars. Want to be the next? We have 39 sites waiting for your words--check them out, sign up, and join us in the auto world's fast lane.

First, let's get one thing straight. The new 2010 Ford Taurus is light years ahead of the most recent model, and with its...

Editor's note: High Gear Media wants you to write for us. Here's what happens when you do--you get published alongside the pros, if your post is smart, well-written and has the grammar goods. Congratulations to Kinder Essington for being the first-ever High Gear Media enthusiast to be published on one of our core sites--TheCarConnection, Motor Authority, GreenCarReports and CelebsandCars. Want to be the next? We have 39 sites waiting for your words--check them out, sign up, and join us in the auto world's fast lane. First, let's get one thing straight. The new 2010 Ford Taurus is light years ahead of the most recent model, and with its fresh looks and ground-breaking technologies, it is most in keeping with the spirit of the original Taurus of 1986.  But naming its EcoBoosted model the SHO indicates a total misunderstanding of the brand. The original SHO Taurus (I owned two in a row) was a visceral machine. It was powered by version of the standard 3.0 liter Vulcan V-6 re-engineered by Yamaha featuring among other things a long and a sort set of intake runners.  Below 3,500 RPM, the long runners provided good torque characteristics, which made the car very tractable around town.  But when the short runners opened up above 3,500, the whole car took on a different character...the engine howled, vibrations shot through the car and it lept toward the rev limiter.  The engine itself was good for some 8,000 RPM, but the accessories (alternator, power steering pump etc) whold have turned to road shrapnel.  This powerplant put 225 hp through a front-drive system at a time when 200 hp was considered the front-drive max. Add to this the amazing inclusion of a five-speed manual transmission, which was engineered into the original vehicle because fleet cars of the day were required to offer a four-cylinder and a manual transmission--a Taurus version that never sold to anybody. Without this fleet car feature, the original SHO would never have been the cult success it was (even though the ratios left much to be desired). (Ed. note--the manual on the SHO was different from the four-cylinder manual.) Then enter the DN101 Taurus of 1996.  The SHO name was carried over to a new, V-8-powered car with an automatic transmission.  No manual available.  I drove this car on the Dearborn track and was sorely disappointed. It was a heavier car. The performance off the line was adequate, but in the mid-range, where the old SHO did its Jekyll/Hyde act, the new car felt flat. And with no manual to play with, the new SHO was just a V-8-powered car. At the time I described the old car as a home-built hydroplane with a screaming Mercury outboard clamped to the stern, while the new car was more like a vintage mahogany speedboat...fast but stately. I pleaded with my compatriots to ask that the SHO moniker be dropped and the car sold simply as a V-8-powered Taurus (minus the effective but dorky-looking spoiler). Of course I was ignored and the DN101 Taurus was soon discontinued. The 2010 Taurus SHO is an even heavier car, the characteristics of the powerplant have been described as smooth and linear and again, no manual transmission. In other words, it's no SHO. And finally, it seems to me that the EcoBoost brand is a lot more important to Ford's future than is SHO (the EcoBoosted 2010 Ford Flex carries no SHO designation), so the emphasis should be there, not on some old promise of explosive excitement which also happens to be missing in the new car. Now a good question is, should a marketing blunder be cause for not winning the NACOTY? An overpromise or a mis-promise is as much a failure as bad brakes. These days you need great cars and insightful marketing to qualify for greatness, not one or the other. -------------------------------- Write your own car blog at High Gear Media! Sign up to write and tell car enthusiasts and shoppers what you think about your vehicle or today's car news and get published to High Gear Media sites like AllSmallCars, LexusReports, FamilyCarGuide and more! Read More

After fifty years of swinging together, the long-running marriage of Buick and the PGA pro golf tour is coming to an end.

Partly a victim of GM's restructuring--and also partly Buick's desire to sell more cars to younger buyers--the end of the PGA sponsorship follows on the heels of GM's split with golf legend Tiger Woods last November.

Buick had been the title sponsor for two big PGA events, the Buick Open in Michigan, and the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines. And just last weekend, the Buick Open concluded with--who else?--Tiger Woods winning the GM brand's namesake tourney.

Buick's marketing efforts since GM's restructuring are in... After fifty years of swinging together, the long-running marriage of Buick and the PGA pro golf tour is coming to an end. Partly a victim of GM's restructuring--and also partly Buick's desire to sell more cars to younger buyers--the end of the PGA sponsorship follows on the heels of GM's split with golf legend Tiger Woods last November. Buick had been the title sponsor for two big PGA events, the Buick Open in Michigan, and the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines. And just last weekend, the Buick Open concluded with--who else?--Tiger Woods winning the GM brand's namesake tourney. Buick's marketing efforts since GM's restructuring are in turmoil, with new marketing head and former product VP Bob Lutz coming down hard on some new navel-gazing Buick ads. While the brand looks for a new identity and a new marketing plan, there's still the possibility of a return to the sport if things don't work out quite as they hope: Buick and the PGA said in a prepared statement, "While this is disappointing news, both the PGA Tour and Buick remain in discussions regarding future sponsorship possibilities." [AP via TheCarConnection]First drive: 2010 Buick LaCrosse Read More

Everyone in the industry is feeling the burn of a long, slow summer, but few are feeling as keenly as Lexus. Perhaps that's because the luxury import carmaker had so far to fall, having been the dominant force in American luxury cars for most of the past decade.

But there's a plan afoot to help turn things around even as the market continues to falter. How? By shifting its focus to the entry-level luxury segment, reports Automotive News.

The idea is to catch younger buyers that might not be ready to commit to a top-end vehicle, but want more than the mainstream carmakers offer. The core segment Lexus is focusing on is the 25-49... Everyone in the industry is feeling the burn of a long, slow summer, but few are feeling as keenly as Lexus. Perhaps that's because the luxury import carmaker had so far to fall, having been the dominant force in American luxury cars for most of the past decade. But there's a plan afoot to help turn things around even as the market continues to falter. How? By shifting its focus to the entry-level luxury segment, reports Automotive News. The idea is to catch younger buyers that might not be ready to commit to a top-end vehicle, but want more than the mainstream carmakers offer. The core segment Lexus is focusing on is the 25-49 demographic. Carrying the flag for this entry-level surge are the IS convertible and the HS hybrid. Both cars are edgier, more current and more style-conscious than anything else in the Lexus lineup except perhaps the pricey IS-F. The F-Sport line of performance products aims to add even more edge to draw in younger male buyers that want some go to match their show. But targeting young buyers and actually winning them over are two different things. Unfortunately, like many things in the car industry, it will require a substantial investment of time and money on Lexus's part before they'll know if their play will pay off, but so far, the IS Convertible is selling so well that production is struggling to keep up with demand, and pre-orders for the HS in Japan are at 300% of expected levels. For an idea of what Lexus is doing to help swing younger buyers their way, check out our previous story on the IS Convertible ad campaign.2010 Lexus HS 250h hybrid sedan2010 Lexus IS C F-Sport Read More

Getting young people to buy cars is tougher than it sounds. Fashion, mode and politics all play a role in addition to the classical considerations for car buying: price, features and performance. But Kia is determined to grow its business with younger buyers, as its current 52-year-old average customer is more elderly that it would like.

Kia will have to be careful not to alienate too many of its existing customers, however, as those are the brand's proven loyalists. But at the same time, getting a new image across to a whole new segment of the population could prove more beneficial that sticking with what's worked in the past.

"We want to... Getting young people to buy cars is tougher than it sounds. Fashion, mode and politics all play a role in addition to the classical considerations for car buying: price, features and performance. But Kia is determined to grow its business with younger buyers, as its current 52-year-old average customer is more elderly that it would like. Kia will have to be careful not to alienate too many of its existing customers, however, as those are the brand's proven loyalists. But at the same time, getting a new image across to a whole new segment of the population could prove more beneficial that sticking with what's worked in the past. "We want to leave the old baggage behind," Kia Motors America vice president of marketing told Automotive News. "A lot of people don't know who we are anyway. So why not come out with new names like Forte?" The name changes would be along the lines of the Forte-Spectra renaming - finding strong, one-word names that give the brand a fresher image. The Soul hatch is another exemplar of the newer branding strategy. Changing names and shooting for a younger audience is part of Kia's larger plan of reaching for more market share while the bigger carmakers struggle. Already it has increased its hold on the market from 2.1% in 2008 to 3.3% through the first two months of 2009. While other carmakers fell over 40% in February, Kia held steady. These signs are strong indicators that Kia is on the right track with its heavy incentives, strong warranty, fresh models and new names. Whether a continuation of that pattern will net even more customers, however, remains to be seen.Kia Soul in U.S. production guise Read More