As Toyota announced it has regained the global sales crown, it makes me think of how the Japanese OEM has wasted its chances in the world's fourth largest market. Not everyone is aware that Toyota opened its first factory outside of Japan within Brazil in 1959, a plant that is currently used to produce parts. For decades, the Brazilian market was closed to imports and Toyota only produced a version of its Land Cruiser. It was a great product for rural areas, but Toyota was far behind its...
Read More »South America is a very diverse continent. Brazil, its main country, forbids diesel passenger cars and speaks Portuguese, but is surrounded by Spanish speaking countries. French Guiana still belongs to France, something not very common nowadays. Consumer behavior is also different: Toyota, for example, is the market leader in Peru and has a higher share in the countries closer to the Pacific Ocean, while customer loyalty in Brazil and Argentina goes toward brands from Europe and the United...
Read More »Many of you may be returning to work this week after an extended vacation around the holiday season. Welcome back! I'll keep this blog short and informative.
It's 2013 and the world didn't end last month as the Mayans (supposedly) predicted. Given this, we can officially remove Mayan prognosticators from the category of a legitimate forecasting entity. However, Polk has a few predictions. They go something like this:
- New auto sales for 2013 will jump 6.6 percent over last year. Our U.S....
I rely on some form of a "mileage countdown" system when tracking the time to change the oil in my car. Whether it's an electronic display on my dashboard or a sticker in the upper lefthand corner of my windshield, I'm regularly comparing my current mileage against the target that commands a visit to my local lube/oil shop. Unfortunately, it's kind of like waiting for your alarm clock to hit the magical point when the buzzer goes off early in the morning. You know it's coming, but you really...
Read More »It's difficult to overstate the importance of the Accord to the Honda franchise. The Accord is to Honda as the F-Series is to Ford, the Caravan is to Dodge, and the 3-Series is to BMW. The Accord is the heart and soul of Honda. Launched in 1976, the Accord has been at or near the top of the midsize sedan segment ever since. There are 11 million on the road. Car & Driver magazine has named the Accord one of the Ten Best Cars some 26 times, more than any other vehicle. Mr. Takuji Yamada, Executive...
Read More »The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas served as host to the 3AF (Asian American Advertising Federation) The 2012 Annual Asian Marketing Summit on May 16-17. The goal of the annual summit was to share marketing best practices and celebrate the leaders in Asian marketing.
With Asian Americans representing one out of every 20 new vehicles purchased in the U.S., it's easy to see why automotive market leaders including Toyota, Honda and Nissan were well represented at the conference.
- Nissan-Admerasia...
It
was my pleasure to co-present the Polk Inventory Efficiency Awards last night at the
Global
Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS) along with my
colleague, Mark Seng. We honored two outstanding aftermarket
companies for their process improvements relative to inventory and
supply chain efficiency.
This year’s Inventory Efficiency Awards competition was one
of the closest yet. Over the past eight years, we’ve recognized
some truly great companies that have created outstanding results
for their...
There is no denying the fact that the internet has changed the
shopping process for consumers as they're influenced by online
search, display advertising, social media and online reviews to
more easily make buying decisions about the brands, companies and
products they want to purchase. This has always been the case in
the automotive world; people often went to the library to pick up
an issue of Consumer Reports to check out what kind of car
they should buy before schlepping to multiple...Read More »
My business associate, Marc Bland, has provided insightful blogs on the female automotive market over the last several months. During the holiday break, I came across coverage of this topic that peaked my interest. I was intrigued by the first annual two day "2011 Heels & Wheels" event in beautiful Palm Springs, CA. It is a gathering of female automotive bloggers, engineers, journalists and other automotive professionals who get together to discuss subject matter and issues as they relate to...
Read More »For the second straight year, I had the opportunity to attend the Automotive News World Congress. This event provides attendees with an opportunity to hear the current state of the automotive industry and opinions on the future from some of the most respected leaders across the industry. This year's event was no exception and one thing was clear, the U.S. auto industry is refreshed and revitalized.
Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance spoke about the importance of...
Read More »While reading the Detroit News recently, I came across the
following article: "Women-Focused
Auto Shop a Reaction to Disdainful Mechanics." The article
confirmed that at least some portion of the industry can see
the growing impact women are having on the automotive industry and
are not only just taking note, but are actually taking action
to support this growing market. The article focuses
on Mae de la Calzada, who opened LadyParts Auto Services,
a full service auto shop in Redwood City, CA....Read More »
The Hyundai and Kia makes compete fiercely with each other in
the U.S., and partially for this reason, their performances are
rarely combined into one corporate result. But the two makes
are part of the same company, (the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group)
and when their U.S. results are combined, the numbers are
astounding. New registrations for both brands are up to 27.5%
through the first nine months of 2011, almost three times the
industry increase of 10.5%.
The combined Hyundai/Kia U.S. volume is...
Okay, this article
"Analysts Say Americans are Too Fat to Buy Small Cars in Big
Numbers" is sad and humorous in my view. It's an assessment of
how misaligned OEMs may be with building or selling cars and trucks
for the American population which seems to be growing in personal
girth. While I'm saddened by Americans' obesity statistics that
reveal adverse "growth rates," I have to question the implied
correlation of overweight humans and the dislike for small cars.
One does not trigger the other.
Le...Read More »
Le...Read More »
In the business of automotive information, we use vehicle
registrations along with numerous other data sources to look at
things such as the automotive forecast, automotive aftermarket
opportunities, model and make loyalty, and overall general buyer
behavior through custom consumer research. All of these efforts
require a thorough understanding of the automotive industry, the
world economy, current events, consumer preferences, and so many
other influences. The "other" category is where the...Read More »
The automotive industry has taken to social media very well in the
past 12-18 months. Campaigns such as the much heralded Fiesta Movement, the
Chevy South by Southwest (SXSW)
Road Trip Challenge and the Ram re-brand strategy I
wrote about last year have helped engage brand enthusiasts while
making fans out of non-loyalists. Nissan is looking to generate
loyalty within their own cutomer base via their Be an Auto Show
Reporter user-generated content campaign.
The contestant must make a 30 second to...Read More »
The contestant must make a 30 second to...Read More »
I love it when other professionals support a similar point of view.
Take a look at Liz Glagowski's
post on automotive loyalty. Liz, a member of 1to1 Media was kind enough to
notice our loyalty awards from last month. More importantly, she
takes note of how "loyalty" is NOT only based on repurchase
behavior, despite that's what our awards are primarily based
upon.
So Liz, I concur! People need to have a personal affinity - an emotional link to a brand. And when it comes to cars, boy do we ever...Read More »
So Liz, I concur! People need to have a personal affinity - an emotional link to a brand. And when it comes to cars, boy do we ever...Read More »
Creating a list is risky. It's almost inevitable that readers
will complain, saying something like, "How could you
possibly leave out xxx?" or "What were you thinking when you
included xxx?" Nevertheless, the end of a decade seems an
appropriate time to look back, and I'll do so by picking out
the ten models (listed in alphabetical order) I think had
the greatest impact on the industry during the past ten
years.
BMW 3-Series (any year)
The 3-Series has led the small premium car category for...Read More »
BMW 3-Series (any year)
The 3-Series has led the small premium car category for...Read More »
Tracking automotive advertising costs for ROI and lead conversion
performance is a new requirement for OEMs, agencies and dealers.
Many aspects of digital marketing create accountability and
transparency for advertisers and the activities tied to campaigns.
In addition to Pay-Per-Click (PPC), Cost-Per-Click (CPC) and lead
costs, the industry is now able to merge online and offline vehicle
purchase activity for an actual cost per sale.
Tying together digital targeting, messaging, lead scoring...Read More »
Tying together digital targeting, messaging, lead scoring...Read More »
Like the Energizer Bunny, ownership trends "keep on going" per the
pattern I blogged about
earlier this year. Current
trends show that the average number of months one holds onto a
new or used vehicle is over 52 months.
This is good for the automotive aftermarket since you'd assume these cars and trucks need to stay in good shape. It's a challenge for dealers trying to improve their new vehicle sales. Let's hope longer vehicle retention also translates to stronger customer retention, but...Read More »
This is good for the automotive aftermarket since you'd assume these cars and trucks need to stay in good shape. It's a challenge for dealers trying to improve their new vehicle sales. Let's hope longer vehicle retention also translates to stronger customer retention, but...Read More »
I was recently at the Society
of Automotive Analysts Strategic Planning Summit where the
question of "What is the next big thing in automotive going to be?"
was asked to a panel of speakers. Hal Sperlich, former president of
Chrysler and originator of the minivan concept gave what I thought
was a particularly insightful and intriguing answer to the
question. To use Hal's expression, "small, nice" cars may be the
next big wave in automotive.
Part of the challenge in automotive design right now is...Read More »
Part of the challenge in automotive design right now is...Read More »
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