Marketing

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

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

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

Penske Automotive Group Inc. confirmed a longtime top marketing executive resigned last week, and the public dealership group has promoted a nine-year company veteran to fill the position. Terri Mulcahey, Penske’s executive vice president of marketing and business development, resigned for personal reasons effective July 31, Penske spokesman Anthony Pordon said. The second-largest U.S. new-vehicle

“She’s pretty and petite … a compulsive perfectionist. She’s about to have a migraine!” Believe it or not, that’s a direct line from a 1977 advertisement put out by Parke-Davis, the pharmaceutical company. It appeared in a brochure for ergotamine tartrate tablets. At the time it was apparently OK to say that a combination of

“She’s pretty and petite … a compulsive perfectionist. She’s about to have a migraine!” Believe it or not, that’s a direct line from a 1977 advertisement put out by Parke-Davis, the pharmaceutical company. It appeared in a brochure for ergotamine tartrate tablets. At the time it was apparently OK to say that a combination of

Jeep‘s Groundhog Day spoof with actor Bill Murray is one of two Super Bowl commercials to be nominated for the 2020 Emmy Awards. The one-minute Jeep spot, which topped the USA Today Admeter rankings, is up against Amazon’s “Before Alexa” ad from Super Bowl LIV as well as ads from Apple, Procter & Gamble and

When Hyundai Motor America and the National Salute to America’s Heroes had to cancel their 2020 Air and Sea Show in Miami Beach, Fla., because of coronavirus concerns, they didn’t let it stop them from giving back. Instead, they hosted a giveaway called the Salute 365 initiative for “local healthcare professionals, first responders and others.”

Porsche enlisted the services of an icon to help bring relief to the millions of Americans affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Porsche Cars North America hatched a plan to auction a 911 sports car to raise funds for COVID-19 relief efforts. But not just any 911. In April, the automaker auctioned the final 991-generation car

Silvercar serves with a “community heart.” That’s what the president of Services of Hope, Daniel Prescott, said when Silvercar by Audi, the brand’s premium rental car company, donated the use of fleet cars to the Texas nonprofit. The free rentals helped the organization make food deliveries and feed more than 500 people daily from the

President Donald Trump spoke in front of a pair of Chevrolet Silverado HD pickups on the White House lawn last week as a crane demonstrated the “regulatory weights” he said his administration has lifted off businesses. “We weren’t aware of the event beforehand,” a General Motors spokesperson told Jalopnik, “but looks like they chose a

The merged unit of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group will be known as Stellantis, the two automakers said Wednesday. The automakers said the name “will be used exclusively at the group level, as a corporate brand” and that the names and the logos of the group’s constituent brands will remain unchanged. The companies said

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said last week that his company is close to developing software that can perform fully autonomous driving. Recently, however, one Tesla customer posted a video showing how the company’s Autopilot software mistook a Burger King sign for a stop sign. The fast food chain turned the clip into a social media

The coronavirus-induced digital transformation of auto retailers has been helped along by some behind-the-scenes work from vendors. The pandemic is spurring companies that build the software that powers dealerships’ online business to accelerate their own capabilities. Some retail tech vendors shuffled product plans to prioritize new tools based on what dealerships said they needed for

In early March, the team at Outsell held an off-site, multiday meeting to create the dealership marketing company’s long-term product development road map. There were plans for a new content management system, more product integrations and new reporting tools. But within weeks, the situation changed. The pandemic prompted states across most of the country to

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co., confined to virtual product introductions because of the coronavirus outbreak, is getting creative with how it will show off the Bronco and Bronco Sport on July 13. The automaker said Thursday it will partner with Disney to unveil the utility vehicles on ESPN, ABC, National Geographic and Hulu, in addition

The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles scored a coup to mark its reopening after a three-month shutdown. It’s hosting the first public display of Tesla’s Cybertruck since the dystopian-styled pickup made its infamous debut last fall. The Cybertruck exhibit, set up front and center in the lobby, was originally scheduled to last through Friday,

Subaru of America, once a monthly sales streak darling as its U.S. volume rapidly expanded over the past decade, is switching to quarterly sales reporting. The automaker will report its June U.S. sales Wednesday, then switch its cadence going forward. The automaker, of Camden, N.J., was one of the few holdouts still reporting on a

Last week’s announcement that professional baseball will return this year, at least in a limited format, was cause for celebration for fans who have been sports-starved since the rise of the coronavirus pandemic. Equally hopeful are automakers that have been missing out on one of their key marketing platforms — live sports. But physical distancing

Chrysler is continuing its series of ads for the Pacifica minivan with actress Kathryn Hahn, but with the added complication of social distancing. The latest campaign, which the brand is using on social media and other websites, is called “Pacifica Mom on Quarantine.” The confessional-style ads were shot via iPhone with just two crew members

HOLLY, Mich. — Dave Pericak smiles as he hops in the driver’s seat of a topless 1971 baby blue Ford Bronco. The late-afternoon sun glints off his Aviator sunglasses as he turns the key and the restored SUV rumbles to life. Pericak is finishing a long day of shooting promotional material for the July reveal

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. will use a familiar name to help reveal the next-generation F-150 pickup later this week in an unfamiliar way. The automaker is tapping actor and Ford trucks pitchman Denis Leary to show off the redesigned pickup during a livestream slated for Thursday night. The automaker originally planned to show the

Ad agency Tier10 now shoots two versions of the commercials it makes for auto dealerships and manufacturers: one with people wearing face masks and one without. Advertisers have a responsibility to produce content that is relevant and empathetic toward what consumers are dealing with, Tier10 co-founder Scott Rodgers said. Having both versions of an ad

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. is postponing the reveal of its Bronco SUV by four days amid concerns that its previous unveiling coincided with the birthday of O.J. Simpson. In 1994, Simpson was infamously riding in a white Bronco along Los Angeles freeways being driven by his longtime friend Al Cowlings. Simpson was attempting to

Automotive photographer Jack Schroeder and model Britni Sumida filed a lawsuit against Volvo, alleging that the automaker used Schroeder’s photos featuring Sumida and a Volvo S60 without authorization. The 20-page lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Los Angeles, contends Volvo Group North America LLC took 11 photos from Schroeder’s Instagram page and website without

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. is making official what some dealers have already been offering throughout the coronavirus pandemic: free maintenance for essential workers. The automaker said Friday that members of its FordPass Rewards loyalty program who are defined by their states as essential workers can download an offer for a free service package through

After being called up from Florida to help treat COVID-19 patients in New York, U.S. Navy Reserve Lt. Rob Guerra had to spend two weeks quarantined in a hotel room before he could go back to see his family. His 40th birthday celebration consisted of eating cupcakes in the hotel parking lot. But thanks to

Like face masks, hand sanitizer and rubber gloves, online automotive product launches existed before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic — they just weren’t quite so ubiquitous. But with major global auto shows either canceled or leaning that way, automakers’ need for big splashes for new products has brought what once was a niche strategy

HAMBURG — Volkswagen has completed an internal report into how it came to publish a racist advert, the automaker said. The findings will be released once its management board has reviewed the matter, VW said on Friday. VW’s management board, headed by CEO Herbert Diess, meets regularly on Tuesdays. In the clip, a black man

The organizers of the Geneva auto show have said the event may not be held next year amid a dispute with the local authorities over a bailout and a reluctance by some automakers to attend. The Swiss show was canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) Foundation, which