Marketing

Most brands mine social media and influencer trends to tap into popular crazes. But Chrysler is using one rising phenomenon as a foil — #VanLife. The hashtag, which is affixed to social content plugging the kind of nomadic lifestyle that has gained traction during the pandemic, serves as the inspiration for a new campaign for

As brands rush to tell consumers about what electric vehicles can offer, Ford Motor Co. is trying to bring “frunk” into the cultural lexicon. “Frunk” is slang for front trunk, or the empty space under the hood where most gasoline-powered vehicles have an engine. The frunk is representative of how the arrival of mainstream EVs

Two ads for the Land Rover Defender have been banned in the United Kingdom over concerns that they could mislead viewers into thinking the vehicles would keep drivers from going over a cliff. The ads showed a Defender parking at the end of a cliff as the vehicle’s backup sensors make a beeping sound. Two

Ford is taking what appears to be a subtle shot at Elon Musk in a new campaign set to get airplay during this weekend’s Kentucky Derby coverage on NBC.  The effort from Wieden+Kennedy has blue-collar sensibilities and aims to promote the automaker’s status as a major employer of hourly workers. One ad begins with scenes

As brands rush to tell consumers about what electric vehicles can offer, Ford Motor Co. is trying to bring the “frunk” into the cultural lexicon. Frunk is slang for front trunk, or the empty space in the front hood where the gas-powered cars keep the engine. EVs don’t use internal combustion engines, freeing the space

Detroit used to have an auto show every year, so the legend goes. The show is scheduled to return this September for the first time in more than three and a half years, and the main floor is completely sold out, organizers said last week. At least five active vehicle tracks will be set up

Can a bunch of college students solve some of the most vexing automotive engineering challenges facing the industry? Over the next four years, 15 universities across North America will be competing to engineer the most efficient battery-electric vehicles possible while combining connected and autonomous tech — and keeping them fun to drive for consumers. The

The North American International Auto Show will return to Detroit with a focus on electric vehicles and emerging technology as well as activations including street course ride-alongs on the Grand Prix’s future downtown circuit. There will also be five active tracks inside Huntington Place, whose main show floor is sold out for the reimagined auto

NEW YORK — I showed up at the Auto Forum here, held in the $1.5 billion — with a B — expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, and was confronted by a friend: “Are you going to write another death of auto shows column?” I said I would have to see what I

Lincoln Motor Co. may have stumbled onto its next slogan. Oscar-winning actor and brand spokesman Matthew McConaughey was on hand for the reveal of the Lincoln Star concept in Los Angeles last week, conducting an unscripted question-and-answer session with Lincoln President Joy Falotico. Things got a bit philosophical when she asked McConaughey what makes a

NEW YORK — Alfa Romeo is taking its new Tonale crossover on the road. The Italian brand, which is looking for an awareness boost to juice stagnant sales, wants consumers to have a hands-on experience with its first electrified entry ahead of the Tonale’s U.S. release in early 2023. The model will have plug-in hybrid

NEW YORK — The New York International Auto Show is bustling again. It was a long road to get here, and the dire circumstances of two years ago, when COVID-19 forced a sudden hiatus for one of the industry’s premier launch pads, illustrate just how far the show’s journey back has been. The 2020 event

To James Stephens, using dry-erase whiteboards and lifeless posters taped to walls to promote fixed ops services is so yesterday. “A lot of what you see inside dealerships today is very outdated,” says the fixed ops director at Nashville-based Beaman Automotive Group, part of Hudson Automotive Group. But that’s not the case at the four

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. will launch its F-150 Lightning electric pickup April 26, CEO Jim Farley said Wednesday on Twitter. The automaker plans an event that day at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Michigan to celebrate the official start of production and first customer deliveries, which are expected soon afterward. “We will be

Dealership sales departments have traditionally feasted on bountiful digital marketing budgets and tactics while fixed ops departments had to nibble on the leftover scraps, usually in the form of “spray-and-pray” direct-mail campaigns. But that dynamic is changing. Fast. “We’re on the cusp of an advertising revolution in fixed ops,” says Alexi Venneri, co-founder and CEO

The time has come for a new DeLorean. DeLorean Motor Co. Inc. says it plans to unveil an electric model at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August. The company last week released a teaser image of the concept, showing the taillight and left shoulder. The prototype is being revealed at the Awards Ramp three

Drivers in Massachusetts waited in line for up to nine hours to fill their gas tanks for free, courtesy of dealer Ernie Boch Jr. Boch paid for more than 500 people to fuel up at a gas station in Norwood, Mass., to celebrate what he called “April Fuels Day.” He originally planned to give away

The New York International Auto Show returns this week after a two-year hiatus caused by coronavirus restrictions and concerns. But automakers are not back to their full level of pre-pandemic enthusiasm yet. A few manufacturers will show new electric vehicles, a hypercar and, yes, even good old-fashioned gasoline-powered models at the show, which opens to

PHOENIX — A steady cadence of new advertisements during key events made March the best month for GMC Hummer EV reservations since the SUV version was unveiled a year ago. “Awareness is a big thing, and I think that is on our side,” said Duncan Aldred, global vice president of Buick-GMC. GMC during the NBA

Carmen Hinton was always doubtful about winning contests and prizes. So she was surprised when her name was announced last month at the NADA Show as the winner of the fifth annual Women Driving Auto Retail Video Contest. Hinton has been the service manager for the past six years at Carter Myers Automotive’s Valley Subaru

When electrification was on the horizon, Jeep knew exactly where to go with its message. The brand known for touting off-road excursions has stuck to an outdoorsy formula for its 4xe line of plug-in hybrids. The marketing transition could be seen in 2020 when Jeep started touting the quiet ride of the Wrangler 4xe months

A teenage driver’s twister trouble has resulted in a new Chevrolet Silverado. When Riley Leon, 16, drove through a powerful tornado on his way home from a job interview last month, his red Silverado flipped multiple times before landing upright on the road and he drove to safety, according to media reports. Leon was not

Millions of people have driven their Toyota to a shopping mall, but few have actually driven right through the middle of one. Toyota Gazoo Racing organized a drift race through a dead mall for a video to promote the 2022 GR86. Three frigid days of filming at the Charlestowne Mall in St. Charles, Ill., left

BrightDrop, General Motors‘ electric delivery van business, has changed the names of its two electric vans and its electric delivery cart. The BrightDrop EV600, the larger of the two vans, will be called the BrightDrop Zevo 600, and the EV410 will be dubbed the BrightDrop Zevo 400. “We chose Zevo because it contains ZEV (Zero

Porsche is looking to advance itself in the world of in-vehicle entertainment — at least at its in-house playground in Southern California. It’s now offering a virtual reality gaming experience — for passengers, not drivers — at its Porsche Experience Center in Los Angeles. The program, created in collaboration with the tech startup Holoride is

Buick appears to be rearranging its shields. The General Motors brand recently filed a trademark application that shows the three shields in its logo aligned horizontally instead of diagonally, and no longer overlapping. The shields also lose their diagonal stripe in favor of a curved line, and there’s no ring around the trio. (Jalopnik thinks

After declaring this month that they had no intention of doing so, Volkswagen executives are now rethinking their plans to keep production of the retro-styled electric minivan, the ID Buzz, anchored exclusively in Hanover, Germany, with North American production now a possibility. So what changed between March 10 and March 21? Consumer reaction — especially

General Motors is pulling back the curtain to show viewers the genesis and development of its first electric pickup, the GMC Hummer. A one-hour documentary called Revolution: GMC Hummer EV will premiere Sunday, March 27, on the History Channel, GMC and A+E Networks said last week. The film shows how the GM team launched the

Drivers of electric vehicles will be able to get more than a caffeine charge at some Starbucks locations this year. Volvo Car USA said Tuesday that it will be collaborating with Starbucks in a pilot project to add about 60 EV charging stations at 15 coffee shops beginning this summer. The locations will be scattered

SYLVANIA, Ohio — Joe Mehling minces no words in describing the effect of his desperate decision last year to turn to an old marketing standby and employ it in a completely unfamiliar way. “There’s no doubt about it,” explains the man whose been executive general manager of family-owned Dave White Chevrolet, just a mile south