Honda is gearing up for a run on the 2007 Formula 1 circuit (pix linked here) while Toyota starts its engines in pursuit of NASCAR’s Nextel Cup. Does it matter? Do intermediate (i.e., dealers) or end customers (i.e., consumers) care whether Honda, Toyota, or Chevrolet crosses the finish line first, second, or third?
Years ago, Honda dominated the Champ Car Series (nee CART). A survey revealed that end customers did not associate Honda’s dominance with a technological proficiency of the Honda nameplate. Still, Honda decided to badge its entry in ALMS with the Acura brand. What should Honda do differently if Acura dominates ALMS as Honda did in the Champ Car Series?
When the 2007 NASCAR season starts, Toyota will try to swap paint with the Big 2.5. With Toyota now the number 2 automaker in the United States market, and looking to pass General Motors, Toyota wants American end customers to think of them as Apple Pie as Chevrolet. Will Americans peg Toyota as Red, White, and True? Do Americans even care?
How many end customers are aware of Chevrolet’s win at the 24 Hour of Daytona in 2001 or Pontiac’s consecutive wins in 2004 and 2005? Do intermediate customers bring this up during the sales process?
If these marketing efforts do not matter to intermediate or end customers, then why do automotive companies allocate resources toward these marketing efforts? At least Ford, which posted its largest loss in company history, has severed one relationship with a racing series. Autoblog posted some insights into Ford’s fourth quarter results.
8 responses so far ↓
robertc1 // January 27, 2007 at 10:45 am |
They had a story on this on Outside the Lines on ESPN. The Big 3 or the Big 2.5 as you refers to them.
Toyota is getting alot of fuss because of the amount of money they will pour into NASCAR. The Big 3 are afarid of the disparity of money. The ultimate question is will the “end customers” embarce it. I think yes because eventully people won’t care where Toyota is from.
micheller2 // January 30, 2007 at 10:16 pm |
I agree with Robertc1 that the major concern with Toyota entering NASCAR is the amount of money that they are going to be throwing into their teams, and their entry comes at a time when NASCAR is trying to finds ways help the smaller independent teams survive against the way out resourced Big 2.5 team such as ROUSCH (ford) and HENDRICK (Chevy). Those two teams have dominated, winning 4 out of the last 7 championships. The other 3 were also Chevy’s driven for Gibbs Racing and while a Ford driver as claimed the championship 2 out those 7 years, Chevy as been the top manufacture all 7 years. With that said, Toyota has almost dominate the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series since its entry 3 years ago, winning the last two championship, both driver and manufactures titles.
I think it is obvious that consumers are not concerned with results or Ford and Chevy would not be in their present financial struggles. The expression that “what wins on Sunday, sell on Monday” was in a time when the racecars were nearly identical to the cars on the showroom floor. A fact which is not true with today racecar, they hardly resemble their street counterparts and with the exception of grills and decals the car frames and bodies are the same from one manufacture to another.
I feel the main decision in buying a car is price. Once a price range has been determined the intended use and style of vehicle are also factors in the final decision.
The only exception to this is NASCAR fans, who have known to be fanatical in their support of their driver’s sponsors.
Another question, what impact if any, will the rumored partnership between Ford and Toyota make to consumers?
justinj1 // February 21, 2007 at 12:54 pm |
I feel that the average consumer does not care how their manufacturer finishes in competition because the average consumer does not follow automotive racing. I think that is one of the reasons why dealers do not bring up the fact that their model won a racing championship. It carries little significance with the end consumer.
The only situation in which competition performance matters is with die hard gearheads or sports cars such as the Chevy Corvette or the Acura NSX. However, I believe that gearheads are extremely brand loyal anyway and may rationalize a bad season/race.
I think that the Big 3 are using racing in their marketing to help shape their brands. I think they would be more effective if they marketed how the technology used in the racing cars trickles down into cars consumers actually drive. For example Honda F1 developed iVTEC that is now in the Civic Si.
If Toyota dominates NASCAR, look for a deep south backlash.
iana1 // February 27, 2007 at 3:10 pm |
I don’t think that the majority of customers who buy imports care about how the car performs in a race. This may be different for the crowd that attends the Nascar events though. Many of them are big supporters of the Big 3. Even Chevrolet sells or sold a Monte Carlo with Dale and Dale Jr. resemblance.
http://www.daleearnhardt.net/chevy/signature/earnhardt_signature_monte_03.jpg
http://www.sycamorechevy.com/used%20inventory/Usedover10/2639A-700.JPG
I don’t know anyone that would buy those but people who sit around and watch or go to the Nascar events. Like Justin said, if Toyota wins there will be a lot of tears from the Nascar group.
Nascar and F1 are two completely different animals. They both attract two completely different customers. F1 attracts more of the middle to upper class people and white collar workers while Nascar appeals more the the lower to lower middle class and the blue collar workers. It’s just the nature of the beast. F1 is a worldwide sport while Nascar is in the states. F1 is more of a beautiful refined sport while Nascar is tough and gritty. When I think of the Big 3 I think of tough bold and powerful. When I think of imports I think sleek, maneuverable, and reliable.
eriny2 // March 2, 2007 at 12:01 am |
I believe that the end customers do not ultimately care about how well the car manufacturer did in determining whether or whether not to purchase the vechicle. Many customers are not watching NASCAR and other such races. The ones that are true fans could want to purchase a vehicle based on the outcomes of the races, but I don’t think the market for that is big enough for it to be a concern. Honda, Toyota, and Chevrolet are most of the cars you see young drivers in. Their parents are looking for a cheaper, but safe car that their new driver can drive. Having said that, I do not think that it would be a could selling technique to tell this kind of end customer that the car just won a NASCAR race. No parent wants to hear that the car goes extremely fast, in an extremely fast period of time. Even though the show room car does not compare to the race car it will still have an affect on how the parent views that vehicle. For the most part, when purchasing cars of this nature the end customer is looking for something affordable. Therefore, I do not think it would be a good strategy to focus attention on getting end customers this way. The seller needs to get to know their customer and if it turns out he/she enjoys NASCAR, then mentioning it could be a factor in the sale. Otherwise, I do not think it is something that needs to be focused on seeing that the market that watches NASCAR is not big enough.
treyk1 // March 2, 2007 at 11:30 am |
I don’t think that Honda being in Formula 1 or Toyota in NASCAR will help either company sell more cars. I’m not aware of any car maker benefiting from Formula 1 (except maybe Ferrari, but that’s another matter altogether). While the title (Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday) used to be true, according to “Toyota vs. USA?” by Holman W. Jenkins, Jr in February 14’s Wall Street Journal on A20. The same article also said that the top finish for a Toyota car in the Daytona 500 was 22nd, which won’t sell any cars. NASCAR is way too American for a foreign automaker to profit off of it any time soon. I predict it will years before Toyota is reaping any benefits from this move (if ever). I would assume a similar fate for Honda in Formula 1.
jvasquez2 // March 2, 2007 at 1:41 pm |
Toyota in general seems as though they are trying to “Americanize” themselves, to me that is why they entered into NASCAR . By them doing so they entered into a market that has been dominated by Ford, Chevy, Pontiac and Dodge. Like I said earlier, it is my opinion that Toyota is “americanizing” their company to set themselves apart from other foreign dealers. Not only by entering NASCAR, look at there whole line of cars, they are coming in bigger sizes, like the new Titan truck, before this truck they mainly made compact trucks. Americans do not like the idea of compact, so Toyota now makes a big truck like americans are used to. I do not think it matter where the Toyota or Honda cars place in the race, it only matters that they are in the race. People will see enough commercials by the companies for it to be effective. The saying “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” should be ” Race on Sunday, Sell a little more that usual on Monday.”
ashleyd2 // March 2, 2007 at 3:11 pm |
I think that the “average” consumer doesn’t care about who wins or who doesn’t. I think it is funny that corporations will pay top dollar to have their car win, that may or may not finish the race. I am sure if you were to ask someone who actually watched the whole race, who won and what car they where driving they would have no idea 24 hours later. I really think it is a waste of time and money, because I don’t think that there is a direct link between a car and a driver.
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