So... the EffOne Grand Prix brings home something interesting that local Supercar brands seem to have moved away from.
Showing the product you can buy on the street, and relating it to the noisy (not so noisy?) cars banging around the race track.
There are 2 shots from Melbourne taken in the last few days, and you can see the Porsche Experience Centre, and significant demonstration platforms from Mercedes AMG and Alfa Romeo.
So the great unwashed can go take a look at a hero car or two, which they may or may not be in the market for, and maybe other models which could be suitable to power, to initiate and/or satisfy their purchase intent.
Sure, these 3 brands are not volume brands like Ford, Nissan or Holden
Yet they are there to quite literally get the halo effect (not that ugly thong thing!!) of a direct relationship between what they do competitively and what they offer the said great unwashed.
There are manufacturer/importer representatives at each stand, and a sprinkling of dealer representatives in tow, potentially capable of selling cars then & there, or at the very least capable of warming up an interest into an inquiry into a genuine purchase prospect.
So.. what are Nissan and Ford and Holden doing?
Well at Bathurst last year, and a number of other rounds, Nissan showed off in the paddock the 370Z, and a number of NisMoAu show cars/old race cars as their homage to connecting on track with on road. The 370Z was given away in a competition. Yet a few years ago it was more, much more. They had just about every model in their range in a professional enclosure, with knowledgeable sales people from dealers, and a smattering of well worded up promotional staff to give the customer the feel of their Pulsar/Altima/Pathfinder/Patrol etc. Did it generate sales? Nobody shares that stuff, and it’s difficult to completely track the indirect influence a setup like this can have on the purchase decision. Yes there is a model gulf for Nissan right now yet their Patrol and Pathfinder models are current mainstays of the brand, and are easily relatable to the race car with that big Patrol V8 under the bonnet. Except they don’t usually show these cars off...
In the 2000’s, Ford had a marquee of cars at some events, the largest perhaps at Homebush, showing everything from Fiesta to Focus to Territory to Falcon to utes and whatever else was in the range. One time they had their green meanie Focus RS on display, and how many kids had their pics taken with those cars, either behind the wheel, or outside, in front of the cars. Nowadays, unless alocal dealet is peppering the paddocks with cars, you might not know Ford is in the Supercar series... Tickford seem to have a lone Mustang or ute around, but its not like just anyone can get up close & personal with those cars.
Holden too has had an on-again off-again presence in the paddocks across the land. The first ZF roadcar I sat in was at the Newcastle event last year, a couple of their brand new, previously unseen products there for everyone and anyone to enjoy, and well trained promotional people to share stories, details of the cars, the features and specifications and pricibg, and getting brochures for genuinely interested potential customers. Not sure that happens at every round of the series...
Volvo had something similar going on in their (short) time in the series, with lots of cars and dealers around to talk about the cars.
In a series like Supercar that is essentially about the cars, the sight and sound of them, the pitting of brands against one another, it is hard to fathom why the rolling roadcar roadshow is not more prevalent.
Imagine somewhere between 1.7 and 2 million pairs of eyes wandering past these road cars across the racing year. Multiple days of an event just get you more chance to look at them when not so many people are around.
You might have thought this would be easier than trying to bring people into showrooms, where there are often already paradigms about those environments, and LOTS of stories with low net promoter scores about how “good” that experience can sometimes be.
Are the Supercar brands missing out on something here?
Wouldn’t mind betting they are....