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Old 23 Mar 2018, 22:22 (Ref:3810253)   #1
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Cheese Car Brands Leveraging Motorsport At Track





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....
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Old 23 Mar 2018, 22:50 (Ref:3810258)   #2
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M91 should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridM91 should be qualifying in the top 5 on the grid
I was actually having a similar thought after walking past the Hyundai display at the GP. It would be a perfect place for the likes of Ford to see up a display of their "Ford Performance" range of vehicles. They could have even shipped on a GT supercar to get people's attention or perhaps displayed the new Ranger Raptor. It would be a great way for people to see these cars.
Makes sense to me and probably many others but some of these companies seem to have lost the plot when it comes to marketing.
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Old 24 Mar 2018, 00:38 (Ref:3810267)   #3
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Not a volume brand - AMG - Austraila is the biggest market per capita for AMG

Mercedes Benz puts a huge amount of money into it's brand awarness back in 2008 they were the first to hire Bathurst for 4 days around April

The Nissan Safari @ Sandown was great and they should do more yet on the other hand they have a GT3 GTR sitting in a shed gathering dust.
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Old 24 Mar 2018, 00:56 (Ref:3810268)   #4
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mayhem should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridmayhem should be qualifying in the top 5 on the grid
The displays of production models at the B12hr was jaw dropping this year.
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Old 24 Mar 2018, 01:08 (Ref:3810269)   #5
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Forda should be qualifying in the top 10 on the grid
Tekno often seems to have a display of their road cars at race meetings, complete with friendly staff to assist with any inquiries.

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Old 24 Mar 2018, 01:15 (Ref:3810271)   #6
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The displays of production models at the B12hr was jaw dropping this year.
Exactly my point...
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Old 24 Mar 2018, 19:11 (Ref:3810467)   #7
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Supercars probably charging them too many $$$$$ GTR, so not worth it
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Old 27 Mar 2018, 06:44 (Ref:3811153)   #8
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Average Punter should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridAverage Punter should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridAverage Punter should be qualifying in the top 5 on the grid
Nissan did have a presence at Bathurst. Show your keyring and get into the upstairs Bar for 30 minutes.

I'd rather sit in a GTR.
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Old 27 Mar 2018, 10:03 (Ref:3811190)   #9
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Chatters should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridChatters should be qualifying in the top 5 on the grid
G'day Tenthers, long time no see!

Do you think this lack of presence by Holden/Ford/Nissan could be due to a lack of relevance in the current Supercar climate? Holden don't sell a V8 current, Ford don't sell that Falcon at all, and ditto with Nissan and the Altima. With the debut of the V6 turbo next year this might change for Holden, and perhaps Tickford Racing switch to the Mustang in 2019/20, but at the moment, maybe they don't see the point of showcasing cars that don't have much/any connection to what's on track.

I loved the portable showrooms that were on display at the AGP last weekend, and I think at least 90 percent of people who walked through there would have had no intention of buying any of the cars, but that point brings with it two afterthoughts:

  1. The other 10 percent of people who walked through those displays may have splashed out on some new wheels, and at $70-$700k a car that probably comfortably covered the associated costs of having the showroom there in the first place.
  2. Formula 1 has always marketed itself as the pinnacle of cutting edge technology, technology that can (and has) made its way into road cars, hence why brands would be so eager to connect themselves with the sport.
I think the display at the 12 Hour is warranted due to the high relevance of GT racing to road cars: As somebody wise once said, "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday." Anybody could have walked off the street the day after the race and purchased a shiny new Audi R8 (almost) like the one that won the day before.


Supercars can't really market themselves as cutting edge or currently relevant to the cars we drive around in, so maybe Holden, Nissan and Ford simply don't see the point?
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Old 27 Mar 2018, 23:28 (Ref:3811373)   #10
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mayhem should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridmayhem should be qualifying in the top 5 on the grid
They're good points Chatters but they don't have to limit themselves to showing off a Falcon/Altima/Commodore. Ford could go buy a Ken Block car and then put a bunch of new Focus' there, Nissan with the GT3 GTR, etc etc.
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Old 28 Mar 2018, 01:10 (Ref:3811387)   #11
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Impressive stuff from the GP organisers to pull basically every premium brand in the market with these display stands. It was interesting to see the brands represented, for the likes of Rolls-Royce, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lamborghini, BMW, Bentley and even Hyundai were all showing models yet have no representation in F1, while Honda is in F1 with Torro Rosso but no sign of a Civic Type R or NSX that you could view???

Interesting that Ferrari also didn't display any road models, but they were there with the Asia Pacific Challenge which had its paddock among the grandstands on pit straight.

The Jaguar Supersprint near The Point restaurant had drivers such as Tony DAlberto and Jesse Dixon drifting F-Types (great noise BTW) and the fans could have a go in the passenger seat. I heard there were queues of up to two hours for rides but being a free activity you'd have to expect everyone wanting a go.

There was even a Lamborghini parade that included the new Urus SUV and Paul Stokell's Nations Cup Diablo in its period spec, and Webber was doing laps in the GT2 RS that's never been seen before in Australia. With all these premium brands it appears the GP is either our new motor show or Australia's answer to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Either way, someone at the GP is doing something right.
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Old 28 Mar 2018, 01:15 (Ref:3811390)   #12
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They're good points Chatters but they don't have to limit themselves to showing off a Falcon/Altima/Commodore. Ford could go buy a Ken Block car and then put a bunch of new Focus' there, Nissan with the GT3 GTR, etc etc.
If Ford arent interested in staying involved with the category why should they be allowed to have a display on site? I got no issue with a local dealer who supports a team-thats a different story but if Ford Aus dont want to play the game why should they get any benefit out of it?
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Old 28 Mar 2018, 01:58 (Ref:3811394)   #13
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If Ford arent interested in staying involved with the category why should they be allowed to have a display on site? I got no issue with a local dealer who supports a team-thats a different story but if Ford Aus dont want to play the game why should they get any benefit out of it?
Bernie used to have a rule that a car manufacturer that didn't participate in grand prix racing couldn't appear or sponsor a grand prix.

Hence the problem when the South Australian government accepted the Mitsubishi sponsorship in 1985.
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Old 28 Mar 2018, 08:26 (Ref:3811433)   #14
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If Ford arent interested in staying involved with the category why should they be allowed to have a display on site? I got no issue with a local dealer who supports a team-thats a different story but if Ford Aus dont want to play the game why should they get any benefit out of it?
Its a fair point mate, my angle was that this is how Ford should/could have been doing it to gain some sort of leverage out of their product running around in Supercars.
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Old 1 Jun 2018, 16:14 (Ref:3826054)   #15
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Razor should be qualifying in the top 3 on the gridRazor should be qualifying in the top 3 on the gridRazor should be qualifying in the top 3 on the grid
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G'day Tenthers, long time no see!

Do you think this lack of presence by Holden/Ford/Nissan could be due to a lack of relevance in the current Supercar climate? Holden don't sell a V8 current, Ford don't sell that Falcon at all, and ditto with Nissan and the Altima. With the debut of the V6 turbo next year this might change for Holden, and perhaps Tickford Racing switch to the Mustang in 2019/20, but at the moment, maybe they don't see the point of showcasing cars that don't have much/any connection to what's on track.

I loved the portable showrooms that were on display at the AGP last weekend, and I think at least 90 percent of people who walked through there would have had no intention of buying any of the cars, but that point brings with it two afterthoughts:

  1. The other 10 percent of people who walked through those displays may have splashed out on some new wheels, and at $70-$700k a car that probably comfortably covered the associated costs of having the showroom there in the first place.
  2. Formula 1 has always marketed itself as the pinnacle of cutting edge technology, technology that can (and has) made its way into road cars, hence why brands would be so eager to connect themselves with the sport.
I think the display at the 12 Hour is warranted due to the high relevance of GT racing to road cars: As somebody wise once said, "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday." Anybody could have walked off the street the day after the race and purchased a shiny new Audi R8 (almost) like the one that won the day before.


Supercars can't really market themselves as cutting edge or currently relevant to the cars we drive around in, so maybe Holden, Nissan and Ford simply don't see the point?
Off topic but good to see you once again Chatters. Missed you on these forums man.
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