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I wonder how long it will take  until the other automakers have similar sites.

Here is a video about the upcoming Ford Taurus’ ability to take a hit.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Le Mans 2009 Audi S4 lap and Alan McNish interview from Justin Bell on Vimeo.

So how does the Payment Insurance Big 3 stack up?

Chart from Jalopnik.

Now as you can see, Ford offers more payment assistance, larger payments and a bigger maximum payout. But, Hyundai is the manufacturer that truly covers the consumer’s negative equity. But the benefit of covering negative equity is a difficult thing to explain to a consumer.

To be fair to GM, this is only part of their Total Confidence program.

Now let’s look how the manufacturers tried to convey this complicated message in a 30 second ad.

Hyundai Assurance Plus

Click here to view the embedded video.

GM Total Confidence

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ford Advantage Plan

Click here to view the embedded video.

Placed back to back to back the messages look very different. While Hyundai and GM try to relate to the viewer, Ford dives right into their message. Hyundai adopts a plus sign in their ad, GM uses a rally cap and Ford just uses straight figures.

The problem with Ford’s direction is what will the viewer ultimately remember. After a few minutes do you remember the figures from the Ford ad? Do you remember the backwards hat? How about the plus sign?

Hyundai and GM went soft with their sale, Ford took the hard road with theirs. Ultimately time will decide which direction was the best.

In the midst of the economic tumble and massive job layoffs, Hyundai is now offering assurance to their customers. In the above ad and the ad after the jump, Hyundai declares that if you lose your income, within a year after buying a new Hyundai, you can simply return the car. According to the Hyundai website, the program covers up to $7,500 in negative equity and lets the buyer off the hook for further payments without any negative impact to his/her credit.

In these uncertain times, there are two huge factors that worry consumers when buying a new vehicle:

1. Financial security. Why would I want to make a huge investment if I might lose my job in the next 6 months?

2. The security of the manufacturers. If these Auto Companies need a bailout to survive, how long will they still be able offer such amenities as long warranties and leases if they start running out of money again?

Hyundai addresses both concerns in both the ads.

I would not be surprised to see some major dealer groups offer this same kind of program. A car’s depreciation once it drives off the lot is an bloated lie. If a customer puts a minimum down and makes at least two payments, the negative equity should be minimal. But the confidence you give the consumer would be unmeasurable.

See the 2nd ad after the jump.

Click here to view the embedded video.

• 2008 Element Special AHFC A.P.R. Financing – 0.9% APR for 36 months or 2.9% APR for 60 months
• 2008 Odyssey Featured Special Lease – $259.00 per month for 36 months. $2,499.00 total due at signing.
• 2008 S2000 Featured Special Lease – $349.00 per month for 36 months. $2,499.00 total due at signing.
• 2008 Accord Sedan 4-Cylinder LX Featured Special Lease – $219.00 per month for 36 months. $2,599.00 total due at signing.
• 2008 Civic Coupe Featured Special Lease – $199.00 per month for 36 months. $1,999.00 total due at signing.
• 2008 Civic Sedan Featured Special Lease – $199.00 per month for 36 months. $1,999.00 total due at signing.
• 2008 Accord Sedan Special AHFC A.P.R. Financing – 0.9% APR for 36 months or 2.9% APR for 60 months
• 2008 Civic Special AHFC A.P.R. Financing – 1.9% APR for 36 months or 2.9% APR for 60 months
• 2008 Element Special AHFC A.P.R. Financing – 0.9% APR for 36 months or 2.9% APR for 60 months
• 2008 Odyssey Special AHFC A.P.R. Financing – 0.9% APR for 24 – 36 months or 2.9% APR for 37 – 60 months
• 2008 Pilot Special AHFC A.P.R. Financing – 0.9% APR for 36 months or 2.9% APR for 60 months
• 2008 Ridgeline Special AHFC A.P.R. Financing – 0.9% APR for 36 months or 2.9% APR for 60 months
• 2008 S2000 Special AHFC A.P.R. Financing – 0.9% APR for 36 months or 2.9% APR for 60 months
• 2008/2009 All Honda Model Graduate Special AHFC A.P.R. Financing – 4.99% APR for 24-60 months or 5.49% APR for 61-72 months.

For more information, visit your local Honda Dealer:

Central Florida Honda Dealers – Orlando to Daytona FL
Gateway Honda Dealers – St Louis MO
Gulf Coast Honda Dealers – Tampa FL
Hampton Roads Honda Dealers – Richmond VA
North Georgia Honda Dealers – Atlanta G
Northern Ohio Honda Dealers – Cleveland OH
South Florida Honda Dealers – Miami to West Palm FL

As the price of gas has continued to rise over the past four years I’ve often thought about that first fill up. Don’t get me wrong. I love my truck. I always wanted a big powerful truck and my Dodge Ram fit the bill. I also do a lot of home repair and woodworking projects which require me to haul large sheets of plywood, 2x4s, dirt, flowers and such. Try to fit a sheet of plywood in a Celica.

I could go on and on about why I need the truck. But every time I fill the tank I wonder If I really need the truck. Better yet, can I continue to afford the truck. Last week gas was $3.91. A full tank, 26 gallons, will now cost me over $101.66! OUCH! I don’t know about you but that puts a big dent in my wallet. Luckily for me I no longer make the daily commute to work. In 2004 I drove 34 mile to work, which took me over an hour in rush hour traffic. I was filling the truck every four days. If I had to do that today I would be spending at least $500 a month on gas.

When I read this Sun-Sentinel article about trading in for a fuel-efficient car, I once again found myself wondering about how much I really need that big truck. I use to lease my vehicles, but decided to buy this truck with the thought that I really didn’t need a new car every four years. I was going to keep this truck forever! So it made sense to buy, not lease. With only a year left to pay off the car, would it really be cost effective to trade it in for a more fuel-efficient vehicle? Lets do the math. One year of payments is roughly $5500. Right now, since I don’t commute and only use the truck when I have to, I only spend about $75 a month to put gas into the truck. That’s about $900 a year. Total so far, $6400. Add $700 for insurance and we’re up to $7100. The Sun-Sentinel article estimated a cost of about $9,000 for a new Toyota. Based on that I’m saving almost $2000 a year keeping the truck.

However, if I was commuting to work I would be spending an additional $4820 a year on gas. If that were the case, I would definitely need to think about trading in or, at least, getting another vehicle to get to work every day.

So for me, trading in the truck is probably not the best choice. Even if I wanted to trade in the truck, I doubt if I would get a decent trade-in amount. With the rising cost of oil, people just are beginning to move towards smaller cars resulting in less truck sales. GM just announced four truck and suv plant closures. And the Hummer brand may be discontinued. Imagine that!

I suspect that the cost of gas will continue to rise. And, while we might change our driving habits or trade-in for smaller fuel-efficient cars, Americans will continue to drive. We are a nation that depends on our vehicles to get us to work every day. For many people cars give us independence. The automakers are finally taking the steps to develop more hybrids. Alternative fuels are being developed. The future of the automobile is safe.

In the meantime my big honking yellow truck will sit in the driveway.

When you run a high profile creative campaign you need to utilize every opportunity you have to be recognized by the customer. By creating a micro site that ties into your campaign, you essentially add another avenue for the customer to contact you.

Why should you create a separate site for your campaign? Well, the first reason would be to create a site that is designed specifically for your campaign. Doing this creates a visual connection to your TV and radio creative. When someone visits the micro site, they see a site that ties in directly with your campaign.

The second reason, and probably the most important, for creating a micro site is measurability! By steering people to your micro site you can track their movements and extract statistics from the site reports. A properly designed site should capture the visitors attention and then steer them to a contact or conversion page to gather information for your dealerships internet sales people. All of this is measurable. And if something can be measured, a value can be placed on it.

So why not use your dealer site in the campaign? Well, if your dealer site was designed correctly, it has a totally different goal. It sells your dealership! It informs about the product and your services. It wasn’t designed with the same goals as a campaign micro site. By using the campaign site, you can have better control over steering the visitor to where you want him to go – the contact page.

Automotive campaign advertising web sites are an effective tool to capturing and converting visitors to paying customers.

If your not using a campaign micro site to tie into your advertising campaigns you may be letting sales get away! Contact Omni Advertising today to learn more about how we can help you maximize your campaigns effectiveness with a campaign microsite. Call Gail Yaciuk at 561-620-4774.

Here is a video of the Genesis concept that was reveiled at the 2007 New York International Auto Show.

Click here to view the embedded video.

And a promo video on the genesis

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.