Omni Automotive Advertising Blog

Here is todays ‘Thought of the Week’.

What will be the extended costs of owning an electric car?

We keep hearing about the upcoming Volt and the push to create more hybrid or electric cars. But I was wondering what the added costs are going to be? When you plug that car in it is going to be your electricity it is using. How much is that going to add to your electric bill? And what is the added drain going to be to the Energy company supplying that electricity? Will they increase your bill when the added energy consumption increases across the board? And if the electricity is being produced by oil/gasoline engines, won’t that in turn produce more costs that will be passed on to the consumer?

What are your thoughts?

This is a post of all the automotive marketing news of the past week.

• Suzuki is doing whatever it takes to get you into a new car (other than of course, making a car I actually want to get into). See their new spots here and here.
• What’s the buzz around Mini. Fly funerals. Yeah, it’s as weird as it sounds.
• Speaking of Mini, here’s a horror spot that revolves around shopping carts. Not as weird as the above link, but equally as cool.
• More Mini. Here’s a Mini rocket.
• Childbirth is on the rise because couples want to get into the new Volkswagen Routan.
• Here’s a cool Volkswagen ad with a dog.
• Grip is important. At least Audi thinks so.
• Woman love shoes. That’s the basis behind this Chevy Traverse ad.
• The Lincoln MKS has liftoff. Yet another indie band shilling for a car.
• Ford sees a flat 2009 in Auto Sales in the United States. Investor says Ford best placed among the Big 3 to come out on top.
• And last but not least… Toyota’s ads sure have come a long way from the 1980’s.

That’s it for this week’s free for all. If you have any tips or ads you think would be a great addition to the free for all, please email at alopez@omni-advertising.com.

With the everyday barrage of commercials it’s easy to become desensitized to them. So its refreshing to see something new. Citroen has recently released a series of commercials featuring the C4 morphing into a Transformer-like robot that break dances, skates, and does a “Staying Alive” groove through the streets (see below). The commercials seem fresh and the robot shines. The website for the C4 smoothly integrates the robot and the feel of the commercial.

Wonder what the mpg on this is? This video was originally posted on YouTube over a year ago and has over a million views. BTW, there was a smart car at the bank the other day. If you think the smart cars are small, you should stand next to one.

A lot of things happen in the week. Somethings are so important that we can have an entire post about them. Other things are only sort of important, and we can only muster a few lines about them. This is a post about those other things.

• Ford has just unleashed a car that will get 65 miles per gallon. Unfortunately it won’t be sold in the United States.
• Chevy and the EPA do not agree about the estimated miles per gallon for the new Volt. Chevy wants somewhere near 100 mpg and the EPA is saying it’s closer to 48.
• How did the chicken cross the road. With a shovel.
• Mirror makes Mini bigger and my face distorted.
• Saab wants to help you figure out your turbo gene.
• Toyota’s used as King Kong’s earplugs. They deliver big sound, get it.
• Blimey, the Honda Jazz has come to England.
• And speaking of England… here’s an old ad from an English Car Dealer. That’s one great deal! An above ground pool with the purchase of a used car. What’s that? You can’t tell I’m trying to be sarcastic.

Well, that’s it for this week’s version of Auto Free For All. Hopefully this will be a weekly feature. But I’m busy, so you never know.

In a time of unstable gas prices, Green initiatives and changes in consumers spending habits, it’s not surprising the ideas automakers continue to come up with. As car buyers finally begin to stop buying the big gas guzzlers, the car designers have begin to Mini-aturize.

Case in point, the 2010 Mini Crossover Concept was just revealed in Paris. According to this AutoBlog article, the Mini concept is taller and wider than the Mini Clubman. The five door vehicle has a single panel rear door that opens to the right, although this feature may change if the car goes to production. The power specs will most likely stay the same as the current Mini line, with 4WD for offroad driving.

Following up on my previous entry regarding the new Chevy Volt, AutoBlog has just revealed some more pictures of the Volt, which isn’t scheduled for release until next week.

Update- CNN article and video about the Volt can be seen here.

Here at Omni Advertising we are always looking for trying new ideas and implementing new strategies to help our clients businesses grow. Earlier this week we announced the new site redesign for the Central Florida Honda Dealers. Now we are proud to announce the launch of the newly redesigned Gulf Coast Honda Dealers website.

The Gulf Coast Honda Dealers is an association of eight Honda dealers serving the Bay Area in and around Tampa, Florida. The dealers are Autoway Honda, Brandon Honda, Crown Honda, Gateway Honda, Tampa Hondaland, Kuhn Honda, Courtesy Palm Harbor Honda, and Honda of Wesley Chapel.

The Central Florida Honda Dealers website has been updated with a new look and new functionality. From the new site you can find out information about all of the Honda lineup of vehicles. This month the featured vehicle special is for the 2008 Honda Accord LX for only $219 a month.

You can view the new site at cfhondadealers.com or centralfloridahondadealers.com

Iconic, stylish and now unfashionable hood ornaments seem to be going the way of tailfins and the fastback: away. A recent Newsweek article says that Jaguar has gotten rid of it’s cat hood ornament as a standard feature. For an extra $250 you can add the cat back to your Jag.

Mercedes-Benz now has its three point hood ornament on less than one third of its vehicles. Cadillac, Dodge and Mercury have already buried this old relic.