January 6, 2012

Audi Adds Models for U.S. in Bid to Grab Global Lead from BMW
Audi will add models to feed U.S. passion for sedans and sport-utility vehicles and gain ground on market leaders BMW and Mercedes. According to Automotive News, the automaker will use the Detroit Auto Show next week to unveil a concept "Vail" version of the compact Q3 SUV for the U.S. market and plans to build a sedan version of the A3 hatchback after the newest model comes to market this year. U.S. growth is critical to efforts by Audi, the top seller in Western Europe and China, to replace BMW as the world's largest luxury-car maker by 2015. The Volkswagen brand took a step forward last year by delivering more cars worldwide than Daimler's Mercedes-Benz for the first time. In the U.S., BMW and Mercedes sell more than twice as many cars as Audi. On Thursday, BMW claimed the 2011 U.S. luxury sales title with 247,907 vehicles sold, just ahead of Mercedes' sale of 245,192 vehicles. "The next pillar of the market that we have to conquer is the United States," Audi CEO Rupert Stadler said in London on Thursday. "We see opportunities in the SUV and sedan segments." For complete coverage of Audi’s strategy to grow market share, click here.

Japanese Automakers Prepare Big Auto Show Productions
The Detroit News reports that Japan's leading automakers plan to show they're back in the game after a rough year marked by natural disasters that disrupted their operations for months. At the Detroit Auto Show press preview starting Monday, Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co., and Honda Motor Co. will display more than a dozen all-new or refreshed models they plan to launch into the U.S. market. They include advanced technology vehicles, such as Toyota's Prius and NS4 plug-in hybrids, as well as redesigned versions of mainstream vehicles, including a new Acura RDX crossover. Honda, one of the Japanese carmakers hardest hit by last year's disasters, also aims to recapture some excitement of happier times with the rollout of a concept for a new NSX supercar. Nissan is returning to Detroit after a three-year absence with a show car for the next Pathfinder SUV. It will also exhibit a concept for a small electric commercial van, the ENV 200. But Toyota and Honda are putting on the biggest displays, said Michelle Krebs at auto research firm Edmunds.com. "Toyota and Honda are making a strong statement that they're back, they've recovered from the earthquake and tsunami, and they have lots of new products." For the latest on what to expect from Japanese automakers at next week’s Detroit Auto Show, click here.

An Automaker Promotes Its Tagline to Its Slogan
BMW of North America will introduce its new brand advertising on Saturday, reinforcing its image as “the ultimate driving machine” as it introduces 14 new models in the United States this year, reports The New York Times. Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners, appointed in August by BMW as its lead agency in the United States for national brand creative work and ads for BMW dealers, has produced a new 30-second television spot that will have its premiere on NBC’s broadcast of the NFL’s wild-card games. Unlike BMW’s previous global brand campaign by GSD&M of Austin, Tex. – which focused on the joy of driving a BMW – the new advertising depicts the BMW as the “ultimate driving machine,” whatever the model. The tagline has been used continuously by BMW since it was created by Martin Puris, then the chief executive of Ammirati & Puris, in 1975. Click here to watch the ad. Dan Creed, vice president of marketing for BMW of North America, said, “We’re in the middle of an extremely significant product offensive.” The introduction of 14 models in 2012 will be the most by BMW in the United States in one year in at least a decade. Read more about BMW’s new advertising strategy here.

Women's Touch: Female-Oriented Automotive Sites are Hitting the Web, Attracting Attention
For some reason, gear ratios don't interest most women. But as women continue to reshape the male-dominated auto industry, they do want to know about the space in a car's interior, its exterior styling and its fuel economy and safety ratings, reports The Detroit Free Press. "Where men see eye candy in a hot car, women wonder, 'How will my life be different if I choose that car?'” said Tara Weingarten, 49, a founder of Vroomgirls.com, one of the newest of a small but expanding number of automobile websites aimed at women. Her weeks-old site joins Carladynews.com on the Web, a Dallas-based site aimed at women that has been up for "six or seven years," said publisher Madelyn Miller. "Men don't even think about some of the things that matter to women – like trunk space and interior layout and space for your purse," said Miller, whose site offers vehicle reviews and features. Women influence nearly 70 percent of new-car purchase decisions and make about 40 percent of the purchases, industry officials say. Click here for more on the proliferation of automotive sites aimed at female buyers.

Automakers Rush to Offer Apps in Cars
Just as apps have transformed smartphones and tablets, car console screens are the next frontier. While thousands of apps are available for download for personal devices, automakers have so far allowed only a select few to show up while you are driving. According to USA Today, Ford Motor will announce it is doubling the number of apps available for its Sync in-car infotainment system to 10 at next week's International Consumer Electronics Show. Mercedes-Benz and Kia are going to reveal the first apps for their respective infotainment systems at the same Las Vegas trade expo. As revolutions go, this one started fitfully with just a handful of apps. Drivers can activate the car's controls to make dinner reservations through Toyota's Entune system or use the car's voice-command system to select music over Ford Sync. But the number of available apps is expected to multiply to dozens or perhaps hundreds over the next few years, just as they proliferated for Apple's iPhone or Google's Android smartphones. In the pursuit of new apps, automakers are being bombarded by developers pitching ideas. Click here to read how cars of the future will incorporate apps.

Around the Web  
2013 Toyota Land Cruiser Preview [MotorAuthority]
Nissan and Microsoft to Build New DMS [Auto Remarketing]
Best New Car Deals for January [Forbes]
Is Black Eyed Peas Frontman Will.I.Am a Car Maker? [Driver's Seat]