You'd think auto ad writers would have learned that dissing the locals is best left to the Simpsons. The latest car company issuing a mea culpa for stepping on finely-tuned political sensitivities: Toyota. BusinessWeek reports that a recent ad by the Japanese automaker raised the hackles of Fresno mayor Alan Autry and California senator Dianne Feinstein. The commercial in question showed the miserly Toyota Prius in a future where "gas stations will become nothing more than low-budget tourist stops. Like ghost towns… or Fresno." After Feinstein complained to the company, Toyota pulled the ad and edited out the reference. What penance must be done? Fresno city councilman Henry Perea says Toyota should open a Prius factory in his patch. Given the cost of doing biz in The Golden State, Perea should've simply asked for cash compensation (if he hasn't already). 

With $150m in their pockets, Chevy's ad men are touting the new Malibu as "The Car You Can't Ignore." Apparently the dealers can ignore it, though. I went to not one, not two, but three dealers in search of the new 'Bu. At the first, Performance Chevrolet in East Meadow, NY, they don't have any in stock. "We will have more by the end of the month." Uh, that's almost a month away. At dealer two, Robert Chevrolet in Hicksville, NY, neither the front space facing the street nor the showroom had a new Malibu (although they did have a Corvette sitting next to an Aveo). Around back they had a Malibu LS tucked away from public view. But the salesman couldn't find the keys to unlock it. "You can look in the window though." Gee, thanks. The third dealership was the charm. Charm as in lucky; the dusty dealership has all the charm of the DMV. East Hills Chevrolet Oldsmobile, in Roslyn, NY, had several Malibus in stock. I was even allowed to sit in one (Egad!). Just goes to show: it doesn't really matter how good the car is when the dealers bite.

The American Family Association may think their boycott of Ford for "supporting homosexual groups which are pushing homosexual marriage" ended the automaker's efforts to attract DINKs (Double Income No Kids), but a new ad campaign from the Land Down Under says otherwise. Gaywired.com reports Ford Australia is running a commercial in their "Everyone's Journey is Different" campaign that includes two same-sex couples, including a a pregnant woman. Sinead McAlary, Ford Australia's PR wonk, said the ads aren't meant to "target any particular group." They're "designed to appeal to the wide variety of consumers who are now driving smaller cars in Australia." She describes the ads as "very successful with awareness and brand recognition quite high after only one month on air." While they don't use fairies zapping macho men into sweater-draped metrosexuals, they do show a white male couple in sweaters with matching Pugs on leashes. Ford has refused to comment on why they chose to depict the gay couple in such a stereotypical manner.

After being bashed by the greenies for standing as one with Detroit on an easy-does-it hoik in Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards (while producing fuel-sucking pickup trucks), after taking a beating in the press over quality issues (for not being Rolex reliable), Toyota has decided to launch a PR counter-attack. The Japanese automaker has unveiled a new ad campaign to prove their "social responsibility, environmental commitment and economic impact." Speaking to Advertising Age [sub], Toyota spinmeister Steve Strum says the campaign will use print, online and "poignant" TV ads "to touch U.S. consumers and give them a better sense of the corporation's vision." One ad described by Ad Age shows a group of people in an outdoor setting assembling a vehicle using natural materials. The narrator asks, "Can a car company grow in harmony with the environment? Why not?" Incidentally, Strum says there's no link between the new ad campaign and Toyota's recent bad press. So there's one more thing Toyota has in common with Detroit.

Someone go get my Clonazepam. MINI has announced that it's building an SUV-type product, and cyber-mag Winding Road has the shots to prove it. Forget market share, ignore the ever-present push to increase sales numbers at any cost. The MINI Cooper was specifically, consistently and persistently sold as the anti-SUV– not the ante-SUV. This type of "every brand, every niche" mindset is killing the car industry, one BMW SAV, Mercedes hearse, Bentley hybrid, Audi city car, Lexus hypersport sedan and $29k Cadillac at a time. While most of those propositions are merely Three Stooges ridiculous, the MINI SUV (a.k.a. "Monte") has a major problem. It's not mini. It has to be quite a bit bigger, quite a bit heavier. It'll probably need (in some sense of that word) all wheel-drive. Oh, and a larger engine. At best, all that changes MINI from Mini to "Regular." Unless the new MINI SUV has Suzuki Sidekick off-road abilities, PASS.

Detroit News columnist John McCormic joins the chorus of Detroit cheerleaders who echo GM Car Czar Bob Lutz' infamous rallying cry against the transplants' hugely popular products: "soulless appliances!" McCormick's rant was inspired by a Sin City tete-a-tete with ex-Toyota appliance maker and current Chrysler co-Veep Jim Press. After telegraphing the new Chrysler's new party line– damn! we're fast!– the auto scribe portrays Press as an exec on the horns of a dilemma. "Some customers really love the passion and emotion of cars," Press told Big Mac. "When you drive the Viper or the new Challenger, the hair on the back of your neck stands up." And then, a confession. "There are many customers who want to drive appliances and we've got to get better at giving them appliances." The answer? Give 'em both! And there you have it: a "new paradigm" for a resurgent Motown. "Press is not alone in recognizing this viewpoint. General Motors has been laboring hard over the last few years to create a new overall formula for dependable and engaging vehicles and the results are showing in the U.S. market. So too has Ford, although with more success on the dependable side of the equation than the appealing element." Hey, who can argue with that?

Business Week scribe Jim Henry calls them "wallflowers:" cars with obvious charms that have customers lined-up none deep. Now that Chrysler has somewhat kinda hang on we better wait for this union contract to go through before we actually announce anything decided to trim some dealer deadwood, Henry explains the reasons why great cars' sales suck. Why is the Hyundai Azera a drug on the market? "Customers almost have to discover the Azera for themselves. Except when it was first launched, it hasn't had much model-specific advertising." Kia Amanti? Same deal (as opposed to hideous looks and a misguided attempt to take Kia upmarket). And add Daimler's R-Class to that list. As for the Saab 9-5, Henry nails it: "It competes with European heavyweights like BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which have bigger engines, more prestige, more awareness, more of almost everything." Nissan Quest? Styling's too rad. Lincoln Town Car? Ford Explorer? Buyers downsized. So now you know. Oh, one more thing: Henry reckons you should buy one these turkeys also-rans 'cause they're cheap. "That's one of the good things about wallflowers—they are usually very happy to dance if you ask them." Ain't that the truth. 

GM's sales are taking a beating in California, where an entire generation of drivers have grown up without once owning one of the General's vehicles. Few people know that the artist formerly known as the world's largest automaker has been communicating with children aged Kindergarten and up for years. The General's charm offensive comes via their education division, which provides free classroom curricula to civic-minded teachers. And anyone who thinks that GM's dragging its feet on green issues– at least in the PR sense– would do well to examine their latest lesson plan "The Energy Highway: Solutions Ahead." Although the words "global warming" are conspicuous by their absence, they're all about the CO2. Thanks to GM's partnership with The Weekly Reader, millions of kids will trace the domestic carmaker's proposed arc, from internal combustion engines to flex-fuel vehicles to "extended range" electric vehicles to hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. And that's OK because we'll use renewable energy sources to power the electric plants that create the hydrogen for the vehicles. Ta-da!  

When you're running in the back of the pack, it's almost impossible to take the lead. Detroit has learned this painful lesson in the small car market, but they're planning a compact comeback with spiffy new models like the Ford Focus, Holden Vauxhall Opel  Saturn Astra and … uh… can I get back to you on that? Even though the imported brands have been giving us high-quality small cars for years, Forbes reports Ford and GM research "shows [them] that small-car buyers will no longer tolerate flimsy seats, cheap plastic dashboards, noisy engines and bumpy rides." (They must have finally driven a Honda.) This epiphany isn't lost on Saturn's general manager Jill Lajdziak who said, "People who go into a small car want expressive design and they want a level of refinement in the interior. We've got to make sure that our small cars are delivering what they want. They don't want to compromise." Ford CEO Alan Mulally admits his benefactors have a problem too: "It's a segment that we've been out of, so we need to have really good products in it. We missed a whole generation of Ford products. We knew the trucks and the SUVs, No. 1 in the world, but they grew up with Civics and Accords." That's all well and good, Al and Jill; the first step to curing a problem is admitting you have one. But when you're trying to hit a moving target, finally figuring out you need some ammo isn't enough; you have to aim in front of it, not at it.

Even as some UAW members are balking at the new Chrysler contract because it doesn't contain guarantees of jobs in the future, Walter P.'s namesake is looking at cutting out five models in the here and now. "A person familiar with the situation" told the Detroit Free Press as many as five models could be on the chopping block. The unnamed "company insider" indicated the Pacifica, Dakota, Durango, Commander, Compass and/or Sebring could be voted off the island by the end of the month. The Durango looks like a shoe-in, as the plant which builds it is slated for closure in 2009, and the Sebring may be given a complete makeover instead of facing the executioner's ax. At least Chrysler is facing a problem plaguing the auto industry– product overlap– head on. We can only hope Ford and GM are watching.

CNN Money is reporting that Toyota has dropped from first to fifth place in Consumer Reports' (CR) ranking of average predicted reliability for all models sold under a given brand after one year of ownership. ToMoCo now slots beneath Honda, Acura, Scion and Subaru. What's worse, CR no longer recommends V6 Camrys or V8 Tundra full-size pickups due to their poor reliability. And the hits keep happening. CR says the results are so rad/bad they're changing their "free ride" methodology. Before now, Consumer Reports would assume at least average reliability for Toyota's new cars, without waiting for owner survey data. From now on, the magazine will wait for a full year of reliability survey data before recommending a Toyota product. As it does with most other manufacturers. As it should have from the git-go. Meanwhile, of the domestics, only Buick made it into CR's top ten, although Ford and Mercury are climbing CR's brand reliability charts (to 13th and 11th respectively). Of the 39 cars rated "most reliable," the domestics scored just four nods. Of the 44 "least reliable" models, The Big 2.8 accounted for 20. And the biggest loser is… the Solstice, with 234 percent less reliability than CR's statistical average. Pontiac's once red-hot roadster just beat the Cadillac Escalade EXT for the bottom position. CR reckons the 'Slade is 220 percent less reliable than average. That doesn't sound good.

[TTAC data provider truedelta analyzes CR's methodology here.] 

At a special shareholder's meeting on October 4, DaimerChrysler officially became Daimler AG. According to Autobild, many shareholders believe a rose by any other name stinks. Minority shareholder rep Bernd Köhler pointed out that Daimler paid Jaguar/Ford $20m for the rights to use the name. But “what happens if Jaguar gets purchased by a Chinese or Indian company? Will there be five-thousand Dollar Daimlers?" Carl Benz’ great-great granddaughter Heidemarie Hirsch was equally indignant. "Why is Daimler disregarding Benz, who was the inventor of the motor car?" Shareholder activist and economics professor Prof Ekkehard Wenger said the name change was "simply stupid.” Shareholders also criticized Daimler’s new $100m typography and graphics package. "It looks more like the logo of a pharmaceutical company, or of an airline, or an insurance company” complained Uli Mayer-Johannsen of MetalDesign. Graphics designer Kurt Weidemann performed design work for the Daimler-Benz and Mercedes-Benz brands for 15 years. "In graphic art terms, Daimler's new appearance looks miserable.”

The "new" Ford Focus rests atop eight-year-old underpinnings. But the car's PR campaign uses cutting edge (so to speak) New Media techniques. Cnet.com reports that FoMoCo's launching the '08 Focus with the spin industry's latest jargoneriffic widget: a Social Media News Release (SMNR). Ironically enough (at least for Nissan fans), the SMNR was created by SHIFT Communications as "a viable new format to spark and cultivate online conversations about a product." In case you can't be bothered to click through to a release on the hot new Focus, the non non-viable digital press release contains "boilerplate statements," loads o' links, podcasts, a webpage or five, links to old stories, pre-approved quotes, eye candy photos, graphics and YouTubeage. We were expecting some new level of interactivity– IM or webinars with people within the company, connections to other journalists or links to Foci forums, but no; it's same old you-know-what is a new wrapper. Clearly, the "fourth wall" between automakers and their customers is still bricked-up. Perhaps Ford's new marketing maven from Lexus could have a look at this…

Carmakers should add more flash and trash to their web sites. Words of wisdom from CarGurus.com CEO Langley Steinart. Speaking with Advertising Age [sub], Steinart asserted that a six-month study of shoppers on his website indicated that 62 percent of pages viewed consisted of photos and videos. Based on this info, he uncategorically concludes that online shoppers "first and foremost want videos." He was shocked (shocked I tell you) to discover that car-shopping web surfers have to read automakers' websites to glean information about a car. "You have to fall in love with the car visually. Are you going to fall in love over braking power?" Regarding the science behind his study, Mr. Steinart admits he has no way of knowing his site's demographics– other than they "cut across all ages." The Guru-in-Chief also couldn't say how may visitors to his site are shopping for a vehicle (instead of reading editorials and blogs or looking for parts, accessories or automotive epiphanies). With his ability to make leaps of logic in a single bound, we reckon Steinart has a bright future in marketing research.

Sorry, I get confused sometimes, what with all these domestic automaker-sponsored surveys that surprise! reveal that their products' quality is nearasdammit as good as their competitions'. Initially. In some cases. If you're comparing a lack of defects– as opposed to some other, more consumercentric measure of quality. Anyway, once again Ford paid RDA Group of Bloomfield Hills to survey 31k car buyers who'd lived with their new whip for all of 90 days. The Detroit News (DTN) dutifully reports that "2007 model year Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars and trucks had 1,395 quality issues per 1,000 vehicles, compared with 1,381 per 1,000 vehicles for 2007 Toyota, Lexus and Scion cars and trucks." (Honda came first.) Just in case you suspect that shock! Ford's patronage might have influenced the outcome, the DTN assures us that "The firm conducts similar studies for other automakers [Ed. with similar results?]," and "its findings have hewed close to those of the closely watched annual initial quality survey independently conducted by J.D. Power and Associates." Bennie Fowler, Ford's quality chief, told the DTN that Ford's "trying to listen to its customers and take their concern to heart." As Yoda would say, "Do… or do not. There is no try."