Will the “First Online Test Drive” Inspire At Least One Real Test Drive?

Mitsubishi thinks you will be interested in driving their new Outlander Sport using your keyboard. To do this, they have rigged a SUV so that one can control it online.

I kept seeing the ads on TV and received some email from Mitsubishi (I signed up for updates months back), but didn’t realize until I went to the Outlander Sport micro-site that the test-drive is being held November 1-10. To participate in the “Live Drive”, there is a sign-up form that has to be sent before November 1 and those who register will receive an access code.


The drive looks like it will be similar to a consumer ride and drive event where several orange cones will be setup in a large, empty parking lot. The new Outlander Sport will then be controlled by a remote control.

“Live Drive”, “Virtual Test Drive”, “Online Test Drive” whatever they are called it is not something new. Every automaker I’m sure has had a brainstorming session around how can they get consumers to experience a test drive using a computer. If you can’t get ‘butts in seats’ you might have some luck getting people interested in a vehicle while they virtually drive with butts is in desk seats.

Toyota did their version of a Virtual Test Drive with their Yaris launch site a couple years ago. Yaris let users control four different camera angles and added some hot spots to get more information while the car drove through one of five user selected cities.

The Yaris drive highlights key local landmarks for those wanting to learn more about the cities the car drives through. Everything is video based so it is far more passive than what Mitsubishi is attempting to do with the Outlander Sport. The interactivity of changing camera angles or clicking hot spots doesn’t feel like a test drive; it feels more like switching camera views on a video game, not playing the video game.

I have a feeling the Outlander Sport “Live Drive” will be more like playing the game than controlling viewing perspectives. It’s an interesting novelty experiment. Will it move much product? Who knows? If it is executed well then it may catch some buzz and thanks to a somewhat healthy TV ad buy from a minor automotive brand it should get a decent initial audience.

I’m looking forward to my online test drive and will send an update to let you know what I think about the execution and since my family is in the market for a new SUV, who knows, maybe I might go from office seat to car seat as Mitsubishi hopes.

More details from USAToday.

Toyota Yaris Social Marketing on the Cheap

There is a fascinating analysis on the Toyota Yaris Australia decision to give six agencies $15,000 each to do a viral social media campaign. The winner of the agency contest could get more budget to move forward.

This is a really odd example of an automotive company dipping their toes in social media marketing. It's not as if Toyota doesn't get social media, the European Toyota marketing managers have some excellent online examples with social media elements: iQ hypermiling challenge and Aygo Car Dance Party Simulator. The team in Australia seems to be a bit disconnected by what makes great social media content which has led to some rather trite examples of social media marketing by the teams with so limited a budget.

The analysis is so good here that I'm going to just point you to this blog post by Laurel Papworth: Australia Toyota Yaris social media campaign Downfall.

Enjoy!

Tiny Products Warding Off Big PR Problems

After $4 became a reality in the summer of 2008, there has been a progressive push to build smaller, fuel-efficient cars for the U.S. market. Advocates, like author Thomas Friedman, have dedicated significant pages to greening the US car industry by raising CAFE standards and promoting more Euro-like auto choices instead of behemoth SUVs.

So it was a bit disheartening yesterday to read about some rather poor crash tests performed by theInsurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). They reported that three popular small cars - SmartForTwo, Honda Fit, and Toyota Yaris - all received a Poor rating when in a front, off-set crash with a midsized sedan.

From Kicking Tires: "What these fresh results from IIHS spell out is that in a frontal collision, physics dictate that the larger vehicle in the test will fare better than the smaller one. Force is distributed unevenly, making the small car lose out in any matchup versus a larger car.

Crash statistics prove this to some degree. In 2007, small-car crashes resulted in a 17% higher fatality rate than midsize-car crashes."

One company was especially irate about the test they criticized saying, "IIHS devised a test that no automaker has designed to and that they claim only represents about one percent of real world accidents."

Safe and Smart is a site Smart car is using to generate user content about their owners real-world experience with the car's safety capabilities. The site is very interesting, for many reasons. First it features real crash photos and stories from owners detailing what happened to them and how they walked away. You can also "Share Your Story". (Yes, I was tempted to write a story of how I was involved in an offset front crash with a Mercedes C class and upload the picture from IIHS.)

The site also provides product details about the safety measure Smart has taken with the car's technology and design. I also found in Smart's press release to the IIHS study that the promoted this site as a more informed response to IIHS's approach.

Toyota ignored the report, from what I can tell; however, their online Toyota Community did not. Someone started a threaded discussion entitled, "What is 'wrong' with these new subcompacts?" where several people shared their thoughts on the topic.

Alicia_at_Honda on Twitter did not comment on the story nor did Honda release any statements on the Honda USA website.

The good news for Toyota and Honda (and Smart too) is that other outlets are responding to the study with contempt. Some reader comments on blogs found it interesting that no American car company cars were featured, like the Chevy Aveo. This lead to comments like this on Edmunds, "I wonder if this is an attempt either by the media or domestic manufacturers to smear foreign automotive manufacturers."

Motor Trend had another theory: "Yes, our highways would be safer if we removed anything smaller than a midsize car, and larger than a half-ton pickup, too. Buses and semis included. Of course, IIHS doesn't expect that to happen -- it doesn't want that to happen. It simply wants to make sure that the money you save by buying a small, fuel-efficient car goes into the pockets of your auto insurance company."

Is Smart the Right Product at the Right Time?

It was just announced today that the new Smart car fortwo surpassed the 15,000 units they expected to sale and not by an insignificant margin in a down market. They sold 25,000 units overall and had 100,000 people send in their $99 checks to reserve a Smart car in 2008.

The reservation approach was part of Smart’s marketing push to get people to pre-order a vehicle prior to the car’s launch in the United States. Smart did no TV and went with an online campaign approach, similar to what Mini did back when it launched its brand in the States. Apparently, if you are a stylish, European, small car you will launch with an online campaign and avoid the expense of TV since word of mouth is bound to drive your sales.

Smart is constantly hailed as a car for the consumer looking for high mpg economy in a world of unstable gas prices. But a lot of cars are being offered for this new shift to fuel economy conscience customers. Toyota has the Yaris. Honda has the Fit. The Yaris and Fit are not attractive cars. They are pure economical choices for a cost driven customer. Meanwhile, Smart and Mini offer high mileage choices but with the added benefit of being stylish and iconic.

After finishing a tumultuous 2008 in automotive sales and crazy up and downs at the fuel pump, it is interesting to see how a car is correlate to the gas pump. The Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris are definitely following the behavior of bouncing gas prices while the Smart and Mini keep a relatively steady, almost predictable, sales stream.

It really makes me wonder two things:

1.) Is stylish and fuel-efficient the perfect combination in today’s market?
2.) Do Mini and Smart simply sell a consistent number of vehicles because they limit supply so much that we do not see the sales swings found in higher production unit vehicles?

What are your thoughts?


Note: The chart's nameplate sales by month come from Automotive News and the gas prices come from the Energy Information Administration. Official Statistics from the US Government. 2008 Data on Average US Retail Gas Prices