Hyundai found itself in hot water today after an ad aimed at the European market used a suicide attempt to sell cars.

“Hyundai understands that the video has caused offence. We apologise unreservedly…

“The video has been taken down and will not be used in any of our advertising or marketing,” (sic) the automaker said through its U.K. public relations Twitter account.

The commercial shows a man sitting in his new Hyundai ix35 with a hose taped between the tail pipe and open passenger window, presumably pumping exhaust fumes into the cabin. He takes several deep breaths before the camera cuts to a view outside the house and a caption reads: “The new ix35 with 100% water emissions.”

UPDATE: Hyundai Motor America released the following statement about the video: “We at Hyundai Motor America are shocked and saddened by the depiction of a suicide attempt in an inappropriate UK video featuring a Hyundai. Suicide merits thoughtful discussion, not this type of treatment.”

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The side part is cool again. Skinny ties, narrow lappels and closely cut clothes make the man, albeit with much less cigarette smoking.

It’s a trend Lincoln seems to have sniffed out; so much so that it’s changing its name and launching an ad campaign to do it. While it won’t be a difference drastic enough to cause confusion, or even gather much attention on its own, Lincoln will once again be called “The Lincoln Motor Company.” Starting today, the company is rolling out a series of ads via print, digital media and broadcast.

“Befitting this new chapter in the life of Lincoln we are making a complete new start in every aspect of consumer communication to emotionally welcome our new target customer into our brand,” said Matt VanDyke, director of global Lincoln brand. “It’s not often this opportunity comes around so we intend to make the most of it and have our work in every medium be as fresh, surprising and distinctive as the new Lincoln vehicles and customer experiences will be.”

Lincoln plans to launch four new cars over the next four years, the first of which will be the all-new MKZ sedan. It’s that car which will be featured in the new campaign, available as both a gasoline and hybrid car.

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The internet has changed the ways consumers shop, and in the same fashion, short online videos have revolutionized the way companies advertise.

Recently, short online videos have become the recipe for success for automakers. Hoping to go viral, automakers such as Toyota, Chevrolet, and Volkswagen have leveraged the internet to spread the word on their newest models. This year for example, several automakers released their Super Bowl ads onto the Internet ahead of their debut during the big game.

SEE ALSO: Chevrolet Super Bowl Ad Shows You How To Survive The Apocalypse [Video]

Recently, Japanese automaker Toyota turned to five-second clips to promote its RAV4 model. According to data from comScore, 37 billion videos and 11 billion video commercials were viewed online in October by 183 million Internet viewers in America alone. Earlier this year, Toyota also turned to YouTube.com to promote its new, Prius c model.

There are several advantages with advertising online through video content according to companies. One major one is it’s the perfect way to target their young consumers, while others enjoy the fact that they are able to experiment with out-of-the-box ads. Other automakers have leveraged online content streaming sources such as Hulu.com to advertise on, rather than traditional television channels.

With the advent of portable media devices such as smartphones and tablets, users on the go can still get their television fix in without having to sit on the couch and watch the TV. As such, companies are finding it more advantageous to advertise through those online streaming services.

Volkswagen’s Passat commercial, which aired during the 2011 Super Bowl, garnered over 55 million views on YouTube this year. Honda has shifted a majority of its advertising budget from television to online media as a result.

“It’s now a foundational element of our plans so that most of the time when we go to market there is some type of an online video element,” said Dionne Colvin, national manager of media planning at Toyota. “A few years ago, there weren’t as many opportunities for online video from our perspective.”

[Source: Automotive News]

Advertising Age has named Chrysler the marketer of the year for 2012, thanks to the company’s growth which is attributed to its new marketing techniques. 

Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne appointed Oliver Francios to the head of Fiat-Chrysler marketing in 2009 when the companies had an 8.9 percent market share. Now, Fiat-Chrysler have 11.5 percent market share: growth which is attributed to a clever new marketing scheme rooted in telling stories, not just spouting facts.

Chrysler’s customer loyalty numbers also increased a great deal since 2009, improving from 15 percent of customers coming back for another Chrysler vehicle, to 30 percent.

Francois has championed popular ads such as “Halftime in America,” featuring Clint Eastwood, “Born of Fire” with Eminem and ”The Things We Make, Make Us.”

“Born of Fire” boosted consideration for the brand by 87 percent just a week after it aired. It also helped boost sales of the Chrysler 200 by 25 percent in the month it aired compared to the previous year.

Making Fiat popular in America was another hurdle which Chrysler marketing had to tackle, and it seems to be going well. Fiat sale are up to 47,000 units this year, compared to just 21,000 last year.

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Toyota’s new Japanese-market ads for the 2013 Auris show that this is a car for only a select part of the buying public.

The new campaign features a model from Israel who identifies as transgender. The tagline for the campaign is “not in trend, not casual, not for everyone, not authority, but Auris”. The car will debut at this year’s Paris Auto Show in September but will not be on sale in Europe for several months.  The ads for the Auris will only air in Japan.

The Auris is based on the next-generation Corolla that is currently on sale in Japan. It is the equivalent of the Matrix in that it is a Corolla-based hatchback.

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Expect a new ring to Nissan’s commercials: After two years of proclaiming “innovation for all,” the brand is changing its tune.

Instead, you’re going to be hearing the slogan “innovation that excites,” a message that’s more in line with the company’s global image. It first started using the “exciting” version with the U.K. launch of its Juke small crossover. Now the same line will accompany the redesigned Altima, in the first of four new commercials that you can watch below.

The first ad gives an organic-looking animation of the Altima taking shape. In the second ad we see an Altima drifting around New York city streets and pulling stunts, highlighting its best-in-class fuel economy and acceleration. The third and fourth spots take a comical approach to underscoring the car’s fuel mileage and tire pressure system.

With shipments already underway, Nissan is assigning steep sales quotas to keep the car in its number 2 sales spot. Aside from creative commercials, Nissan is taking steps to ramp up production in an effort to keep it ahead of the Honda Accord and closer to the Toyota Camry.

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The automotive industry is a global business that is constantly evolving and growing, and we here at AutoGuide know it can be hard to keep up sometimes. So here is a summary of the top stories you may have missed this week:

Fisker Sold Over 1,000 Karmas this Year

Fisker will recall a selection of its Karma exotic EVs because of a possible battery coolant leak…

Unibody Lexus GX, Turbo Powerplants a Possibility

At a recent 2013 LexusES 350 media event, Mark Templin, group vice president and general…

Six-Speed Stick for M6 Confirmed

Back by popular demand, the 2013 BMWM6 will sport an optional 6-speed manual transmission…

Manchester United and Chevrolet Forge Advertising Partnership

General Motors’ advertising strategy made headlines several times already this year…

Mercedes-Benz GL63 AMG Revealed with 550 HP

Mercedes-Benz has the G63 AMG for those that want the classic G-wagon body style with aggressive power…

VW Amarok Pickup Heading to Canada?

Quite possibly, according to remarks by Volkswagen of Canada’s Media Relations Manager, Thomas Tetzlaff…

Mazda Announces Diesel Racing Program for Grand Am Series

Mazda Motorsports is looking to change the face of motorsports in North America…

GM’s about-face advertising policy raised a few eyebrows this month, but based on the latest from GM global chief marketing officer Joel Ewanick, the company might not be quite as far over the cuckoo’s nest as you might think.

Recently, the company pulled its entire $10 million ad budget from Facebook in a move meant to inflict maximum pain — sheer days before the social media outlet’s IPO. Only a short time later, it also declared that there wouldn’t be any GM ads in this year’s superbowl, a departure from tradition for the company. Only yesterday, we brought you a story about one of the group’s best-known brands, Chevrolet, signing a sponsorship deal with Manchester United, a soccer team.

For such an American company that might seem ludicrous, but according to Ward’s Auto tweets that Ewanick said GM is far from pulling out of advertising with teh NFL. In fact, it remains the largest advertiser and actually plans to increase its budget for this year.

Furthermore, GM advertising might actually return to Facebook in the future if the two can reach an agreement, Ewanick said. The problem is that advertising on Facebook, and probably the Superbowl too, costs a lot of money and doesn’t necessarily return the same results other avenues might. Because of that, it’s easy to see both instances as a vacuous waste.

Having tanked after only a short time on the stock market, Facebook is down billions and GM is left looking wise and clever. While the social network might not have been eager to run flashier ads for General Motors while it was riding high on anticipated wealth, the story might have changed. The end result? It’s indeterminate, but GM will probably clean up on ad prices this year. It’s just a shame that won’t translate into more obnoxious Superbowl ads.

General Motors’ advertising strategy made headlines several times already this year, but the latest revelation just might be the strangest yet.

Reporters have been invited to an announcement in Shanghai this Thursday where the General is expected to announce an advertising deal with Manchester United. That sponsorship will allow the automaker to advertise through the 19-time championship team that has a massive following worldwide. The announcement comes close after GM said it doesn’t plan to advertise during the next Superbowl.

As one of the most recognizable American auto brands, Chevrolet advertising during the U.S.’ single biggest televised sports event makes sense. What might not make so much sense is the company’s decision to advertise through a soccer team. Comparing soccer and football in the States is like comparing Mark Zuckerburg’s bank account balance before and after he founded Facebook — what a difference.

Given that, it probably seems a little odd that one of the most patriotic brands in the country would choose to advertise with Manchester United, at least initially.

It actually does make sense given that Chevrolet is trying to fit in with the global crowd, because a marketing strategy like this offers broader appeal.

With 659 million followers, Manchester United is the world’s most popular soccer team. That number trumps the entire U.S. population bar none. So it’s actually a good idea, especially considering the reason for pulling out of next year’s Superbowl shenanigans has to do with how stupidly expensive air time has become.

Given that the brand sold 4.76 million vehicles globally last year, it’s hard to fault anyone at the company for jumping ship for warmer waters. Further details will undoubtedly be available tomorrow after the official media event takes place./

While General Motors is shying away from social media and advertising, its competition is taking the chance to fill the gap and get attention. 

Last week, the auto giant announced that it was nixing its ads with Facebook outright. Ford jumped in to fill that gaping hole and blow a big raspberry in the General’s face by making a big deal out of upping its ads on the site. Not long after, GM announced that it would also not be running ads in next year’s Superbowl, an American advertising tradition.

Some might have been shocked by the decision, especially after the ostentatious ads the company ran to thumb noses at Ford, but according to GM, the bill is just too high. Following suit with Ford, Hyundai is jumping on the “jeer at GM” bandwagon by announcing that it will run Superbowl commercials next year.

Hyundai marketing VP Steve Shannon sent an email to the Detroit Free Press shortly after the GM announcement saying: ”In addition to the fact that this is far and away the best-watched television program in the U.S. the social media opportunities continue to grow every year and we expect even more impact from this aspect of our advertising on the Super Bowl next year.”

There can never bee enough hilarious superbowl commercials, that much is certain, but given how far we are from the next Superbowl, doesn’t this whole thing seem a little childish?

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

General Motors, the world’s largest automaker, has confirmed its plan to pull $10 million worth of ads from social media behemoth, Facebook, just days before the site’s IPO. 

The move reflects  a lack of faith on GM’s part that its paid advertising affects the consumers being targeted enough to justify continuing the ads. This isn’t the first time in recent history that the company cut its ad spending. Earlier this year we reported that GM had consolidated most of its ad spending to Aegis Group’s Carat London operation, cutting several smaller companies out of its budget.

With so much speculation surrounding Facebook’s ground-shattering IPO, having the U.S.’ third-largest advertiser pull out can’t be a good sign, but it isn’t clear if, and by how much, the decision will affect the network moving forward.

Greg Martin, A GM spokesperson told the Detroit News, that the company regularly re-evaluates where its advertising dollars go, and that this was a routine move.

“In terms of Facebook specifically, while we currently do not plan to continue with advertising, we remain committed to an aggressive content strategy through all of our products and brands, as it continues to be a very effective tool for engaging with our customers,” he said.

While the higher-ups at Facebook might be sweating a little, most car fans probably couldn’t care less about the ads disappearing — exactly the mentality behind the move.

What they (you) probably do care about are the fan pages, which GM says will remain intact.

[Source: the Detroit News]

It’s no secret that the auto industry is recovering. Chrysler is reporting 20 percent sales gains in the U.S. over last year and Toyota is surging back from its tsunami-hampered supply problems in 2011. What’s next? Advertising, and more money to spend on it.

A new study released by Borrell Associates predicts that spending on auto advertising this year will raise by roughly 14 percent. Don’t get your hopes up for year-round superbowl commercials with grandiose special effects though. If Borrell’s release is correct, much of the new ad money will be spent on targeted online marketing.

Banner ads are expected to garner another $11.9 billion this year according to CEO Gordon Borrell’s forecast. Part of the reason those ads are becoming more attractive is that an advertiser can enjoy marketing directly to consumers at a level unprecedented by other mediums. Data about how those ads are consumed is also more concrete, which means a company paying to spread product awareness can glean important data that can’t come from running print ads.

Borrell’s report estimates that 90 percent of the new revenue being put into advertising will pour into online, and most of that (and spending overall) will probably occur between May and August, when Memorial Day sales and warm weather promote new car buying.

[Source: Automotive News]