Comments on: Attracting ‘Foreign’ Automakers Is A Good Idea

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:39:38 +0000

Ross – Yes, in Europe, many of those manufacturers are trying to reach a different demo. BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Renault in particular offer both “standard” cars and luxury cars, as do Honda and Toyota. The marketing gets changed somewhat here; BMW and Mercedes-Benz are obviously high-end, and the other two offer their high end cars through Acura and Lexus.

On the other hand, there are a few purely high-end teams in F1, including Ferrari and McLaren. (Those teams also seem to be the ones up in arms about the possible rule changes.)

By: marc

marc — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:55:08 +0000

dawg – “I would suggest that if more foreign automakers enter NA$CAR. They should bring a bunch of foreign fans with them.”

Dawg a simple question, How do you watch any NASCAR races?

Why might I ask that?

Simple, with your attitude on foreign car makers in NASCAR it’s easy to conclude you don’t own any televisions as there haven’t been any made in the good old US of A in three or four decades.

P.S. dawg, how do you feel about all them damn “feriners” in major league baseball?

By: marc

marc — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:43:48 +0000

First, I’d whole-heartedly agree BMW and Mercedes is far from possible, the demos just doesn’t match-up.

Nissan in fact pulled all North American racing support in Dec. 2007. Scott Vazin, Director of Product Communications for Nissan Motor Company saying, “we’ll keep a presence around the world.”

I will say they have started support of Japanese Super GT under the NISMO banner racing the new GT-R this season. What that means in the long run is anyone’s guess.

One brand not noted is Mazda. They build the Mazda 6, named Atenza in some markets, at their plant in Flat Rock, Michigan. The company hasn’t been known for the racing endeavors, but in today’s market who knows what happens next.

I my view the most likely new entrant would be Honda. They were looking at NASCAR very early on and previous to the entry of Toyota. A dispute over NASCAR’s “Engine of the Future” in 2004-05 sent them running for the hills. (Or Mt Fuji take your pick)

With Honda pulling out of F1 they save an estimated one half billion dollars per season. That’s a lot of cash that could be spent in NASCAR, but it’s a big if.

The largest drawback for any car maker is the antiquated V8 engine NASCAR uses. It’s hardly the time to change given the economy but sooner or later they must change to something that more closely resembles what the Dale Jr. wannabes drive to the Dairy Queen after the races.

And finally the “backlash” that may come of another foreign entry to NASCAR.

To hell with them, when Toyota announced and then entered Cup a couple websites popped-up that were very anti-Toyota, and a few (very few) protesters were at some events.

They were quickly shown to be far out xenophobes with the intellectual curiosity of a one celled animals. Their websites were suspended by their hosts for posting hate speech and the onsite protesters melted into the background.

By: dawg

dawg — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:36:43 +0000

I would suggest that if more foreign automakers enter NA$CAR. They should bring a bunch of foreign fans with them.

By: Joe W.

Joe W. — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:45:41 +0000

What you are talking about is really a fundemental change in the racing series that we have called Nascar. It is a total 180% change from the past. Some of us will just not want to see that, and will look for some other way to spend our time and money. There are already places to watch these other makes race. I guess some of us we will just have more time for other things, and that will probably be a good thing in the long run. But we will still miss the racing.

By: Ross

Ross — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:45:23 +0000

You know, it’s funny. F1 has the elite luxury cars and when I went to an F1 race (Imola) I thought it was going to be all fancy and Robin Leech and champaign. It was just a Euro NASCAR crowd (albeit mostly men who like to play grab ass on the way to your seat.)

Are marketing objectives different in F1?

By: Mike Smith

Mike Smith — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:31:55 +0000

I recently wrote my own blog posting and essentially had the same conclusion as you. I agree that foreign automakers would be good for the sport. And, I think that the luxury brands would be out of place.

The one thing that might hinder entry is that none of the foreign makers build v8s. But, Toyota didn’t when it started out, so it obviously can be done.

How much do you think Hyundai will suffer because it is preceived as a weak (horsepower-wise) brand? Do you think they can overcome that and lure teams to them?

Also, what do you think about Saturn joining NASCAR? Now that they have a connection in Roger Penske, I think it could be coming in the future.

Thanks. Good blog posting.

By: cvt

cvt — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:36:52 +0000

VW…they’re building a new plant in Chatannooga,TN and will also supply engines to the IRL.

By: Overa88ted

Overa88ted — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:01:30 +0000

Long term effect, continued slump in TV ratings and attendence. Will drive another generation of fans away, the ADD newer fans aren’t hardcore enough.

By: jerry in buffalo

jerry in buffalo — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:27:58 +0000

How about VW, love to see them in NA$CAR, and change the COT into a car that looks like the real cars, 4 door cars on the street, should be 4 door cars on the tract, like the touring cars over in Europe. I want to relate to the cars and drivers, not the engines and drivers.