Automotive News - April 14, 2008 - (Page 4)

4 • APRIL 14, 2008 After S. Calif. success, Honda may fund ad groups Dealers gain share after launching offbeat campaign Kathy Jackson kjackson@crain.com ‘Honda Helpful’ Agency: Secret Weapon, based in Santa Monica, Calif. Ads: A TV campaign, dubbed “Honda Helpful,” features Honda employees helping consumers who have complaints about the car-buying process. Budget: $30 million in 2007 Backers: Southern California Honda Dealers Association, American Honda Results: Honda has gained market share in Southern California. LOS ANGELES — After a successful dealer ad campaign in Southern California, Honda may resume funding its dealer advertising groups across the nation. With the blessing of sales chief Dick Colliver, Honda dealers here revived their ad associations after a 12-year absence. And after the rollout of “Honda Helpful,” a quirky ad campaign that began in early 2007, the dealers are seeing results. Since the campaign began, dealers say Honda’s market share in Southern California has risen to 10.4 percent, up from 9.6 percent. Dealers also say Honda has gained share at the Association. This year, the Los Angeles dealers are getting their reward: Honda will pay $8 million of the association’s $30 million 2008 budget. The group’s 57 Honda dealers — who cover all of Southern California except for San Diego — raise money by earmarking 1 percent of the cost of each vehicle they order. Equal treatment? Now other Honda dealers throughout the nation want similar financial help. Bill Smith, chairman of Honda’s dealer council, is calling on the company to create a national program so that dealers get equal treatment. “I would like to see Honda come up with additional funds for each of the regions,” Smith said. “What they’re doing in Southern California is a see HONDA, Page 42 The Southern California Honda dealers’ “Honda Helpful” campaign features blue-and-khaki-clad Honda reps doing good deeds for Honda owners. expense of Toyota, the region’s dominant brand. So far, Honda is impressed. The company’s dealers in Southern California raised $30 million for last year’s ad campaign — without Hon- da’s help. “The first year, Honda didn’t give us much because they wanted to make sure we were doing good stuff,” says Bill Piercey, president of the Southern California Honda Dealers Chrysler’s quest for quality lured Nissan exec Betts Bradford Wernle bwernle@crain.com Quality checklist Doug Betts’ 6 types of vehicle quality 1. Ordinary: A power window doesn’t work properly 2. Dissatisfaction: Cupholders sit too low 3. Regulatory: A vehicle recall 4. Perceived: Customer thinks interior is cheap 5. Performance: Road noise inside the vehicle 6. Service (before or after sale): Salesperson lacks product knowledge Chrysler is trying to react quickly to what customers say about its vehicles. The company has announced about 500 changes to its vehicles and promises many more. Betts’ task: Improve performance see BETTS, Page 26 DETROIT — When Chrysler LLC first contacted Doug Betts last summer, the Nissan quality chief’s main worry was that Chrysler was trying to poach members of his Nashvillebased staff. Little did Betts realize that the initial contact would lead him to a new job, one that’s virtually unheard of in the auto industry: chief customer officer. Betts’ task is to launch a new quality system into every department of Chrysler. “Everybody in the company has an effect on customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction,” he says. “Somebody needs to oversee that.” Betts, 44, has a big job. This year Chrysler vehicles tied Suzuki for last in Consumer Reports’ annual auto issue, where Chrysler vehicles finished at or near the bottom of rankings for overall quality in every segment in which they compete. Chrysler’s Doug Betts: “Everybody in the company has an effect on customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction.” Search starts for in-vehicle alcohol detectors Harry Stoffer hstoffer@crain.com Timetable Key research benchmarks for the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety Late 2008: Issue request for proposals 1st quarter 2009: Award development contracts Early 2013: Complete technology demonstrations WASHINGTON — The day when your car or truck decides whether you are sober enough to drive may not be as far off as it sounds. A five-year research program, funded in part by automakers, aims to develop devices that would automatically test the sobriety of any driver — not just those convicted of drunken driving. The goal is to have in every vehicle a largely invisible device that would keep it from running if the driver had too much to drink. “This is a huge challenge,” says Sue Ferguson, chairwoman of a committee overseeing the effort. “It is the next frontier” of safety technology, she says. Ferguson, a former senior vice president of the Insurance Insti- A Nissan concept vehicle has a “sniffer” to check cabin air for alcohol in exhaled breath. tute for Highway Safety, now heads her own consulting firm. This month, the research program launched a Web site, www.dadss.org. DADSS is short for Driver Alcohol De- tection System for Safety. The site seeks to solicit ideas from technology developers and build public acceptance for the concept of alcohol detectors in all vehicles. A first step: getting rid of the word “interlock,” which has bad connotations. The devices that some convicted drunken drivers must blow into to get their vehicles to operate are called interlocks. A failed effort in the early 1970s aimed to require seat belt interlocks. The new program’s research is sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety. Most automakers belong to the coalition. In 2006, Mothers Against Drunk Driving challenged government and industry to find a technological remedy for drunken driving. NHTSA Administrator Nicole Nason says the effort is a priority for her agency. Last year, Nissan Motor Co. displayed a concept vehicle equipped with early versions of devices that one day may be widely used. They include a sensor in the shift lever that measures alcohol in perspiration, “sniffers” that check cabin air for alcohol in exhaled breath and a camera that monitors eye movements. About 1.4 million drunken-driving arrests are made each year in the United States. Safety officials say that figure is a small fraction of the 40 million to 50 million annual trips they estimate drunken drivers make. Equipping vehicles with devices designed to stop drunken driving would save 9,000 lives a year, officials estimate. Of the 42,000 people who die on U.S. highways each year, about 18,000 are in alcohol-related crashes. Ferguson says the research program aims to develop prototype devices within five years. Although the current plan is based on voluntary rather than mandatory installation of the devices, she says, “Ultimately we would like them on all vehicles.” c http://www.dadss.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Automotive News - April 14, 2008

Dealership jobs hit 8-year low GM is the wild card in axle war Service contracts: Hard-sell tactics plague dealers, customers TV auto ads shift to online, mobile venues At seminar, marketing execs to discuss new ways to reach customers Better get to know the Nano — it's set to change the world Veteran Detroit 3 dealer: 'The future is quite bleak' Poll: Dealers scrounge for cuts Locals closer to GM strike Scion xB price rises $100 Valeo CEO: No breakup Tata Nano changes low-cost development Hyundai tailors TV, Web ads for Hispanics Study: Ads focused on vehicle qualities won on Oscar night Post-Celine, Chrysler ad guru seeks right note Chrysler's quest for quality lured Nissan exec Betts Search starts for in-vehicle alcohol detectors After S. Calif. success, Honda may fund ad groups Computer images gain ground in TV ads Web TV offers automakers new ad, sales options BMW: X6 will bring brand new buyers Diana T. Kurylko Chrysler fields 'dream' ads Nissan seeks dealerships for trucks Honda will export Alabama-built Pilots to Russia Toyota, Subaru work on 'affordable' sports car Cadillac's ad agency savors the sweet life Some stores may not sell Chrysler hybrids GM hybrids get off to a slow start in first quarter Lexus adds a personal touch to pamper owners, prospects What they're buying — and what they're not The age of fuel innovation is here Approaches to r&d vary Nano brings credibility to Indian engineering Honda must revisit online dealer sales of service pacts Chrysler got it right Mandates, markets and buyer demand For Detroit, some things never change Buick: As Chicago goes, so goes the nation Auto industry has lost a good man Accentuate the positive Ex-Porsche CEO: Cayenne spiced up sales Green programs shape battle for engineering grads Tata rewards suppliers with ties to India Bill aims to set minimum sound levels for vehicles Industry lobbyists step up emissions fight Seeking wider market, Nissan equips sports car for snow New chief of SAE has D.C. skills China and GM's answer to Nano — sort of $2,500 car is Ratan Tata's personal quest NADA offers training in risky credit Donna Harris Deal's goal: Widen appeal of dent-repair coverage Title committee created Vehicle loan delinquencies rise from 2007 Suppliers to the 2009 Tata Nano Odd China combo: Fuel sippers, SUVs Pontiac Vibe: A sporty hauler with Toyota touches Dealers J.D. Power III named tracking company partner Toyota will buy back rusted Tacomas 100,000 Flex sales a year? Farley: 'Absolutely' Ford wants word-of-mouth campaign Small suppliers feel the pain of axle strike Plastech tries to sell 2 units TRW plant will build Ford gears Toyota plans 2nd India plant Dodge launch goes digital Toyota, GM recall 660,000 vehicles for window flaws Lear announces white-collar layoffs March output drops 23.6% New Ford ads tout quality improvements Tata dealers must be handy with a wrench Can the Greens slow down the autobahn? Racy scandal for race exec Echoes from the grave: Olds still has cachet The Final Say

Automotive News - April 14, 2008

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