WRC, marketing and car buyer behaviour

[jonkka]

Right. In news & rumors thread I asked about this but let's expand it a little bit since slow holiday season is coming up and WRC news are somewhat scarce.

If you like, this can turn into deep philosophical discussion about how much WRC involvement affects manufacturer's image and helps their marketing efforts. However, since we do not know what big bosses discuss in the cabinets and what the marketing strategies are, I don't think that as very fruitful venue.

The more light-hearted theme this thread might take is "what car you have - what car would you buy - does rallying affect your car buying decision" - type of chat.

I myself drive Volvo S80. I bought it because it's one of the very few cars that has just about everything I like in a car in one package. Most important of those qualities are beauty in classic sense, sufficient size and elegance that suits my taste. The only thing that I miss in it is 4WD, now that I live in rural area.

What car I would buy? Since I am very happy with my current car and I drive very little, I have not given much thought to which of the current cars I might buy. Since Volvo was sold to Chinese, I definitely won't be buying any of those. Mercedes has too strong F1 image and I hate it (see, sports does affect buying decision!). BMW's are so ugly, yikes. But the newer VW Passats, possibly the 4WD version might tempt me.

And the answer to final question is no, rallying in itself does not affect my car buying decision (except what's said above). I do buy car solely on qualities that have nothing to do with WRC. I do not want extreme (or even good) performance, I am too old for that. I don't care about sporty (but often false) outlook that some cars have. Also, cars that are used as base for WRCars are too small segment for me and designed for people with different taste and needs than I have.

[EightGear]

It's a pure coincidence, but my parents own a Ford Focus and before that a Subaru Legacy. Rallying doesn't have to do anything with it.

[AndyRAC]

To be honest the only series that really trades on ‘road relevance’ and new technology is the WEC.
I’m not going to buy a Fiesta, Polo, DS3 or i20 just because they’re used as a basis for a WRCar. They have absolutely nothing in common with the road car. Which then raises the question. So, what’s it for? Why do it? Manufacturers are in it to sell more cars. Can you blame Ford for pulling out of the WRC when sponsoring the UEFA Champions League gives them much more exposure. Only the other day, Volvo announced they were pulling out of almost all sponsorships – apart from the Volvo Yacht race.

[N.O.T]

rallying and motorsports in general affect only a very small number of buyers.

When it comes to decision making, very few people will buy ford/citroen/vw/bmw/audi because of its involvement in rallying/motorsport.

A bit more people will take into account that a make has some kind of involvement in motorsport because they believe that the manufacturer has some kind of expertise.

The large part of the population will probably buy some vehicle for their everyday needs with no account of motorsport whatsoever since the general public are mostly incompetent sad stories with families who just run towards their inevitable demise without any appetite to try the nice things in life. but even those little miserable disappointments when they go through the channels and see a motorsport the subliminal message passes and could affect their decision when they choose their sad vehicle to continue with their sad little lives...

so yeah motorsport is good for the wallet of the manufacturers now go buy a Polo R... it won the WRC 2 years running...

[stefanvv]

I would definitely not buy any model just because it is involved in Rallying. For me the most important things are - to be comfortable for long journeys, so D-Segment car, to be reliable, for my country roads conditions - very, very reliable (German cars proved to be that case here), preferably 4x4, just because I like driving with ultimate capabilities. Successful motorsport involvement definitely has huge factor in my decision. Preferably a sport with cars similar to road cars. I also like the balance of V6 engine. So I drive AUDI, figure it out...

That is for me. I wanted to say some suggestion for other people, but N.O.T. already said it (in his own way of course, I wouldn't use such words for the rest of the bunch)

In my home town though I've seen some cars with Rally spirit, an Impreza with sparking 555 colors and some Lancia model with the beautiful Martini colours. Don't know the model, but it wasn't Delta, similar size though. Seems Rally has some influence in really hard core fans.

If I would buy 2nd car which has something in common with Rally, it would be Sport Quattro. But just for fun, not for everyday/long driving.

[RS]

What car I would buy? Since I am very happy with my current car and I drive very little, I have not given much thought to which of the current cars I might buy. Since Volvo was sold to Chinese, I definitely won't be buying any of those. Mercedes has too strong F1 image and I hate it (see, sports does affect buying decision!). BMW's are so ugly, yikes. But the newer VW Passats, possibly the 4WD version might tempt me.

Skoda is the answer of course. Good range of 4wd vehicles, rallying involvement, perhaps less bland styling than VW depending on personal preference

[[WRCRR]]

I think one big issue is also that the rally cars today are not based on sports models of their respectable manufacturers anymore. Cars like the Integrale, Celica GT-Four or the Impreza were actual sports models that you could buy - and they looked pretty damn close to their rally brethens. Nowadays you really can't buy a DS3 WRC or Polo R WRC "replica", the best you can get is some RS model of the same basic small car...not really cutting it, is it?

In fact, lately I have seriously wondered why car companies are even doing motorsports programs in series like WRC. And like we all know, teams like VW are pretty often wondering that themselves. Surely there is much better publicity on offer through sponsoring the likes of Champions League or similar like AndyRAC already said.

Most of the people see VW or Hyundai rally ads like any other car ad. Is it really that wise to spend all that money and try to win WRC which has very little publicity nowadays to begin with, when you could just have the same ad in more "extreme" fashion with Ken Block "hooning" in a souped up dudebro edition of your newest model - "winning" every time?

[Mirek]

It's not about direct connection Polo WRC - stock Polo. It's about being on the eyes of people as much as possible. With motorsport it's probably a little more efficient than sponsoring ice hockey, tennis, football or Tour de France but the main goal is same. If you watch, read or discuss one brand 3x more often than the other there is a higher chance you buy their car. Simple as that. The direct way works for special brands like Subaru.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

In the UK I would say that only Subaru and Mitsubishi gained real sales directly from WRC involvement as they were selling their 'rally replica' models of Impreza & Evo mainly to people who followed the sport.

Of the current manufacurers, I would say only Ford (via M-Sport) gain anything at all in the UK. I dont see any VW, Citroen or Hyundai buyer being influenced in the slightest by the WRC.

Ford has a long history of motorsport and big car sales in Britain and I think there is still some residual benefit of its association with the WRC here.

I have owned many hot-hatches, mostly French, as they were the best to drive. But I switched to Ford with the Focus Mk1 and then two Mk2 Focus ST225's as they were both great to drive and cheap to run and now also modern and reliable. The Ford link with WRC had little effect on my choice but I do feel an affinity with the M-Sport team. So it has had the opposite effect - I bought the car, then support its WRC team, and not the other way round !

[stefanvv]

Well concerning VW, I don't thing they ever believed so much that WRC will sell their Polo. Last year they had some ads on different events with some models, some snow monster in Sweden, a pick-up truck (I think) in Argentina, so besides the wins, they are making its marketing along with WRC. Still they made a "smaller" Rally version of the already small Polo, don't know how much they sell it though. But it is also ad directly related to Rally of the brand as a whole.