Quote Originally Posted by Tarmop View Post
I don`t see motorsports selling cars TODAY, except racing. Maybe the brand itself, yes, but that`s also quite hard. People want SUVs, entertainment, economy, long warranty and a low monthly payment- when we aren`t talking about premium car. Also pretty hard to create cars for a petrolhead because of all the safety and eco demands. They all weigh a million because of many airbags and driveraids and cost a lot. Times when RS`s, STIs and Evos were popular from clubman events to grp n. are over, fun while it still lasts and hopefully the "oldtimers" are also maintained not only used and they`re around for some 10 years+.
For a manufacturer to invest in motorsport it is all about branding and brand awareness. It is a totally another form of advertising.
Possibly the old saying "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" may not be so true anymore but having a regular appearance in motorsport will constantly remind people of brands. When a buyer makes a decision to buy a new vehicle, those brands with the higher profile due to motorsport or just pure TV or print advertising will always be higher up the preferred list of options.
In a similar way to what happened in Norway regarding Petter & Subaru and the sales increases, that happened in NZ as well in the 1990s with Possum Bourne. He had a very high profile and was always associated with Subaru. Subaru sales here reflected that as well. Possum never won anything like Petter did but he did amazing things for Subaru NZ and its branding. Hayden Paddon is doing similar things, (not quite to the same extent though) with Hyundai NZ branding.