Marketing Automotive

While some auto dealers may not stand a ghost of a chance of moving cars off their lots this autumn, Torsten Mueller, the CEO of BMW’s Rolls-Royce division, isn’t worried.

He told Dow Jones that the ultra-luxury Ghost model, which sells for about $250,000, is attracting affluent customers to Rolls-Royce, and that “eighty percent of customers buying the Ghost are new to the brand.” He sees  the customers returning to the luxury car segment.

The new Ghost, making an appearance at this week’s Paris motor show, is not the most expensive Rolls-Royce; the Phantom sells for $380,000. Youps, that’s just the price of one car.

Torsten Mueller says the Ghost competes favorably with other luxury cars offered by Bentley and Mercedes-Benz. Unlike other Rolls-Royce models which are chauffeur-driven and used for personal trips, the Ghost tends to be driven by the owner and used for business.

Mueller expects that the Ghost will contribute to the doubling of last year’s sales of about 1000 cars. He pointed out, however, that brand exclusivity is more important than sales volume. Nonetheless, Rolls-Royce plans to add some new dealerships to the 83 in existence. Expansion will focus on the U.S. but also include Europe, Asia and  the Middle-East.

The 2012 Ford Focus, which made its debut at the Paris Auto Show on Sept. 29, is the car that Ford expects to build its market share in Europe and Asia, and rebuild it in the U.S.

The European-designed Focus that Ford sells in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, for the first time in five years, will be nearly identical. Ford’s head of global marketing, James Farley, says there will be far fewer—just enough to address the crucial cultural differences. “Two years in the making, it will be the first truly global launch for Ford under the new ‘One Ford’ strategy,” says Farley.

That’s a big change compared to the last years. Indeed when it came to both developing vehicles and marketing them, Ford has been the king of inconsistency and waste. Ford marketing executives around the world spent tens of millions of dollars a year shooting their own film and photography for dozens of advertising campaigns and catalogues with nary an eye on efficiency.

Farley has brought in a new sense of order. “Drive One,” as a slogan and strategy launched in 2008, is continuing. More than a tagline, it also reflects CEO Alan Mulally’s global “One Ford” strategy, which has broken down all the regional fiefdoms around the world that wasted billions. “It will evolve, but I don’t see it changing,” says Farley. That’s good, says Dan Gorell of auto industry consultancy AutoStrategem.

It is obvious that James Farley understands what too few marketers do not: « that it is critical to maintain messaging consistency over time to rebuild confidence and trust in the Ford brand.”

A future for the Mercury and Lincoln brands ?

Ford decided earlier this year to mothball Mercury. And though Farley says the company is committed to Lincoln, the truth, according to other sources inside Ford, is that Lincoln will have only the next couple of years to show it can earn its way, or go the same way.

If that were to occur, Ford would be the only major automaker selling one brand globally. Even Toyota has Lexus and Scion. That would be the ultimate marketing efficiency for the third biggest car company in the world. Talk about one Ford.