Autoblog

Lionsgate has released the second trailer showcasing that buff delivery guy with the English accent, and if you thought Transporter 2 was an all-out sprint on the ludicrous side, wait until you get a load of the stunts in Transporter 3. It not only shows off more of Statham's body and his 1-liner prowess, it also shows off more bad dialogue, more absurd stunts, and more reasons why it's Crank but with a bracelet and an Audi. It will clearly be a movie where you put your brain down in the seat next to you and then load up on greasy popcorn and root beer with wide-eyed glee. But that doesn't mean we won't see it. Check out the trailer after the jump, and mark your calendars for November 26.

[Source: Transporter 3 Blog]

Bernie Ecclestone has three daughters -- four if you count Formula 1 -- and the one you see above is Tamara, posing with a checkered flag. Why? To help PETA fight the fur trade, of course. Under the slogan "Going fur-free is the winning formula," Tamara has done a series of print ads in Europe that appear to say "If you really care about animals, not only will you not wear fur, you won't wear any clothes at all. And you'll be hot. Like Natasja Vermeer and Eva Mendes hot. Or Steve-O." Vive l'Europe.

[Source: AutoWeek]

General Motors and Hollywood's little gold statue have been friends for 11 years, but with a reduction in its marketing and ad budget, the U.S. automaker has walked away from high profile events such as the Super Bowl, Emmys, and Oscars. Thankfully for ABC, the multimillion-dollar breach in the 2009 Oscars telecast created by GM's departure has been immediately filled by Hyundai.

As of now, Hyundai has only signed on to take over an unknown quantity of the $1.7-million-plus ad slots – it isn't known whether the Korean automaker will completely replace GM's presence at the awards. Along with a new agency, and an increased marketing budget – and all those SEMA cars – Hyundai's ad buy is another measure of its confidence in the new Genesis and its push to move into premium territory.

[Source: Automotive News, sub. req'd]

Click above for high-res gallery of MC:LA event

We got a look at a pre-production version of Midnight Club: Los Angeles back in August, and it definitely whetted our appetite for the real thing. Well that time has come, and the latest racing sim is now available in stores. Rockstar Games, the publisher of MC:LA, recently invited us out to Willow Springs Raceway to play the final version of the game and experience some of the actual cars on track including the Lamborghini Gallardo, Audi R8 and Saleen S302 Extreme Mustang. While it's hard to beat the real thing, MC:LA does a decent job of making a unique driving game with an incredibly real driving environment. We generally prefer more realistic racing simulators like Gran Turismo or Forza, but we also enjoy being able to drive on recognizable streets in LA and had fun tuning and customizing the cars in the game's performance shop. You can get full details on the MC:LA in the press release after the jump, and be sure to check out the galleries from our day at the track and plenty of screen shots from the game.

UPDATE:

The release date of Midnight Club: Los Angeles has been pushed to October 21st.

Ford announced earlier this summer that it would delay the launch of its ultra-important F150 full-size truck by a few months to help dealers clear out left over 2008 inventory. For the record, the new truck's launch was originally scheduled for October before being moved to December. Finally, Ford has split the difference and will begin marketing its F150 in November. Jim Farley, main marketer at the Blue Oval, cites two main reasons for the revised decision. One: its dealerships culled their old supply faster than anticipated, and two: Dodge just launched its new-for-'09 Ram. Ford obviously doesn't want its cross-town rival to steal all its thunder.

Expectations for the new F150 seem appropriately timid. Current market conditions, including the relatively high price of fuel and the difficulty in securing credit, mean the the days of Ford selling a million trucks a year are over. Still, there is a large market left of users who depend on their trucks for work, and Ford's targeting them. We'll see how it goes beginning next month.


[Source: Inside Line]

If you've got it, flaunt it. The super high-end automotive market has been counting on that attitude for years, and it may now be coming back to bite them. It seems that sales of luxury marques such as Bentley, Maybach and Aston Martin have been on a downward trajectory over the last year. Despite the fact that there are a number of people who still have plenty of dough to purchase these expensive toys, public perception is causing some of them to hold back and keep those fat wallets in their pockets.

To combat the problem, some high-end brands are choosing to aim even higher. If ex-customers with a net-worth of less than $5 million find it socially unacceptable to make a purchase, Bentley has said it will begin marketing to those with at least a net worth of $25 million. Let us add that we've driven a few Bentleys and Rollers and can say with certainty that they are definitely conspicuous in a sea of CamCords and Mustangs.


[Source: Advertising Age]

Vehicle sales are brutal everywhere of late, but Volvo has been tanking long before any industry-wide slowdown took place. That makes the March 2009 arrival of the XC60 crossover that much more important, as it's the first all-new Volvo (besides the low volume C30) in many years. Since customers have been turning away from the Volvo brand of late, marketing will play a big part of the XC60's success. Volvo has unleashed its new campaign for the CUV already with the tagline, "The new Volvo XC60. From Sweden with löv." We get it. Volvo is stressing its Swedish roots in marketing its new vehicle. Hey, it works for IKEA, right? Volvo even utilized the Swedish spelling for 'love' to give its new crossover more Euro appeal.

Our tipster Caitlin didn't think it works at all. The reason? Löv means 'leaves' in Swedish and has nothing to do with that certain brand of affection that makes our cheeks blush. According to Caitlin, Lov without the umlaut means 'vacation' or 'break', which sounds like a better advertising angle for a CUV than leaves, but just doesn't look as "Swedish" in print. The proper translation of 'love' into Swedish is "kärlek", so when you begin seeing the XC60 on U.S. streets next March, just remember that it comes from Sweden with kärlek. Thanks for the tip, Caitlin!


[Source: Volvo]

Motor Trend says on its blog that they are busily putting 17 new or newly redesigned cars through an "exhaustive evaluation process" that will result in 10 finalists for their Car of the Year award. With cars like the BMW 1 Series, Nissan GT-R, Audi A4, Acura TSX and Pontiac G8, we'd have a hard time choosing five more. Wildcards are the Hyundai Genesis, the Mazda6, the Volkswagen CC and the Dodge Challenger.

They'll be competing with the Acura TL, Honda Fit, Jaguar XF, Lincoln MKS, Nissan Maxima, Pontiac Vibe, Toyota Corolla, and the Toyota Matrix.

As a member of the Armchair COTY Comittee, which ones are on your top ten? Is the GT-R a shoe-in or will the Challenger win on pure musclecar charisma? The magazine will announce the winner in its January issue.

[Source: Motor Trend Blog]

If the song is true that "to everything, turn turn turn, there is a season, turn turn turn," then we're going to need a lot more seasons for the Fiat 500. In addition to versions by StudioTorino, Diesel and Abarth, not to mention a convertible and an F1-themed run of 12, Fiat is making a special edition 500 to celebrate the car's appearance in the movie Lupin III: Green vs Red.

The Japanese anime film itself celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Lupin III series of movies, which began in 1979 when gentleman thief Lupin III used a yellow Fiat 500. While the film is out now on DVD, the special edition Fiat 500 in yellow livery and graced with Lupin's image won't come around until the latter half of 2009, and probably only in Japan. If Fiat keeps this up, it might just challenge the Ford Mustang for the title of Most Gratuitous Special Editions Differentiated by Inconsequential Details. Thanks for the tip, catgirlshyla!

[Source: Fiat 500 News]

Dodge is looking to spur sales in Germany while at the same time increase the country's birth rate in a new marketing campaign that's one for the ages. German women who come to a Dodge dealership with proof of procreation and the resultant pregnancy will get a discount on the Dodge car or minivan of their dreams. Apparently, the birth rate in Germany is precariously low, which has led Dodge to, ahem, conceive this idea. Expecting moms get nine months (clever) deferred financing if they can present proper proof of their pregnancy. Considering women have to pee on those sticks to find out if they're preggo, we hope local German dealers have plenty of latex gloves and disinfectant on hand. When my wife had some odd cravings when she was pregnant, but never once did she ask for a Dodge. She did tell me once, however, that the Dodge Ram logo looks like a uterus, so maybe this campaign makes sense after all.

[Source: Obscene Desserts, Photo by Viewmaker | Creative Commons 2.0]