Quote Of The Day 2: Fold On Sunday, Market On Monday Anyway Edition
We still own the Ralliart name, and we still intend to brand our cars with it. The biggest change for us is that we won’t have to pay royalties to use the name anymore,
Mitsubishi North America spokesman Maurice Durand explains to Automotive News [sub] why the death of Mitsu-owned racing firm Ralliart is actually kind of a good thing. After all, how many Americans really watch rallying often enough to know or care whether Mitsubishi’s erstwhile rallying partner has anything to do with the cars that bear its name? The fact that the Lancer Ralliart has a two-liter turbocharged engine and AWD is what consumers will notice; using a brand name that leaves no doubt as to the inspiration for the trim level does everything it needs to from a marketing perspective. Whether a team named Ralliart actually races similar vehicles is, in the modern marketing context, almost completely irrelevant. After all, Subaru isn’t even competing in the World Rally Championship at all anymore… the old “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” adage couldn’t be more dead.
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BTW, the various touring car racing series, like DTM, in the UK and down under, are pretty popular. Too bad we don't have something similar in the US, though I suppose the Rolex sports car series and Grand Am Challenge might fit the bill. Now that would be exciting, production based racing series around the world that share rulebooks so once Germany, the UK, Australia etc finish their seasons, have a world championship.
They might all be popular but I would like to see to what extent they positively influence sales or the perception of a brand and for what specific part of the population - i.e. some brands might justifiably race, while for others it might be a complete waste of money.
I can tell you one of the reasons I looked at my STi was due to watching WRC from time to time when it was back on Speed. I knew there were significant differences between the street/racing version but it still introduced me to the car, and the spirit of the car is there.
Robstar, The same happened to me when I bought my Peugeot. WaftableTorque, Well overaccesorizing may be the mohawk cut, but it is nice to at least put on your car that extra thing under the hood which may make it a little more fun to drive, like a ECU Reprogramming or better suspension components, as the Mazda guys say, the zoom zoom. Best regards.