BUY THE MARQUE, NOT THE CAR

WE ALL love our cars, though personal mobility may be approaching a shift of paradigm. A recent survey of ownership options suggests this. A marketing idea with the Fiat 500e electric vehicle is a tentative first step.

Briefly, the idea is to buy (or lease) the marque, not the specific car.

I wrote about this concept way back in “Whither the Automobile,” Road & Track, September 2001, as suggested by researchers at a Honda think tank.

Buy Honda, not a specific Honda.

Using this automaker as an example, I might “own” as my principal car a Honda Fit EV. It’s nimble, efficient and—given its outward size—roomy even for the likes of me. (See www.wp.me/p2ETap-25 for my drive of this tidy urban sportster.)

For most of my driving these days, the Honda Fit EV is a fine choice. Tooling around Orange County, going to the grocery store, visiting the “Y.”

However, there are times when the Fit EV doesn’t fit. The Los Angeles Auto Show, with a side trip to Papa Cristo’s for great Greek dine-in or take-out. A drive up Route 1 to Malibu and its Marmalade Cafe. Or out 101 to Agoura Hills, Agoura’s Famous Deli and its world’s-best pastrami melt.

Are you getting the drift of my travel motives?

There are also enthusiast activities. A Monterey weekend. Even a track day.

This is where “Buy the Marque” comes into play. The Fit EV would be my principal personal mobility, but I’d be part of a program wherein Honda would offer swapping opportunities with other cars in its lineup.

A Crosstour (see www.wp.me/p2ETap-9S) when I need more room or simply want more luxury. An Odyssey when the whole family shows up at once. Or even the new NSX when this concept car comes to market.

This idea is nascent in Fiat’s deal with its 500e electric vehicle. Mitigating range anxiety of owning an EV, Fiat has worked out a deal with Enterprise Holdings, owners of Alamo, Enterprise and National car rentals.

Buyers of the Fiat 500e EV also buy into an interesting new model of ownership and use.

Each 500e owner gets a free Enterprise business account with sufficient credit for renting a gasoline-fueled standard car for up to 12 days a year. The deal continues with added credits on the first two anniversaries of the 500e’s purchase.

The consumer pays for any insurance or additional charges, as might be the case with a rental. And the credits can be applied toward renting other vehicle types, minivans or pickups, for example.

Fiat and National are offering an interesting business model, though it’s a bit too early to know all its nuances.

Confirming this and related trends, Capgemini Consulting has issued its 14th annual global automotive study, “Cars Online 12/13: My Car, My Way.” See http://goo.gl/lXUHw for lots of insights into auto marketing trends.

The study notes that dealer loyalties—and especially brand loyalties—are on an upward trend. More than 59 percent of 1000 U.S. respondents said they’d buy a vehicle from the same dealer, up 10 percent from its 2009/2010 survey.

Brand loyalty is even higher: 73 percent said they’d stay with the same carmaker, up from 61 percent of previous respondents.

Brand loyalty of this magnitude would seem to fit right in with “Buy the Marque, Not the Car.” What’s your view? ds

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2013