Automotive
Walmart, CarSaver will sell cars (Automotive News)
Walmart Stores Inc., the nation’s largest retailer, is jumping into car sales through a partnership with CarSaver, an online automotive retail platform.
CarSaver, in turn, is setting up partnerships with dealership groups, including AutoNation Inc., the nation’s largest new-vehicle retailer.
CarSaver will launch the program April 1 at select Walmart Supercenters in four markets: Houston, Dallas, Phoenix and Oklahoma City.
Technology & Innovation
Startup plans digital license plates (SFGate)
After 150 years on the road, license plates are still the same basic slabs of metal.
Now a San Francisco company called Reviver wants to reinvent the plates, with an interactive digital display called rPlate that can automatically update DMV registration, display messages and images and handle vehicle and fleet tracking.
At 6-by-12-inches with an antireflective LCD screen that displays license numbers, the rPlate looks like a traditional license plate, albeit somewhat brighter. The only size difference is that it’s almost 1 inch thick.
But when a car is stopped, the rPlate can swing into action, displaying a host of other information. It is Internet-connected and can show Amber alerts and weather warnings, as well as custom messages from the driver, such as “Go Warriors!” or “Happy New Year!” — along with images such as Stephen Curry making a jump shot.
It also can display advertising.
Advertising
Nissan seeks sequel to ‘Rogue One’ campaign (CAR Enthusiast)
Soon after Nissan’s Star Wars tie-in kicked Rogue gross sales into hyperdrive very last month — it was the U.S. market’s ideal-promoting nonpickup in December — the automaker’s advertising and marketing workforce is tackling a new mission: spreading the compact crossover’s results to other nameplates.
Jeremy Tucker, vice president of advertising and marketing communications and media at Nissan North America, explained he’ll include classes discovered from the campaign into his future actions.
He explained the true intention of the campaign was identify recognition. Quite a few people failed to even comprehend Nissan produced a automobile referred to as “Rogue,” he explained.
Events
Trump & Autonomy Overshadow Slow Detroit Auto Show (The Banks Report)
Two words best describe this year’s Detroit Auto Show — Trump and autonomy.
Despite coming on the heels of a second consecutive record breaking year for sales, the mood on the show floor was far from celebratory. Blase is a better description. Other comments made by people at the show included, words such as “A dud,” “quiet,” and “dead.” The auto show in Los Angeles held in November was equally dead.
Nevertheless, the focus of the news last week was less about the cars and more about President-elect Trump’s potential trade policies along with the continued mad rush toward all things involving autonomy and mobility.
This conversation likely is a phenomenon unique to this year’s show as Trump’s tweets attacking automakers for building vehicles in Mexico (automakers building cars in Canada are up next) along with moves from Ford and FCA have automakers scrambling to divine how the incoming administration will affect future and current initiatives.