Gojirra99

Business Week has an interesting look at some of the most noteworthy “halo cars” in recent years. Halo cars are vehicles that increase interest in a brand, even if they are low volume:


Pontiac Solstice
Saturn Sky
Ford Thunderbird
Ford GT
Ford Mustang GT500
Dodge Viper
Mazda Miata
Lincoln Navigator
Chrysler 300
Volkswagen Phaeton
Toyota Prius
Chevrolet Corvette
Oldsmobile Aurora
Studebaker Avanti
Honda/Acura NSX

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videcormeum

I agree with everything on that list except the Volkswagen Phaeton.

In my opinion it has largely left consumers scratching their heads and hasn't done anything much for the VW brand.

It's really VW's elephant in the room more than anything else.

M.

Ichigo

Im suprised that there is no Porshe Cayenne, Lancer Evo, WRX STI, Civic SI, RSX Type S or Integra Type R on that list. All of these cars helped a lot to garner interest in their respective brands.

GFerg

Huh??

The Thunderbird?? They say its a halo car, but in the text they talk about how much of a failure it was.

Viper?? Yea, definitely, but not the current gen. Its no where near the GTS in anyway. IMO it fell off hard. I take that back, its a Halo car for them. Nothing else in there line can be considered better.

Phaeton?? Didnt work. It was a nice VW, but did nothing for the brand. It just showed that VW knows how to price themselves out of there market.

Aurora. Cool 1st gen that actaully got the ball rolling but 2nd gen completely dropped that ball. It sucked and so did the brand.

XeroK00L

The Cayenne may help sales, but a halo car is isn't.

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

I agree, but some cars on that list also may not be halo cars either. Like the Miata.

On that list I would add the Honda S2000 as well. It may not have been Honda's top halo car, but it kind of was the halo car for the Honda side whereas the NSX was the halo car for Acura in North America and Honda globaly.

For Porsche, the Carrera GT would be the halo car, but I think the 911 is really the publics halo car since many don't even know about the Carrera GT, but everyone knows about the 911.

MSMLexIS

Aurora Phaeton halo cars that shine WTF!

SoCalSC4

The Avanti? Really?

My dad always liked these, but I personally find them quite ugly. Almost objectionable, really...

A halo car... worked great for Studebaker. Look at them now!
(although it was possible to buy a new Avanti until a few years ago- someone bought the tooling!! )

omaha_lex

I always thought the Crossfire was Chrysler's halo car? The 300C is kinda their bread-and-butter, not a halo.

XeroK00L

Unless of course it's a 300C SRT8.

LexFather

Complete idiots.
1. The GTO is the halo car for Pontiac, not the Solstice. DUH. And the GTO has failed miserably with providing Pontiac a favorable image
2. Saturn Sky. I can agree with this, its bringing A LOT of interest in Saturn.
3.Ford Thunderbird. The )#$()#)( car is DISCONTINUED. Its a FAILURE, a TOTAL TURD. What a bad decision. And the platform sharing Lincoln LS is gone too. Idiots
4. Ford GT. A fantastic car but Bill Ford was WRONG in making it, b/c it has provided NO HALO on the brand. Its like its a total seperate car. Maybe if they actually had some CARS when the GT debuted, it would have been different.
5. Ford Mustang Shelby, yes, good choice a GREAT halo for the rest of the Mustangs.
6. Dodge Viper. Nope, its like this car didn't get a total revision. No one talks about it. A damn shame. NO HALO, a failure in that aspect.
7. Mazda Miata, NO HALO, the #$ RX-8 is the top model, not the MIATA. DUH
8. Lincoln Naviagor. It WAS a halo car but its so overshawdoed by the Escalade, its not even funny. NO ONE talks bout the Naviagator anymore. Its failed with the HALO.
9. Chrysler 300. Yup, in SRT-8 form, a GREAT HALO car. GOod job
10.VW Phaeton. Like the Q45, NOT WHAT YOUR FLAGSHIP SHOULD BE. A TOTAL failure and DISCONTINUED. Brought NO INTEREST to VW besides LAUGHS.
11. Prius. Yup a great HYBRID halo, brings MUCH INTERST to the car and brand.
12.Corvette, in Z06 form, HELL YES, a GREAT FANTASTIC Halo car!
13. Oldsmobile Auroa, a good car and IMO, overlooked sadly. However, could not save Oldsmobile and a TERRIBLE halo car, the whole BRAND is discontinued
14. Studebaker/Avanti-uhh, discontined.

side-bar-the Avanti was a GROUND BREAKING design, with its bold, no grill face.

15. Honda/Acura NSX-A good halo car, but not great. Honda fans know about the car, most other people don't. But it does bring good Honda/Acura interest to the brand. Sadly,now discontinued.

mmarshall

What happened with the Phaeton was not VW's fault. The public, to some extent, screwed themselves on that one...especially people who wanted 12 cylinders. VW offered a superbly crafted W12 luxury sedan at a price tens of thousands less that its two primary competitors.....the BMW 760i and Mercedes S600. Many potential 12-cylinder customers, IMO stubbornly and foolishly, refused to buy it even at the bargain price because it had the VW badge.

This is an absolutely perfect example of why I speak against automotive stereotypes so much. They do an enormous amount of damage in the marketplace....and it was stereotypes that killed this car, not poor marketing on VW's part.

Gojirra99

It is poor marketing if VW did not take stereotypes into account in their plan when they decide to make the Phaeton.

That stereotypes exist (right or wrong, & whether you like it or not)) in the marketplace is a fact.
If they do not recognize that & have no real strategy to overcome it, it's poor marketing.
Marketing is more about actually getting as many people to buy your products as possible, not necessarily telling everybody what is right /good or wrong/bad for them.

marshmallo

I beg to differ on this one... It was absolutely and completely their fault.
If I am going to spend that kind of cash on a car I have a hard time buying
an Audi already and there is no way I am buying a VW. That's why Lexus
is not badged Toyota in the first place. What kind of market research did
they do? Probably none and I'm glad it backfired.

They sold 17 Phaetons in May 06 and they still
haven't killed this yet

As for the rest of this "list" (made by idiots on crack) I got a good laugh out of it.
The Phaeton is only ONE joke among many on this list (although it might be the
funniest one)

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

If people have a hard time buying an Acura RL for $50K even if it is a great car, you think they would spend $65K+ for a Volkswagon? Right or wrong, VW was playing in the wrong market segment. Might as well just buy the Audi.