InteractiveSalsa.com

Hybrids aren’t the only new thing at General Motors.  GM is shifting gears in a big way.  Last year it spent $197 million in online display advertising… and now it plans to spend $1.5 billion on digital and one-to-one marketing, of its $3B budget, over the next three years.

There is more here…

Consumers looking to buy new vehicles were among the first to embrace online research to support buying decisions. And while television and print still have a place in product launches and awareness, many dealers now accept that the purchase process starts - and sometimes ends - online.   …

I personally have spent much more time on auto websites than at the dealer, or anywhere else for that matter.  MINI has a great build-it-yourself site (I spent an hour consumed with the site last fall), which is becoming much more common.  It is the ultimate showroom — your favorite cars, customized to your liking, in the convenience of browsing in your boxers.  And when I do hit the showroom, admittedly just to browse and make sure I didn’t miss something online, I often find out I know as much or more about the car than the car salesman.  Nope, I’m no Einstein, just passionate about the stuff I’m into, like many.  So, it makes perfect sense that auto companies would go where the interest and purchase begins — online.  It’s about education, it’s about connecting with the senses and passion, it’s about the conversation, it’s about…selling cars.