Salute to Ford

Black and mean: The new Ford rs 500

This weeks blog is different than any other blogpost you have read here on cars one on one with Vincent for a few reasons and one the reasons is the fact that today I will be personal saluting what Ford motor co has managed to achieve with their concept of building one of the best cars of 2012 and that is the one and only Ford Focus rs 500.
This baby features a powerful 350 ps comes with a 2,5 litere engine and the engine is a 5 cylinder engine with 460Nm of torgue. The Ford rs 500 delivers 15% more power than your normal ford rs which gives you an exhilarating road expirience.
The secret is that the Ford rs 500 has only 500 units made that will ony be sold on European markets and that for me is bad news because my dream of owning one of these babies is slowly fading away but the good news is that this beastly machine is faster than a Porche boxter 911 which means that Ford did their homework(Read More)


Speed master: The new Ford Mustang Gt 500

  
Ford has proved to be on top of their game with this new Ford rs 500 because I personaly feel this is the second best car to be manufactured by ford motor co and obviously the first is the Ford Mustang GT500 which is still boss of the roads and now the Ford rs 500 so thats why today I say salute to this company for building a dream car and also not forgeting how Public relations practitioners will find it easy to make sure there is a high demand for this machine with their Marketing strategies and public relations functions. 

Peugeot closes manufacturing plant



The 2011 Peugeot RCZ

 Peugeot is one of the oldest car manufacturing company arround today and just like any other car manufacturing company they have had their fair share of trials and tribulations such as the decline in market share prices  by 32% last year,but this time it really seems like things have gone from bad to worse for this car manufacturing giant.
Peugeot reported in the news last week that they are going to close one of their manufacturing plants in the city of France, paris which will see aproximately 8000 jobs being lost.
My concern about all this is more focused on the workload and answers that employees of this company will ask to the public relations practitioners and how will the practitioners deal with the crisis.(Read more)



The new citroen DS3 racing

 Crisis management is a Public Relations function and needs a strategic approach when dealing with crisis of this nature and also the other main concern is how will they find balance since they are the manufactures of Peugeot and Citroen, it is sad that we public relations people need to provide answers not only to the media but also to these soon to be jobless employees and well it is also tragic that the practitioners working for peugeot have not managed to make sure their public relations functions are in line with those of their marketing and quality of their brand.

Battleof the giants

Normaly we often talk about the cars that we know but we often dont know who manufactures these machines.
Today I will tell you about which car manucture produces which sports car or luxary car for that matter.
The battle of giants am reffering to is between Toyota, VolksWagen, BMW and Mercedes Benz and the following list of luxary cars are manufactured by the above mentioned companies.

• Toyota manufactures Lexus
• Bmw manufactures Rolls Royce
• Volks Wagen manufactures Porsche
• Mercedes Benz manufactures Maybach

The new Toyota 86

From the list above you can clearly see as to why these companies have dominated the car manufacturing industry for many years but now it all goes to the question of which car manufactures are doing well and at this point I can say they are all on the same level especially with toyotas new car called the Toyota 86 which is one of the nice cars of 2012.(Read More)

It is for this reason that public relations practitioners have a hand full of responsibilities because the competition between these companies is very tight and it also goes to the main practice of Public Relations which is to make sure that these cars are well advertised in all forms of media channells.

Maybach or Rolls Royce

The sassy Maybach Landaulet

The car market has changed drastically with the new innovations in technology taking the world by storm the question would be which car between the lengendary Rolls Royce and Maybach would you prefer to drive?Well the answer might be quiet defficult toget but from my point of view both cars are very luxuries and costly.
Maybach is manufactured by Mercedes benz and Rolls Royce is manufactured by Bmw which goes without saying that these is a competition between two german giants (read more).

The fiesty Rolls Royce Phantom

These cars one of the best cars and often drived by people in higher positions and all that but the nice part about these two cars is that they are so comfortable  and other attributes are

• Balanced
• Full injector engines
•  6.6-liter V-12 powerplant 
•    563 horsepower at 5,250 rpm and 575  pound-feet of torque at 1,500 rpm

This goes without a doubt that the Rolls Royce and Maybach are both masterpieces and they both expensive becouse of the safety and the comfortability and well the speed and dont forget that they booth have mini fridges inside them.
The Rolls Royce costs$246,500 and the the Maybach costs around $1,35 000000.
For more info click here(read more).                                                                     

Motor manufactures join hands with Saps.



Image:One of the ford focuses donated to Saps

 

People often ask themselves the question of who buys those fancy cars that Saps members patrol and use for everyday crime? well the answer is very  much simple. The cars that are being drived by our so called heroes of humanity comes from car manufacturing companies that always put their public relations elements into practise such as  sponsorships.
Ford motor company of South Africa has handed over more than 200 new Ford Territory cars to the Gauteng Police Department. At hand-over ceremony the Gauteng Police Department took ownership of 250 new cars. The 250 new cars will be used in various special units including Dog Unit, Flying Squad and the Crime-Combating Unit within the province. (read more)





Image: criminals here it comes Vw golf 6

It is fantastic to see not only Ford coming to the party but also Vw South Africa has shown  that sponsorship is important to an organisations success and in this case our policeman and woman are really driving in style thanks to companies like Ford and Volkswagen South Africa.To upcoming public Relations practitioner it is very important to use every important element of Public Relations in your organisation because in my opinion it shows the competence and professionalism that the industry of public relations has and also not forgeting that all this will help your brand become widely recognised and respected.

 

Mercedes Benz is lighting the way for a brighter South Africa

Sourced from:http://www.mercedes-benzsa.co.za

When a person mentions the name Mercedes Benz the first thing that comes to mind is an image of an expensive and luxuries car that costs thousands, well your right but at the same time wrong.

Once again Mercedes Benz has proven not only to its competitors but also to the community as to why it is a very huge brand and successful at the same time.Mercedes Benz has initiated a Corporate Social Investment programme (CSI) in the Eastern Cape were fifteen primary and secondary schools in the Eastern Cape Border Kei Region participate in.



Sourced from:www.mercedes-benzsa.co.za

The decision to establish this project in the particular area was motivated by the fact that East London is the home of the Mercedes-Benz manufacturing plant and the company is committed to investing in developing a new generation of well-schooled citizens in Eastern Cape.The objective is to deliver improved quality of teaching, increased learning and pass rates, ultimately improving the quality and quantity of successful matric candidates and equipping more learners to continue their studies successfully at tertiary institutions in the subjects of maths and science. In addition, Life Orientation education takes place, and Grade 9 learners are offered support with Subject Choice and Career Guidance. The company has proven that for an organisation to be successful it needs to put the needs of those who are needy and help in bridging the educational gap that is between the rich and the poor because with such opportunities South Africa can become a better country for all.(read more)

How to create brand awareness

Small and comfortable: Dj euphonic and his Mini cooper
Source:http://www.google images

Creating brand awareness is one of the best marketing and public relations strategy to use as a company to expand your organisations popularity to your stakeholders. Organisations such as Mini cooper have taken upon themselves to make sure that they use the right face to endorce their product and for them dj Euphonic was that man. The purpose of brand awareness is to make your customers and potential customers aware of your business and its products and services. People often wear what celebrities wear because they look up to this guys so thats why companies such as Mini cooper have used this opportunity to attract young people who are hip and happening and who really love to be seen in the latest cars.


Black and mean: Rick ross with his Maybach
Source:http://www.google images.

Another perfect example of this is the American rap sensation Rick Ross who endorces one of the big and expensive cars which is Maybach and he even named his record label after the brand which goes to show that brand awareness can be very beneficial towards the organisation that is using it to up their sales and create a popularity that is very majestic to  creating a positive image of that brand, which is one of the most important steps in building a business and targeting the right audience is crucial for success.(read more)              



Supercars and Beautiful women



CLASS IS PRICELESS: The new Lamborghini gallado
Source:http://www.worldcarfans.com/112050243982/arrinera



Consumers are often persuaded to buy cars that are luxuries and expensive at the same time, but the question here is whether they are buying these cars because they need them or just because marketers use psychology to manipulate them? well I might not have a clear cut answer but it is true that if you want someone to buy what you selling you have to use psychology to persuade them to buy.

Cars are often associated with beautiful women, which to me that is true because if we look at how some of the largest sports car manufactures like,

 

STYLE AND BEAUTY: Michelle Leroy with the new Masseratti
Source:http://www.myselfanand.com/2011/07/charming-girls-and-supercars/






• Lamborghini
• Porsche
• Aston Martin
• Masseratti

 The extensive use of beautiful women to sell cars is one of the best strategies of making sure that your brand is associated with what your stakeholders love and that is called customer relationship mana . The nice part about the women and cars issue is that it relates to what we guys do which is giving our cars women names to show how much we love our women and cars as well. The cars industry is growing in South Africa and abroad not just because people need cars but because we are psychologically persuaded to think we really need these expensive cars but what can I say because by now everyone should be aware that sex sells(read more).

VW GOLF 6 GTI vs FORD FOCUS RS



The new 2012 Ford Focus Rs

Cars are one of the major assets that we boys concern ourselves about and the one thing that gets us     excited like a bunch of children with some candy bars is speed. Boys brace yourselves for one the biggest compitators of the VW Golf 6 Gti which is the new Ford Focus Rs.
The new Ford focus Rs is one of the best cars made by Ford motor co in my opinion because it comes with the following qualities(More)

• Engine 2522cc, 20v and 5 cylinder turbo
• 225kw at 6500rpm
• 440nm at 2300-4500rpm
• Transmission six speed manual and front wheel drive
• speed 0-100km in 5.9 sec with 262 top speed

This on its own clearly illustrates that Ford really wants to be the best of the best with this design, Ford is sure turning and making waves wherever it goes and I think its fantastic news to know that VW Golf 6 Gti finaly has a competition but also we have to look at some of the qualities of the VW Golf 6 Gti.

The stuning VW Golf Gti

• Engine 1984cc and 4 cylinder
• Output 5500-6500rpm at 173kw
• 300nm at 2200-5500rpm
• Transmission 5 speed manual and front wheel drive
• Speed 0-100km in 6.6 sec with 247 top speed

The statistics clearly show that if your looking for some mean machine then well look no further because the new Ford Focus Rs is the answer to evereones prayers and its one of those cars that are going to be vintage cars and before I forget this , the will only be a limited number of the new Ford Focus Rs here in South Africa so to those who love speed and can afford to buy this mean machine, I advice them to do so now because these cars may be out of stock soon(Read more)

Nissan comes to the rescure

It is amazing how we were told that the engeneering of Electric cars will bring more benefits and will help save our environment, but it was never mentioned that there will be big problems such as the lack of charging poins were drivers using cars such as the Nissan leaf are suffering from that problem.
Nissan has decided to come to the rescue until IBM's supper batteries or Exxon starts installing charging points.

The question I would like to pose is that was the cocept of inventing electric cars as successfull as they claimed it will be? because it seems like its failing the people but atleast we have companies such as Nissan who have pledged with their partners Charity adopt chargers who will be paying for charging points in the following places:

• Carlifonia
•  Los Angeles 
• San Francisco

Customers will have acces at these charging points for free and Nissan said it will be paying for everything including the electricity that will be used at these charging points.
I would like to say big ups to Nissan and their public relations practitioners for making sure that the relationships they build with their customers are well mantained.
(read more)

Fords Fuel Economy

Source:http//http://blogs.windsorstar.com

Ford is one of the best car manufactures in the world producing cars that fit everyone character, style and most important their needs.When a person goes to a garage to buy a Ford car, he/she expects to spend less on fuel prices which to me has been one of the strongest points of Ford motor co with cars designed to consume less fuel to make sure that people can afford to drive .

According to Green car reports Ford motor co is currently facing image problems which is due to the fact that the people who are driving Ford Focus and Ford Fiesta are complaining about the fuel economy of these cars which to my suprise these cars were voted best fuel economy class of 2012 making them one of the best cars to drive because of their ability to save fuel.



Source://http://dayerses.com/data_images/posts/ford-focus-st/



The perceptions of  people is that Ford is no longer having less fuel economy but its now a gas guzzler and this was said by a whooping 68% of US consumers out of 240 million and 32% still have  good opinion which goes to show that maybe Fords fuel economy efforts are now lacking because consumers are complaining, which in my view its bad for the image of an organisation like Ford who have done so much in the past and this also puts so much pressure on Fords Global Marketing chief Mr Jim Farley who is faced with a huge task of trying to influence their consumers and change these perceptions which is one the functions of Public relations and try to make sure that the company's image is well protected sustained. 

The information used in this blog is taken from: (read more).                                                

                                       

BMW 5 AND 6 SERIES PROBLEMS

When you buy a new car from an expensive and reputable car manufacture like Bmw you expect quality and not quantity.

German giants Bmw who are manufactures of  the best quality cars like Rolls-Royce, Bmw and Mini cooper. Bmw have reported that they are recalling 365 000 Bmw's in the United States namely the 5 series and 6 series models that were manufactured between 2003 and 2010. The German giants said that the problem faced by these cars is the battery cable cover in the trunk was incorrectly installed and this problem could lead to troubles such the cars will struggle to start and the might be cases of fire because the problem is viewed as an electric fault. Bmw says that it will inform all owners of the Bmw 5 and 6 series by mail to bring their cars to the nearest Bmw service garage for a 30 minute service which is free of charge to all the owners. Bmw also announced that they will also be recalling Mini coopers and Rolls Royce over water pumps problem and the most amazing news after all this is that the Bmw group sales are up by 12% at the markets which clearly shows that the PR department came up with a good crisis management strategy that will save the companies image and boosts sales also.

The information on this blog was taken from (read more)

ARRIVE ALIVE-SPEED KILLS

South Africa is one of the countries with a higher rate of deaths in their roads and this happenes largely on holidays. The South African roads are open or wide enough but yet still people are dying and the main question here is that do we always have to blame these accidents on alcohol abuse and reckless driving? When looking at this matter one can also be aware of the role played by Marketing Communications, Public Relations and Advertisement in the problem of car accidents.

The reason why the above mentioned professions play a role is because of the way cars are being marketed today by using the speed of the car as leverage and this tends to influence buyers because they believe what marketers and public relations practitioners tell them and the most sad part is the fact that marketing communication and public relations are responsible for changing their customers perceptions by using strategic communication to persuade them about what is right but according to my view i really think that these guys are also failing because there are campaigns running such as the arrive alive campaign but all of these campaigns have less impact on what is happening in our roads today.

The following statistics show how many accidents took place last year in each province

• Gauteng 200
• KwaZulu Natal 252
• Eastern cape 169
• Northen Cape 35
• Limpopo 155
• Western Cape 127
• Mpumalanga 115
• North West 98
• Freestate 90

The information on this blog can be accessed at (Read more)

Electric cars pure innovation or pure ignorance



the internal structure of a hybrid car


It is a very nice idea that just like countries such as the United States of America, South Africans will also get an opportunity to own what is known as hybrid or electric cars. South Africa has also introduced their own home made Hybrid car called Joule.
Before we can start talking about how wonderful the car is, let us just ask one common question and that question is the question that every concerned South African is asking themselves and that is ,how will South Africa generate the huge amount of electricity needed by these electric cars and will the electricity last for a long period of time?


an electric car being chrged


These cars are aimed at reducing greenhouse emissions but to be realistic that depends on the cleanliness of the electricity grid and that will also raise a question of with almost 80% of the countries electricity being generated by using coal energy how do people get the gurantee of a clean and less harmful oxygen? the other major problem with the electric cars is that South Africa is struggling to make sure that every South African has access to electricity which electricity is becoming one of the most scarce resources .
According to a study done by three professors at Witwatersrand University these cars are producing more greenhouse emissions than your ordinary cars that run by using internal combustion engines .

The question that i would like to ask is how did South Africa host the COP-MOP 17 Conference which was about climate change and factors that impact on it if they know nothing about the implications of an electric car.(read more)

THE MERCEDES BENZ FASHION WEEK IN JOBURG.

"Who ever said that Fashion and cars do not meet was surely lying”. Mercedes Benz South Africa joined forces with what was formerly known as the Johannesburg fashion week to bring you the new reincarnation of joburg fashion week and that is the Mercedes fashion week.

Mercedes Benz did not only come on board as the sponsor of what was the Johannesburg fashion week but also joined some of the big giants in the car industry with their own retail shops selling their on branded clothing and these giants are

·    Porsche

·    Ferrari

·    Bmw

·    Harley Davidson  

The Mercedes Benz fashion week will run from the 7 to the 10 of March at AFI situated at Hyde Park and the show will be held on top of the roof with more than 25 designers and 20 shows. The Mercedes Benz fashion week is sure bringing in the big industry names in fashion namely

·         Kluk Cgdt

·         David Tlale

·         Gavin Rajah

·         Thula Sindi

·         Spero Villioti

·         Heni Leigh

The fashion show will also showcase menswear by C-Squared, Fabiani and Distinctive men.

The idea of coming on board by Mercedes Benz goes to show that with a very strong relationship between departments such as Marketing and Public Relations companies like Mercedes Benz can achieve bigger things because Mercedes Benz does not only do this here in South Africa but also in countries like Berlin and Germany.

The content and images were abducted from:(Read more)                                                                  

The infuence of pr in car market growth

Public relations is a very infuencial practice in any market related industries and in this sence we look at   the fundamental aspects of Public relations and how they have infuenced the growth of the South African car market.The South African car industry had problems in the year 2009, which the problem was a huge decline in sold cars by some of South Africas biggest car manufactures like VW and Mercedes benz but that problem has becomed what South African car manufactures can call a bad dream because of the recent growth in the year 2010 which saw the South African car industry selling $ 1.8 billion cars to the US, putting South Africa ahead of Sweden and Italy who are the main suppliers to the US market.

The question here is are the public relations practitioners finally getting the job done? the one thing that one has to know is the fundamental practices of public relations that play a very vital role and in this case the estabishment of new relationships with customers and the infuence that PR has in the changing of perceptions of their stakeholders or customers which has worked mericles such as the 30% growth projected and VW 34.3% growth with over 67 023 uints sold in the december period in 2010 and Mercides benz giagentic growth of 117% compared to the 3.6% in 2009.

The statistics provided in this blog were adapted from :http//www. carmagazinesouth africa.co.za