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March Madness upsets good for auto advertisers

There are no Cinderella teams left in the NCAA men's basketball tournament - the fairytales ended with Georgia State's loss to Xavier over the weekend. And even though the Sweet 16 is composed of elite teams - at the time of writing the lowest-ranked squad is 11th-seeded UCLA, which has most championships of any school in the country - there are still underdogs and surprises, and they are good for NCAA business and advertisers. Last year the March Madness Live app, which allows users to watch games on the go, was downloaded 4.5 million times, a jump of more than 40 percent over 2013. Buick sponsors the iOS version of the app, but more than a million of those downloads were for the Android version, sponsored by Infiniti since 2011. Part of Buick's engagement is a "Boss Button" on the livestream sites that can quickly mask the page with something your boss won't question you over. It also sponsors a trick-shot competition for fans, has a display in Bracket Town during the Final Four, and its cars lead the team buses through the city. Infiniti said last year's tourney increased online searches for the brand by 25 percent in March, and things are going even better this year: it's round-by-round bracket game drew 477,859 total entries in 2014, this year's game has signed up 534,350 already and the tournament has another two weeks to go. The luxury brand is all over the event, promoting the QX60 through to the Final Four, then moving its efforts to the Q50. It sponsors the Coaches vs. Cancer charity and will have an Infiniti Lounge near the Final Four venue in downtown Indianapolis. So for the two automakers keeping their own scores... come on, Wichita State! Six brackets, six chances to win a trip to #FinalFour 2016. Official rules at http://t.co/4b9GyGJ4wP. #RoundByRound https://t.co/ZCsFatVlja - Infiniti USA (@InfinitiUSA) March 19, 2015 News Source: Automotive News - sub. req. Marketing/Advertising Buick Infiniti app sports ncaa march madness

Infiniti to launch first electric car, to be made in China

BEIJING — The first electric car for Nissan's premium brand Infiniti will be a sporty sedan produced in China, the Japanese carmaker said in a statement viewed by Reuters ahead of a public announcement expected as soon as Wednesday. The vehicle would hit the market in around three years, and consumers would get a taste when the company unveils a concept car, dubbed the Qs Inspiration electric sedan, at the Shanghai auto show later this week, Nissan officials said. "China has the most growth potential for electric vehicles globally, especially in the premium segment," Infiniti Chairman Christian Meunier said in the statement seen by Reuters. Automakers operating in China have to sell more so-called new-energy vehicles, either battery electric cars or plug-in electric hybrids, to comply with official production quotas designed to reduce smog. It was not immediately clear whether Infiniti planned to produce its first electric vehicle in other markets. An Infiniti spokesman said, however, the brand did not intend to export the e-sedan from China. The planned e-sedan is part of Infiniti's longer-term strategy to significantly electrify its product lineup. Brand officials have said that from 2021 every Infiniti model launched will be either an all-electric car or so-called "e-Power" hybrids, underlining Nissan's previously announced plan to make Infiniti primarily an electrified offering. The sedan likely would be built on a new flexible architecture developed specifically to accommodate electrified powertrains, Infiniti said in the statement. Its design, especially the interior, would be significantly different than current models, design chief Karim Habib said. EVs do not have bulky gasoline engines and transmissions, opening up space inside the car. "It will have a flat floor, and if you are a passenger you can cross your legs or stretch out your legs," Habib told Reuters. Competition in China's rapidly emerging electric car market is heating up amid an onslaught of models from startups such as Nio and WM Motor, as well as those from established automakers. In the luxury segment, Infiniti will be competing with Tesla Model S and Model X, as well as other models due to be launched in coming months by Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Lexus.

Weekly Recap: An '80s encore in the auto world

The '80s returned in a big way this week, as National Lampoon's, Ghostbusters, Miami Vice, and even Tetris were back in the news. While there were far more serious topics (see below), nostalgia mingled with modern marketing to put these Reagan-era favorites back in the spotlight. The '80s were alternately cold and corny at times, but their cultural touchstones can still generate big money. That's why Infiniti recreated an iconic scene from National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) for an advertisement that hawks the QX60 crossover. Actor Ethan Embry, who played Rusty Griswold in a later Lampoon's movie, pilots the Infiniti – which is serving as a modern Family Truckster – for a trip to Walley World. A blonde pulls alongside in a red Lamborghini. They flirt, and she drives on. Christie Brinkley, who played the original girl in the red sports car (she drove a Ferrari in the '83 flick), is riding shotgun and chides Embry with: "A blonde. In a convertible. Seriously?" Okay, it's hardly on the level of "here's looking at you," or even "you can't handle the truth," but it should resonate with '80s babies, many of whom are now having children of their own and moving into three-row SUVs like the QX60. Naturally, Hollywood is going back to the well, too, with a Vacation remake that premiers July 29. Meanwhile, Ghostbusters is returning next year, and director Paul Feig offered a peak at the new Eco-1 in this tweet. In the 1984 classic, the team drove a modified 1959 Cadillac. Now, it will drive a late '80s Cadillac. As expected, the announcement generated support and controversy from movie and car enthusiasts. His tweet had generated several thousand retweets and favorites in the days following the news. Though the '80s Caddy looks, uh, less elegant in comparison to the now-iconic fins and curves of the original Ecto-1, it's about the same time lapse into the past as the '59 Caddy was to viewers in 1984. Speaking of 1984, Miami Vice, which debuted that year on NBC, is seeing one of its hero cars hit the auction block, Mecum Auctions announced this week. The 1986 Ferrari used on the show will be offered for sale Aug. 15 during Monterey classic car week. The white supercar runs a 390-hp flat 12-cylinder engine paired with a five-speed manual transmission and was in storage after the show ended in 1989 until earlier this year. It has 16,124 miles on the odometer and is authenticated by Ferrari North America and Classiche.