By Ray Birch
ATLANTA—Will credit union lenders watching the Super Bowl this Sunday have their parties spoiled by automakers’ commercials for lowball deals?
Probably not, according to one auto industry marketing expert, who nonetheless cautions those hyper-competitive offers seen early last year may resurface in 2021.
Lauren Donalson, senior director of national accounts at automotive marketing firm PureCars, told CUToday.info the major carmakers are not planning on Sunday to resurrect the eye-popping 84-month 0% financing deals that were seen at the start of the pandemic. As many credit unions and auto industry analysts have reported, those offers led to a marked drop-off in new car loans for credit unions in the second quarter of 2020.
“Lenders can relax Sunday, and just focus on who they are rooting for—Tampa Bay or Kansas City,” she said. “Their parties will not be ruined.”
Donalson said according to information she has gathered there will be only two auto manufacturers advertising Sunday evening.
“One will be General Motors and they’re really going more with an EV vehicle focused message,” Donalson said. “One of their spots will be dedicated to the Cadillac LYRIQ. Another spot is more generic, it's called their ‘Everybody In’ campaign, which is really trying to educate the masses on eco-friendly cars.”
The other carmaker expected to advertise is Toyota, which Donalson said has tipped its hand on its message.
“But in my estimation it will not be big bold, 0% for 84 months on 13 of Toyota’s vehicles,” she said. “I think they're going to tug on the heartstrings of U.S. consumers a bit to recognize the moment we are in today, with the pandemic.”
Return Trip
Lauren Donalson
Donalson said the ultra-low offers should not appear during the Super Bowl, because moving vehicles is not the problem now, as it was in in the first quarter of 2020, when would-be buyers closed their wallets out of worry over the health crisis.
“However, if we see a resurgence in the number COVID-19 cases, and lockdowns happen again, you're going to see manufacturers react. They’re going to want to stimulate the market again,” Donalson said.
She believes that if the lowball deals come back, there won’t be much notice.
“Automakers moved very quickly in March, when the lockdowns happened, to introduce their offers,” Donalson noted.
But if credit union lenders don’t see any 0% offers from the carmakers Sunday, Donalson cautioned auto manufacturers may still entice buyers with some type of incentives.
“On TV we will see the more emotional messages that appeal to the masses, and then those ads could direct consumers to social media or online ads,” Donalson said. “There, you might find a more financial-oriented message and one that is more targeted to certain buyers. There, they may be a little more aggressive with their messages.”
Sitting Out the Game
As news outlets have reported, some of the big companies traditionally advertising during the Super Bowl have chosen to sit out Sunday’s game. The carmakers are no exception, said Donalson.
“Kia just announced they're going to do something similar to what Anheuser-Busch is doing,” said Donalson, pointing out both companies are not advertising in the Super Bowl this year. “For Kia this will be the first time in 11 years they have not advertised. A Super Bowl dd is $5.6 million for 30 seconds, and that does not include your costs for making the commercial. Brands are recognizing, at least internally, from a business perspective it's difficult to justify that cost without reporting to say how much of a tangible impact your ad made. Instead, both Kia and Anheuser-Busch are donating advertising money to charitable organizations.”