Volkswagen U.S. marketing chief Tim Mahoney said that the brand requires a 10% increase in its U.S. advertising budget in 2013 in order to keep pace with the rising sales. Mahoney said during the Automotive News Marketing Seminar last Tuesday that VW brand’s sales are higher by around 40% in the U.S. in 2012 on an ad budget that’s almost the same as the budget last year. At the forum, he said that he will ask VW’s officials in Germany for a 10% increase in its advertising budget. From January to August, VW brand’s U.S. vehicle sales increased to 286,750 from 208,423 in the same period of 2011 because of strong sales of the Passat sedan and other models. Dan Creed, BMW’s marketing boss, said that an increase in BMW’s 2013 U.S. ad spending would be “small and modest.”
He declined to provide a specific percentage. Creed, vice president of marketing for BMW of North America, explained that BMW would have the resources it requires in 2013, considering that this year’s budget had a major U.S. buy to sponsor the Olympic Games in London and to purchase TV spots for the event. This amount will be freed up for various media next year.
BMW looked at its Olympic sponsorship as a major success that would place the brand’s vehicles before 217 million TV viewers. Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz USA’s marketing chief, Bernie Glaser, was also cautious about his budget estimates for 2013. He said that the automaker’s advertising budget will mirror the growth experienced by the brand. Last August, Mercedes-Benz surpassed the BMW brand for luxury car sales superiority. Mercedes-Benz sold 20,557 vehicles while BMW sold 16,835 units.
