Richard Yarrow’s opinion for www.startrescue.co.uk, providing low cost Vehicle Recovery
I wrote on 15 October about the demise of the 2012 British Motor Show and the likelihood that we will never see it again. I find it weird that the UK public won’t support a traditional auto event like this – what the industry calls the ‘cars on carpet’ format – while in other European cities like Paris, Frankfurt and Geneva it’s still very popular. However, when you see what some car makers are doing to launch cars now, I wonder how long that will be the case.
Another industry phrase you might not be familiar with is ‘teaser shot’. It means a photograph of a forthcoming new car, but which only shows part of the vehicle. The theory is that if companies release two or three of these to the news-hungry media ahead of unveiling the whole car, they’ll get more column inches spread over more weeks. As someone with responsibility for filling car magazine news pages, I can tell you it’s a theory that stands up.
But in the last couple of weeks, Toyota has taken things to a new level. Rather than just release teaser shots to journalists like me, they’re now posting them on Facebook first. The two images above are teasers for the all-new Toyota Prius-based hybrid people carrier. One shows the silhouette of the new car in blue behind the standard Prius in white – highlighting how it will be bigger than its sibling – while the other reveals a chunk of the dashboard.
What’s the reason for putting them on Facebook? The theory is it allows enthusiasts who look at Toyota’s Facebook page to see them first. From my perspective, it makes my job harder because I wouldn’t think to look at that website to find new car news. In fact, I wouldn’t think to look at it, full stop!
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