In 2012, television dominated both the Automotive advertising and Government/Political/Religion (“GPR”) verticals, according to BIA/Kelsey’s Media Ad View Plus. More on the GPR vertical later.

Television’s $4.6 billion share of automotive advertising represented 28.4% of total automotive advertising in 2012. This $4.6 billion represents 22% of television’s total advertising revenue in 2012, making it the highest spending vertical for television.

2012 Automotive Ad Spending by Media

Media Ad View Plus’s automotive vertical includes five subcategories: automobile dealers and automotive manufacturers, other motor vehicle dealers, automotive parts and accessories stores, tire dealers, and gasoline stations and automotive repair. Of these, automotive dealers and automotive manufacturers were the predominant advertiser category, accounting for more than $3.8 billion of the total automotive advertising $4.6 billion spent on television.

“If it’s got a screen, automakers want to advertise on it,” said Ad Age in a recent article, Automakers Like Video, But Still Pour Gas On TV For Big Product Launches. While the automakers on Ad Age’s 100 Leading National Advertisers list have been increasing their digital advertising, “they’re also showing enduring faith in the American couch potato, with spending on television increasing from 2011 to 2012. Ad Age attributes the continued popularity of television to the automotive vertical to major product launches. The top five spending automakers, according to Ad Age, are General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Fiat (Chrysler Group) and Honda.

In 2017, television’s share of automotive advertising is expected to increase to 32%, while the shares going to other traditional media such as newspaper and direct mail are expected to decline significantly. Newer media, such as online and mobile, are also expected to increase their share of the automotive pie. Part of this increase can be attributed to the significantly lower GPR revenues expected to be spent on television in 2017. Without GPR dominating television commercials in 2017, as happened in 2012, there will be more inventory available for the other verticals, such as automotive.

More information on Media Ad View Plus is available here.

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India’s auto classifieds marketplace is heating up, as the country’s burgeoning middle class becomes more auto dependent. In August 2009, MotorExchange acquired CarTradeIndia.com, apparently leading to investment in MotorExchange by Canaan Partners.

Now, Axel Springer, the German media company, and the India Today group have acquired 70.4 percent in Carwale.com, a company that previously teamed up with AOL India to provide vertical content. Axel Springer is taking 52.1 percent while India Today is taking 18.3 percent.

The acquisition complements the two companies’ JV on the Indian version of Auto Bild, a print magazine. Carwale had raised $7 million from Sierra Ventures in 2008.

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SuperMedia has announced a new program that extends its SuperGuarantee idea into the autos vertical. The SuperGuarantee Autos program gives anyone who buys a car on SuperMedia’s EveryCarListed.com automotive vertical a free limited powertrain warranty good for up to $3,000.

SuperMedia acquired EveryCarListed last February and has since made its comprehensive video inventory a key point of difference from other car sites.

SuperMedia seems to be making a huge bet that it can clearly differentiate its brands by making its SuperGuarantee concept central to everything it does. The SuperGuarantee was introduced last year originally as a program that stands behind the work of contractors sourced through the SuperMedia (previously Idearc) Yellow Pages. The idea behind the guarantee is to instill consumer confidence in the SuperPages brand.

In an interview with BIA/Kelsey at the end of 2009, SuperMedia CEO Scott Klein made it very clear that the guarantee will be at the heart of SuperMedia efforts to revive itself in 2010. The company went into bankruptcy in March 2009 as Idearc Media, and exited court protection on New Year’s Eve with $7 billion in debt gone from its balance sheet.

In that conversation, Klein said the SuperGuarantee provides SuperMedia with a much needed point of differentiation.That insight appears to be guiding SuperMedia’s initiatives in 2010.

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