Advertising on EVs increasing, but utes still on top

Automakers have come under the spotlight with recent data showing they are still spending more advertising “gas guzzlers” as opposed to EVs, but the industry is hitting back and says the figures are already out of date. 

A recent report published by RNZ raises questions about the industry’s emission reduction commitments, highlighting figures from data company Nielsen which shows the spend on electric vehicles and hybrids is increasing but the vehicles with the most advertising include utes and SUVs.

Toyota came out on top, spending $7.6m over the three years to 2022 marketing its double cab ute, the Hilux, according to Nielsen. 

Other brands such as Mitsubishi, Ford, Kia and Hyundai also spent significant amounts promoting their utes and SUVs.

RNZ quotes Auckland University’s Dr Kirsty Wild, an environmental sociologist and public health researcher, whose research has found a link between consumer trends and advertising.

“The reason that more people driving SUVs is bad for the climate is because for a while the cars were getting more efficient, and smaller and so our emissions were dropping. But then we made a switch to these bigger vehicles, just as we’ve started to turn things around for the climate,” Wild told RNZ. 

In response, Toyota said its Hilux “met a specific market need that other models don’t”. Its advertising went on brand, corporate engagement, sponsorship and brand ambassadors, “all of which are driving the greater take-up of low-emitting hybrids.” 

Toyota said half its sales were hybrids, and the Hilux hybrid was due in New Zealand before the end of the year.

“Our sustainability goals are to reduce our impact on the environment and society,” the company said in a statement.

“We are doing that by advertising and selling low-emitting hybrids, battery electric vehicles and operating low-emitting car sharing schemes. We also acknowledge that Hilux and similar vehicles continue to play a not-so-small role in keeping New Zealand’s rural and commercial economies moving.”

Ford told RNZ it was spending “as much or more” advertising its new electric vehicles as its Ranger.

“I can’t speak for other brands but in our view, the industry spend reflects both a very competitive market as well as Kiwi consumer preferences, which again includes more and more electrified vehicles,” Ford New Zealand spokesman Tom Clancy said.

Vehicle industry ‘committed’ to low and zero carbon 

Meanwhile, Motor Industry Association (MIA) chief executive Aimee Wiley says the market has changed rapidly and the data cited is already “outdated”. 

Wiley told AutoTalk that the new vehicle industry “is committed to a low carbon future”. 

“It is important people understand that the new vehicle industry in New Zealand is doing all it can to transition to zero and low emission vehicles as rapidly as technologically possible.” 

The vehicle industry was limited in what it could advertise due to product availability but the number of low emission vehicles available has “changed considerably” over a short period of time, she says. 

“Old and outdated data about what product was previously advertised and marketed is misleading. 

“Marketing and advertising strategies are typically targeted and focus at a point in time on currently available product. 

“What was available two years ago is very different to what is available today. 

“This is evident in both number of models now available and volumes of these vehicles and if the same analysis, on marketing and advertising focus, was undertaken now on a more recent current dataset, I would expect to see a shift in focus by all distributors toward advertising more zero and low emission product,” Wiley says. 

MIA data shows In January 2020, there were 46 zero and low emission models available in New Zealand (11 BEV, 18 PHEV and 17 hybrid). 

Fast forward to August 2023 and consumers can now choose from 172 models available now (57 BEV, 54 PHEV and 61 hybrid).  

“With more and more new models added every month, change is very real and happening now,” Wiley says. 

The past couple of years has seen “significant improvement” in CO2 reduction for the passenger and SUV segments. 

“I expect this to also occur for light commercial, specifically utes, in the next two to five years as the technology becomes available and global production can meet demand,” she says.