Blinker Fluid News

How Not to Make a Toyota+Honda Hybrid

JD Rucker — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:30:51 +0000

Here’s a quick chuckle for Wednesday: There are right ways for two companies to work together and combine their assets and form something wonderful. Honda and Toyota, despite recent woes, have long been two of the best manufacturers when it comes to hybrids. If they ever combined their technologies, they could truly build something amazing. This, however, is not the way to do it.

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Read more Offbeat Automotive News on this blog.

“Car and Driver” Busted in Moronic SEO Scheme

JD Rucker — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:50:41 +0000

Most companies large and small perform some sort of search engine optimization on their sites. It’s natural, as Google is such a tremendous traffic driving machine. When we hear of large automotive publishing firms engaging in pre-school link-building spam efforts, it shocks us. Why? Because they simply do not work, and you’d think a publisher like Car and Driver would know that.

They didn’t.

How NOT to Build Links

The effort here was to do a link exchange with Techcrunch, a publication that has a Google PageRank of 8/10. To put that into perspective, the LA Times website is a PR 8. It is clear that they are searching for any publication that is posting about “Ford” and trying to optimize their site to be the next Ford Buying Guide traffic recipient.

It didn’t work. In fact, Techcrunch sent the email to Matt Cutts, Google’s SEO Spam Czar. The lesson here is that if you’re going to try link farming and link exchanges, try to use something other than a tactic that comes from the SEO playbook, circa 2004.

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Read more offbeat automotive news on this blog.

Men and Women View Driving Distractions Differently

blinkerfluidnews — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:49:41 +0000

The way that men and women view driving distractions is apparent in this infographic by LeaseTrader.com. It seems that the distractions are gender-related:

Men

Road Rage - 18.3%
Eating/Drinkin - 14.7%
Checking out Other Drivers - 10.9%

Women

Kids in Car - 26.3%
Putting on Makeup - 16.6%
Messing with Radio - 10.4%

Clearly we all have our priorities wrong from time to time, regardless of sex.

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Read more Offbeat Car News on this blog.

Chrysler’s 5-Year Production Plan

JD Rucker — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:11:24 +0000

Below, you will find the slides for the 5-year production plan that Chrysler has laid out.

Read more Automotive Industry News on this blog.

10 Car Ads Guaranteed to Keep Customers Away

JD Rucker — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:58:43 +0000

In these difficult times, it’s easy to understand why many car dealers are desperately trying to get the attention of the consumers. Between the economy, improved longevity of vehicles, and uncertainty within the industry, every potential sale must be made.

Still, there are times when car dealers take it a little too far with their advertising. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of going “over the top” with the advertising. Other times, they try to be slick and fail.

Then, of course, there are those that just simply fail. Enjoy.

Cute on a baby ad. Creepy on a car ad.

Subliminal Enticement

Free Gun with Car Purchase

Yes You Can… but you shouldn’t have

Scratching Head: Sending the Wrong Message

Even a Minor Slight Against Your Home Town is Wrong

It Just Seems a Little… Desperate

Disco is Dead. This Ad Didn’t Bring it Back.

Stereotypes are Bad. Promoting them is Worse.

No Explanation Necessary: This Video is Wrong

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Image Credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

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Read more Offbeat Automotive News right here.

The Future of Parking?

JD Rucker — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:47:37 +0000

Saw this at a hotel in Napa Valley, CA. I first thought it was a joke until an employee walked up and said, “Yep, had to have a Corolla towed last month.”

When I pointed out that the Corolla was not only a very fuel efficient vehicle but also required a lower amount of CO2 emissions to put on the road during its building process, the hotel employee said, “That may be true, but it’s the hybrid movement that we’re supporting, not the fuel economy.”

I thought he was joking. I chuckled. He didn’t chuckle back. At this point, a little dismayed, I asked, “So what if I were to park an all-electric vehicle here. Technically, it’s not a hybrid and falls under the ‘All non-hybrid vehicles will be towed’ rule.”

He thought about it for a moment and said, “Let me go ask the front desk.”

“Don’t bother,” I said before jumping into my V8, 4×4 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

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Read more offbeat automotive news on the Blinker Fluid Blog at Driving Sales.

Image Source: Fixr