Car Brand Slogans: A Review

Below is a listing of some slogans that were recently used by automotive companies, along with a little nugget of truth about each. Being in marketing, I study these kind of things, and I thought it'd be entertaining for you all to have a glimpse into the mind of a genius.

BMW: “BMW. The Ultimate Driving Machine.”
Audi: “Keeping ahead through technology.”
You have to enjoy the fact that your grammar check will grab you for both of these ads and tell you "nein, your sentence is nicht gut." These slogans are about the same: very assertive, very German, not bad, but not very memorable.

Mercedes-Benz: “Unlike any other.”
Mercedes-Benz is deeply involved in so many different things related to automotive manufacturing; one could really say that they are “unlike any other.” This one is alright.

Alfa Romeo: “Alfa Romeo. Beauty is not enough.”
This slogan is good because it is accurate, not ridiculous boasting or just making up nonsense like most slogans. Alfa really does make truly beautiful cars, so this works. I also love Alfa Romeo so I'm totally biased here.

Ford: “Built Ford Tough”
Effective. You have to admit, it works. My only problem with this is that Ford writes its ads as if their target is car-buying Neanderthals.

Dodge: “Dodge. Grab life by the horns.”
Not great. This ad slogan was written exclusively for high school football coaches.

Chevrolet: “Chevy: an American revolution.”
You can’t really point out a problem with this slogan, but then, you couldn’t repeat it to me two minutes from now either, could you?

Volkswagen: “Relieves gas pains.”
This is a great plan from VW’s marketers – have your customers associate your brand with flatulence.

Toyota: “The car in front is a Toyota.”
            “Toyota. Moving forward.”
When you read the old ad campaign, “The car in front is a Toyota”, you just think - if there is a Toyota in front of me, the accelerator is stuck. Then you read the new, slightly better slogan: “Toyota. Moving forward.” – you still think - of course its moving forward, it can’t stop either.

Saturn: “Saturn. Like always. Like never before.”
A part of this slogan is accurate; like always, your Saturn will be absolute rubbish. Like never before… no it will be embarrassing, like it always was.

(I have enlarged their logo image here so that you can marvel at this absolutely wonderful masterpiece artwork that is the Saturn logo.)

If you have a favorite slogan not seen here, or if I have offended your most beloved car maker in some way, post below in the comment box. I might enjoy reading your submissions.