Nissan US to Spend More on Advertising

Facing fierce competition from local carmakers when it comes to marketing its products, the Japanese from Nissan (as did the ones from Toyota, for that matter and, even better, South Korean manufacturers), went on a spending spree in the last year or so, trying to get more of that pie called market share.

Those efforts have paid off, but, apparently, are not enough. More money is needed to generate even more money, so Nissan is ready to spend an extra $100 million for marketing and advertising. The money are to be spent starting next week.

According to Autoweek, citing Nissan US vice president Al Castignetti, the carmaker is thus planning a comeback after the 2009 budget cuts, which brought the advertising spending budget down from $1.19 billion in 2008 to $690.9 million.

"We dialed back our spending last year, like everybody else, and this year we've been really getting back into the marketing game," Castignetti said according to Autoweek.

Nissan plans to build on what manufacturers from South Korea learned through aggressive campaign over the last year: spending is good and advertising sells. And, as Castignetti admits, it all comes down to the price these days.

"A lot of consumers have gone through a philosophical change over the past two years. Instead of shopping to get the most car they can buy, they're looking for the best price they can get."

It's yet unclear what the new funds will be advertising, but Nissan is likely to pump even more once the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle hits the market. With years and countless billions invested in the project, Nissan can't afford to let GM's Volt take the pole position in this new race.