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Nissan, Kia spending big to promote EVs, Chevy stays conservative on Volt

With 22 months of record Leaf sales under its zero-emission belt, Nissan has started two big ad campaigns for the battery-powered Leaf. On TV, there's the Kick Gas campaign (it's a popular name) and on social media, Nissan is promoting the EV as the "world's cleanest car" (it's a paint thing). We don't know how much the paint prank is costing, but we do have some estimated numbers for the TV ads. Nissan has spent over $30 million on TV advertising for the Leaf in 2014. According to iSpot, which tracks these sorts of things, Nissan spent over $30 million promoting the Leaf on TV in 2014. "Through November of this year," iSpot CEO Sean Muller wrote to AutoblogGreen, "Nissan spent more then $400 million in TV advertising for its traditional fuel fleet, and $22 million for the rechargeable Leaf. It has since dedicated an additional $9 million on it its new Kick Gas campaign, which started airing November 3, shortly after news of the electronic sales slump broke." iSpot says that Kick Gas aired predominately on NBC, CBS and Fox. The result of those airings can be seen in the charts below, but the takeaway point is that viewers of college football, Gladiator and The Rachel Maddow Show were the most engaged by the ad. Nissan has said the ad is working and that it helped increase Leaf sales in November. How is Chevrolet promoting the Volt? Not nearly as aggressively as Nissan is with the Leaf. Muller said iSpot estimates that GM spent just $2 million over the past couple of years to sell the plug-in hybrid on TV, despite offering 62 different Volt ads online. Then there's new entry into the mix, the Kia Soul EV. iSpot figures Kia has spent about $15 million on TV airings of that odd sexified hamster spot. That's a lot of money for a car that just went on sale here in October, let alone one that isn't available in most states. We've asked Chevy, Kia and Nissan for comment on the iSpot numbers but have not yet heard back. You can watch ads for all three vehicles below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Details on Nissan's Kick Gas:

Nissan presents NV200 is the brave new face of London taxis [w/video]

In most cities, just about any vehicle can serve as a taxi - so long as it meets the owner/operator's requirements for reliability, comfort and utility. But certain cities have their own unique taxis, and Nissan has been working hard to corner those markets. It has already designed specific taxis for such locations as New York, Barcelona and Tokyo, but its latest effort will bring a new Hackney Carriage to the streets of London.
A year and a half ago, Nissan displayed its NV200 on the streets of London in traditional black livery. But this new design takes the customization for the British capital one step further. Working closely with the mayor's office and with cab drivers across the city, Nissan's European design center in the Paddington district has reskinned the NV200 specifically to serve as the new black cab in London. The new face features round headlights, a new grille, LED lighting and a restyled front bumper. The steering has also been reconfigured to meet the 25-foot turning circle requirements for Hackney Carriages, as the black cabs are known on the streets of London.
The result is a distinctly British take on the NV200 taxi - one that we're guessing won't go without its fair share of controversy. Nissan will begin offering the black cab at the end of the year with a 1.6-liter gasoline engine mated to an automatic transmission, a powertrain said to be cleaner than the diesels used in existing taxis. And Nissan should know, having supplied many of those 2.7-liter turbodiesels in the '80s and '90s. But if that's not clean enough, the Japanese automaker will also begin selling an electric version, the e-NV200, starting next year. Watch the video clip and read the full details in the press release below.

2024 New York International Auto Show Editors' Top 5 Picks

The New York Auto Show, like many other shows over the past few years, has shrunk. But it's still playing host to some interesting reveals, and we even got a few surprises this year. It was dominated by Nissan and Hyundai Motor Group products, but ones running the gamut from affordable cars to flagship SUVs. It was a strange situation of being both quite diverse in reveals, and not at all, depending on how you looked at it. Our favorites of the show are a clear representation of that. And another interesting observation, only one of the picks was significantly electrified. Scroll down to see the best reveals of the New York Auto Show,. 2025 Nissan Kicks View 10 Photos 5. Nissan Kicks "The Nissan Kicks has gone from a reasonably attractive and small crossover into something way more funky with cool textures, color combinations and some actual presence. Plus, it's more spacious, more powerful and has available all-wheel drive. If Nissan can keep the price nice and low to compete with similarly stylish and well-executed competition like the Chevy Trax, the company's got a real winner on its hands." – News Editor Joel Stocksdale InfinitiQX80-Z63-051 View 39 Photos 4. Infiniti QX80 "The QX80 wasn't technically shown at the New York Auto Show, but it was revealed just a week prior at Hudson Yards – accross the street, in other words. Frankly, I wasn't blown away by the initial photos, but I think it looks great in person. The attention to detail both outside and in seem appropriate for an SUV that Infiniti hopes to sell for six figures loaded up. I'm a believer." – Associate Editor Byron Hurd 2025 Kia K4 Live View 7 Photos 3. Kia K4 Sedan "The Kia K4 interior has way more style than anything in the compact car price range has any business having. Now, if we don't get the green interior option shown in the initial global reveal photos, I'm retracting several of my points here. Otherwise, wowza. I kept looking and looking at that K4 interior photo, and finding new, interesting details to admire. Oh, and the exterior is pretty cool, too, though I do prefer the hatchback in that regard." – Senior Editor, West Coast, James Riswick Genesis GV60 Magma Concept View 10 Photos 2. Genesis GV60 Magma "I am psyched to see Genesis show off a proper performance car. The “Sport” trims on its various models are sort of neat, but the Magma brand looks like the real deal.