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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:

UAW calls on US State Department to help with Nissan plant

The United Auto Workers is calling for reinforcements in its ongoing battle with Nissan at the manufacturer's Canton, MS factory, where the Altima, Armada, Titan and NV (and eventually, the next Murano) are built. The union has been attempting to organize the employees at the factory for several years, but it's been largely unsuccessful.
Now, Reuters is reporting that the UAW is teaming with the IndustriALL Global Union and requesting intervention by the US State Department, with both groups accusing Nissan of using "threats, intimidation and fear" to keep the 5,600 workers at the facility from organizing. The two unions say this violates the guidelines of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an international organization dedicated to stimulating economic growth.
The UAW and IndustriALL are asking the State Department's National Contact Point to serve as mediator with Nissan, to make sure things play out fairly. Speaking to Reuters, though, there's at least one Michigan-based labor adviser that's skeptical of the move.

Nissan Xterra exits stage left [UPDATE]

Update: The original story said the 2016 Rogue switches to a camera-based blind spot warning system, rather than radar-based. The opposite is true, and the text is changed to reflect this. Nissan is announcing most its 2016 model-year changes, and you can say farewell to the Xterra after 15 years in the lineup. As previously rumored, the SUV is shuffling off without a replacement to join the similar recent fates of the Nissan Pathfinder hybrid and Volkswagen Touareg hybrid. The decision is easy to understand. The Japanese automaker's volume is up 4.6 percent through July in the US to 792,642 vehicles, but the Xterra moved just 8,114 examples in that time, down 25.1 percent from the same period in 2014. While the Xterra is leaving, Nissan has a lot in store for the 2016 model year. New additions to the lineup include the latest generations of the Maxima and Titan. Plus, the Altima and Sentra are being refreshed with reports suggesting both of them take design inspiration from the latest Murano. Nissan is also keeping the Rogue fresh, even though it was just redesigned for 2014. The SL Premium package gets forward emergency braking. Siri Eyes Free is added to the SV Premium package and SL, and body-colored mirrors with integrated turn signals come on the S appearance package. Finally, the blind spot warning system is now radar-based, rather than using a camera. You can read the full list of changes for each model in the press release below, but some of the highlights include: 370Z Coupe and 370Z Nismo are available with a Bose stereo with active noise cancellation and active sound enhancement. The Frontier gets a moonroof on the Crew Cab SV GT-R wears 20-spoke Rays wheels rather than the previous 10-spoke design Juke has standard Siri Eyes Free NV Cargo has added side-impact airbags NV Passenger gets a standard 5.8-inch infotainments system on the SL trim Pathfinder has an optional cold package on the SV with heated front seats, steering wheel, and side mirrors Versa Note SV now gets convenience package standard, which includes a 5.0-inch infotainment system, RearView Monitor, and Divide-N-Hide rear floor. The 2016 Nissan lineup: Charting the changes Nissan is a brand on the move. And on a roll. The past two years have seen the back-to-back introductions of the segment-busting 2014 Rogue and 2015 Murano, which helped drive Nissan to record 2014 calendar year sales of 1,269,565 (+12.2%) in the United States.