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Some carmakers now display their frontal symbols much more boldly than they did in 1996.
For example, the simple, once humble VW logo has grown along with the size of VW’s cars and the company’s ambitions to move up-market.
“Redesigning a logo and making it bigger for its own sake means nothing,” says Steve Saxty, executive director of marketing solutions at J.D. Power and Associates in New York. “It’s got to stand for something.”
Cars such as the Touareg premium SUV and Phaeton, a Mercedes-Benz S-class competitor, have perhaps the largest VW logos ever.
The big emblems go along with the highest prices ever for VW-badged cars.
Saxty says that in the next decade some carmakers need to change their logos to reflect their altered status and ambitions.
“Hyundai and Kia should be changing their logos. They are two companies really going places. They’re really due for an uplift, both for dealers and new brand positioning,” Saxty says. “Peugeot is also due for revision. The current logo certainly doesn’t fit the current lineup.
It looks old-fashioned and overtly French.”
But sometimes it is best to leave the badge alone.
“Some brands you could never change, like Alfa Romeo,” Saxty says. “It would be stupid to change it.”
Saxty says changing a company logo is not an exercise a carmaker should take lightly. He says changing a logo can cost more than E4 million.
You can reach Bradford Wernle at bwernle@crain.com.
