All change: The complex route ahead for automotive branding
As car makers shift their focus from selling cars to providing mobility their brands are changing accordingly.
The automotive industry is changing the face it presents to the world. As the process to phase out internal combustion engines gets fully underway, and as the methods that consumers use to access cars evolves, brands are changing their images to suit a more digital, connected future.
Japanese brands Nissan and Toyota are the most recent players to have revealed new corporate identities, following just behind two of their German rivals.
Last September, Volkswagen revealed a new brand identity (first seen on its ID 3 electric car), described by sales and marketing board member Jürgen Stackmann as marking: “The start of a new era for Volkswagen.”
BMW had planned to launch its new look at the Geneva Motorshow earlier this year, though the event’s cancellation due to the Covid-19 outbreak led to a more low-key announcement.
The new car logos from Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen and BMW all have something in common. Gone are multifaceted 3D effects and rendered metallic surfaces, replaced by pared-back, two dimensional, almost retro versions of the company marques.
All of them are being used to spearhead a new way of presenting these brands, as they shift their focus from selling cars to providing mobility services.
