Spiked: Brand ambassador with a bad image

Stuffy, unathletic, arrogant, not environmentally conscious, unattractive and serious. Do these characteristics apply to you? Then you probably have a Mercedes in your garage. Or would you rather describe yourself as a cosmopolitan, attractive, sporty, slim and cheerful personality with a slight tendency towards arrogant behavior? Then you are probably driving a Mini. If you buy a car, you get numerous prejudices for free. This is confirmed by a study conducted by Progenium GmbH, a Munich-based company specializing in management consultancy. Last November, it asked 1000 Germans what attributes they ascribe to drivers of selected car brands. The result was that Mercedes drivers are the bogeymen and women on the roads. In terms of arrogance and lack of environmental awareness, they are beaten by Ferrari drivers. However, the latter are considered to be less stuffy and, above all, attractive, slim and sporty, which is why they come off slightly better in the overall rankings. Is it all just prejudice? Unfortunately, this is only part of the truth.

A few examples: A friend of mine was recently hit by an off-roader while walking in a parking garage. The driver neither apologized nor asked how she was. Or my neighbor, the proud owner of a Maserati. When I push the baby carriage into our Honda Jazz in the parking space next to her and greet her politely, the most I get is a grim look. The door slams shut and she speeds off with a roaring engine. Arrogant, stuffy, serious, not environmentally conscious. That's how prejudices are formed. Or when adrenaline junkies start criminal overtaking maneuvers in their Seat on the highway on Saturdays. Or when the Audi driver sticks to the back of you even though you're already traveling at maximum speed. If I try really hard, I can hear my mind whispering that not all off-roader drivers are reckless, Maserati drivers arrogant, Seat owners speeders and Audi buyers tailgaters. But these images are ingrained in my mind. Even worse: the behavior of the drivers influences the image I have of the car brand in question. In view of the study mentioned at the beginning, I'm obviously not the only one who feels this way. This fact must be correspondingly bitter for the car manufacturers. Millions are invested in the brand image and the buyers, to put it bluntly, make a mess of it. When a company chooses a brand ambassador, it chooses them carefully. Who embodies the same values? And who can credibly communicate these to a broad public? But that doesn't seem to play a role when buying a car, even though the drivers are brand ambassadors in the broadest sense. Shouldn't car dealers be obliged to feel out potential buyers? To check whether their values match those of the brand? This much is certain: a corresponding approach would solve many problems at once. No more traffic jams, considerably less particulate pollution, fewer traffic fatalities, fewer parking spaces and therefore more green spaces. Yes, the number of vehicles registered would be drastically reduced - in any case, I am not aware of any car brand that positions itself as stuffy, unsportsmanlike, arrogant, not environmentally conscious, unattractive and serious.