Autoblog

click above for more images of the HiQ service center

As some of us are pretty sharp with a wrench, we loathe taking our cars elsewhere for repairs. Most of the time, we want to watch the guy doing the work, and that's usually not possible so we end up chain-drinking burnt coffee in the waiting room. HiQ, a new automotive service chain in the UK, is revamping its brand and has decided to allow customers to get in on the action. To prove their new concept, cooked up by branding wizards Fitch, HiQ has opened a new facility in Nottingham. The design is clean and more retail chic than a greasy-fingernailed muffler shop. Our favorite feature, by far, is the glass wall that allows you to stare down the monkey lad as he applies several hundred pound-feet of torque to your wheel lugs with an impact wrench.

Thanks for the tip, Larry!

[Source and photos: the Cool Hunter]

Ferrari's global branding efforts are accelerating as fast as its race and road cars, to the point where a third division was established just to manage it all. Heck, they've even got a Ferrari edition Segway scooter now. Next on the agenda: an aggressive expansion of Ferrari Store retail outlets, the locations that peddle all manner of scarlet wares with the Prancing Horse badge.

Ferrari's new global branding division, under the direction of former Red Bull lieutenant Dany Bahar, is planning to open no less than 40 new stores around the world over the next five years. The latest location just opened at Barcelona's El Prat International airport in Spain, soon to be joined by locations in Abu Dhabi and Moscow in the next few months, followed by Singapore, Macao and Honolulu next year. (Maybe Cleveland will get one soon! - JN)

Is this all getting to be too much? Many would say so, among them a good portion of the Autoblog writing staff. But as a counterpoint, if the added income ends up financing ever-faster road cars and further dominance on the race track, maybe there's something to it.

[Source: Inside Line, photo by Noah Joseph]

Ferruccio Lamborghini, as the story goes, approached Enzo Ferrari with ideas on how to improve his sportscars, but Enzo rebuffed him promptly. And so Lamborghini Autobomili SpA was born, hungry to beat Ferrari at its own game, and been trying to ever since.

But making high-performance exotic sportscars is only part of the game these days, and Ferrari is the undisputed market leader in putting its name on anything and everything. But just as its F1 challengers try to claw back a slice of the merchandising pie, so do Ferrari's road car rivals. Lamborghini has followed the Ferrari formula by introducing a wide range of branded merchandise, including partnerships with Nokia and with Asus to produce branded cell phones and laptop computers to rival those made for Ferrari by Motorola and Acer.

Among other strategies for increasing brand awareness and capitalizing on its prestigious name, Lamborghini is reportedly considering opening a chain of retail stores to sell its branded merchandise. Raging Bull merchandise is already sold in authorized dealerships and online, and at a small number of retail locations mostly in Italy, but opening more stores around the world is a strategy that has been working for the Prancing Horse, and if it works for Ferrari, it just might work for Lamborghini, too.

[Source: CNN Money via Luxist]

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