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Success is attracts, and this explains the high demand for winning cars after a race. Let's see how this affects the automotive industry.
No one can truly pinpoint the date and location of the first auto race. Although documented evidence shows that auto racing dates to the 19th century, races were surely held well before the official documents claim. How else would first carmakers test their innovative solutions for speed, reliability, and endurance? But that's a discussion for a whole new story.
What's interesting to note here is that racing has significantly evolved over the years. It even got closer to the so-to-say real word by giving people an option to purchase race-based cars in local dealerships. The now widely-known catchphrase "Win on Sunday, buy on Monday" has changed everything.
From the '60s, people could actually go to the shop after a race and buy the winning car (or at least one resembling it). That not only boosted sales for recognized race winners but significantly changed the entire car marketing field within the industry.
But is the "Win on Sunday, buy on Monday" mantra still alive today? How did it start to be important, and is it dead in the 21st century?
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"Win on Sunday, buy on Monday" appeared in the 1960s when a strong relationship between auto racing and automotive sales became obvious. Mount Panorama in Australia often gets cited as a Supercars Championship that revealed this connection and showed how high performance in racing drove higher sales of production cars. It was the Bathurst 500 during the 60s that led to an increase in the image and credibility of the car marketplace based on the racing results.
The cited phrase basically meant common people could sit behind the wheel of the same or similar vehicle that previously won a big race. Say Ford won on Sunday — you could go to a local dealership and get the very copy of the winning car for yourself as soon as Monday. Some of us are not old enough to remember this, but having that option on the table must have been amazing.
Of course, the "Win on Sunday, buy on Monday" phrase also gravely influenced the car sales. But what's more important is that the expression also helped increase the publicity of motorsport and boost racers' motivation and confidence. By the 80s, racing was part of the mainstream.
Nevertheless, everything changes over time, as we like to say. Some concepts live, and others die, but most of them that withstand the heavy burden of time change to accommodate the shifting needs. The same happened to the "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday" mantra.
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After motorsport and car sales saw several popularity spikes, the economic downturn of 2008 turned the tables for the worse. In fact, it left the entire automotive market in ruins, so people have little purchasing power in general, let alone to pursue their dream of buying cars that win races.
But as the economy started to recover, so did the customer perception and needs shifted. Modern times are less about four-door sedans and coupes and more about SUVs and crossovers. Hybrids and electric cars are drawing all customer attention to themselves without a racing history to rely on for sales. Today, people are not that highly influenced by who won the race or finished last.
But that is not to say racing has no impact at all — the quoted mantra simply changed through the years. Motorsports fans are still likely to purchase a car from their favorite racing brand — they just may not rush to buy the very winner of a race. The story behind the racing and the branding is what matters to customers most now.
Let's see this illustrated in a couple of examples. Chevrolet introduced the Corvette Stingray IMSA GTLM Championship Edition for 2022 to celebrate the racing victories of Corvette for the 2020 season. Acura showcased the TLX Type S at the Acura Sports Car Challenge IMSA race and will make it compete in the 2022 One Lap of America road rally to prove its capability. The Mustang Mach-E paced a NASCAR event at its debut. The list goes on and on.
In summary, the "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday" phrase still lives. Motorsport is still an essential marketing tool for companies — it's only now more focused on showing how racing technology transfers from the tract to the street and aims to boost loyalty instead of direct sales.
Racing shows the dedication to engineering, builds excitement and an emotional connection between brands and customers, and shows people just what car brands can deliver at their best. All of this undoubtedly makes a strong selling point.
Suzana Mijatović is a Literary Critic secretly in love with all things automotive. You'll find her either reading Dostoevsky or under the hood, changing the transmission fluid and oil filters. She has a long experience in writing about car parts and automotive products, from brakes to seat cushions. Suzana is also an amateur poet and photographer.