[GTO]

Of all the car brands in India, one stands out for consistently giving us cars with fresh & sticky Michelin tyres. You guessed it = BMW. Even when we did the M5, they sent it with fresh Michelins. Clearly, they care about how we review & comment on its handling.

[EightSix]

Originally Posted by GTO

2 out of 10 drives have an embargo in place. That is, you can't publish the review before a date decided by the manufacturer. This rule is usually in place to time the review with the car's launch, or to ensure that those reviewers who flew in at a later date don't suffer a time disadvantage.

The upcoming media round table conference event of the Volkswagen Taigun, as shared by Venkatesh has pretty clear and strict guidelines. It says that they won’t let you take your mobile phones!

Might be due to a previous incident or something?

I have a few questions

◘ Do other carmakers also maintain this kind of secrecy?

◘ Recorded footage won’t be given until two days before the embargo lifts. Do rules like these affect reviews and their turn-around?

◘ Can manufacturers take legal action if someone doesn’t comply with embargo rules?

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

Volkswagen Taigun media drive is happening in Goa on 23 and 24 March. Is it true?
If the media drive is happening, is Team-BHP part of the drive?

Attachment 2135817

This is for this thread, but I believe the invitation is for a conference, not for a drive event.

[GTO]

No EightSix, this is definitely not the norm. Sucks that VW won't be allowing us & other journos our own cameras. Well, for now, we will make the most of what we have and at a future date, review the full car with our camera.

Can manufacturers take legal action if someone doesn’t comply with embargo rules?

More than legal action, no one will break an embargo because they won't get invites to future embargoed events.

[FourWheelDrift]

This is an interesting article by Frank Greve from August 2011, regarding how auto manufacturers treat reviewers and how the reviewers respond, in the US market.

The article received a rebuttal from one of the journalists mentioned in the critique. This too is included, along with Frank's rejoinder.

I wonder if this treatment continued pre COVID, and how this will change post COVID.

Source : https://ajrarchive.org/article.asp?id=5141

Taking Readers for a Ride
The world of car reviewing is replete with expensive perks and fantasy vehicles. Consumer advocates need not apply.

Wed. August 31, 2011

By Frank Greve

Each week, the world's automakers put about 1,000 U.S. reviewers into the driver's seats of their hottest new cars. Most are dropped off in the reviewer's driveway, option-laden, gassed, prepped and insured for a week's free use. Some are delivered to airport valet parking lots for vacationing reviewers. Some go to bloggers with a following, some to influential voices such as NPR "Car Talk" hosts Ray and Tom Magliozzi on the off chance of a mention.

So abundant are free cars, at least for A-list reviewers, that they can easily score two a week, according to reviewers and car company publicists. "Sometimes they'll even demand a car for a car-crazy son," says Fred Heiler, a publicity manager for nearly 30 years at Porsche, Audi, Subaru and Mercedes-Benz. Second-car requests, he adds, are decided case by case.

Reviewers rarely disclose this extraordinary livery service on which their livelihoods depend — or the many other carmaker subsidies that reviewers and publicists say are commonplace. They don't mention, for example, free business-class flights and expense-paid stays at places like Archerfield House, an exclusive seaside golf resort north of Edinburgh. It served as home base for reviewers' drives through the Scottish Highlands, which in time yielded gushers of worshipful reviews for the 2011 Bentley Mulsanne (base price: $285,000). Nor do reviewers mention, when reviewing Mercedes-Benz products, the free iPads with prepaid service contracts that the automaker offered to favored writers at the Detroit auto show this year. Or the special "promotional" prices that reviewers get on personal cars, or the parking-garage decks full of long-term "test" cars that car magazines have scored for decades. "It can get out of control," says former Car and Driver Editor Stephan Wilkinson, who recalls that during his tenure in the 1970s, "You'll have secretaries taking cars for the weekend. Or someone who has to get home by 6 borrowing a Jaguar."

Does AJR Hate Cars?
Mon., December 5, 2011

By Mitch McCullough

Is it the intent of American Journalism Review to unfairly damage the credibility of legitimate journalists with meritless charges? That seems to be the case with AJR's "Taking Readers for a Ride" by Frank Greve (Fall). In this piece, he positions all automotive journalists as being on the take.

Then he gets personal. He writes that our editorial work here at New Car Test Drive should be labeled as advertising, and he urges our media partners to do just that. But that isn't enough. He contacts them directly, berates them for not doing so, then publishes their response.

That isn't ombudsman journalism, it's advocacy.

Greve is wrong about us. His accusations are without merit. He bases his opinion on supposition. Then he backs it up with weak, flawed examples. It's difficult to believe the University of Maryland's College of Journalism approves of this sort of hack job.

As journalists, we live and die by our credibility. Our expertise and experience are important, but worthless without credibility. Credibility is earned through trust and honest reporting. Our first loyalty at New Car Test Drive is to our readers: consumers in the market for a new car. If consumers see our reviews as useful and credible, they will read them. If consumers are reading our reviews, then Web sites will want to publish them. We don't owe car companies or car dealers or anyone else any favors, contrary to Greve's assumptions. By his standards, any journalist who writes for a publication that sells advertising is corrupted by that advertising. But there are no blurry lines here. There is a big wall between our editorial department and the people who market our reviews. We know that once sold, credibility can never be recovered. Ours is not for sale. Calling our industrious reporting "advertising" is outrageous and insulting, and it unfairly damages our reputation and that of our hard-working correspondents.

[CARDEEP]

Too long post @FourWheelDrift... It took a while to read all this.

I can confirm, courtesy one of my closest friend, also lives nearby, that this is the norm in Auto Reviews. In fact, the long term reports of vehicles that he is using as daily drives (for months) are signed off in popular face's experience. He is one of the guys behind scenes/ camera. He also admits this is an ethics issue, but, all ignored as it means business as usual, which otherwise be difficult for most auto-magz.

Then he points out to fact (he has got sufficient proofs) that it's not just the auto reviews, but whole of news-entertainment media that sucks.

Crux is that we at T-BHP can make a difference with the honesty & support to our admins & reviewers, who I believe are unbiased in their work.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by CARDEEP

Too long post @FourWheelDrift... It took a while to read all this.

Have to admit that I gave up. Mr Frank Greve obviously gets paid by the word... and is getting rich. I didn't even get as far as Mr. McCullough.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by FourWheelDrift

This is an interesting article by Frank Greve from August 2011, regarding how auto manufacturers treat reviewers and how the reviewers respond, in the US market.

Excellent article . Had read it when it had come out. Frankly, it is the same in India too. If you have your bills paid by the very company whose products you are supposed to review, there is too much conflict of interest and the money-side will always win.

[GTO]

When you are a car reviewer, everyone you know (and their uncles) will call asking you what car to buy. I love answering what car queries - you'll see me active in our what car forum too.

Everyone thanks you for the advice, a few take you for a drive in their new car and fewer still send across some token of appreciation. Got this today and totally gorged on it:

[Akshay6988]

I watched Top Gear Chris Harris review the new Porsche 911 GT3. Before he could unleash the car on the track, he covered some 1000 miles on the car as requested by Porsche to do the running-in of engine. So my question to mods and reviewers is, the test cars you or any other auto journalists get in India, are those run in before by the manufacturer ? Or the reviewers just floor it ?

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by Akshay6988

my question to mods and reviewers is, the test cars you or any other auto journalists get in India, are those run in before by the manufacturer ?

Manufacturers will do themselves here. This happens only on Sports cars, I am sure about BMW who will get first 2000 Kms by company drivers and get the oil service (due at 2000 for M cars) before these cars are given to marketing or press department. Am sure others will have a similar policy.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Manufacturers will do themselves here. This happens only on Sports cars, I am sure about BMW who will get first 2000 Kms by company drivers and get the oil service (due at 2000 for M cars) before these cars are given to marketing or press department. Am sure others will have a similar policy.

This might be a recent practice. During my M3/M4 drive on the Buddh circuit, these cars had barely completed 600 km.

[Dippy]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Manufacturers will do themselves here. This happens only on Sports cars, I am sure about BMW who will get first 2000 Kms by company drivers and get the oil service (due at 2000 for M cars) before these cars are given to marketing or press department. Am sure others will have a similar policy.

That isnt true. When BMW sent me the G30 530d media car it was brand new. Before the driver dropped it off, he called me when leaving the workshop. He told me Sir Im bringing a brand new car to you, just fixing the reg plate. It had 80 km on the odo when it reached my house. Heck i even pulled off the plastic from the infotainment screen

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by ajmat

During my M3/M4 drive on the Buddh circuit, these cars had barely completed 600 km.

Not sure which year you are referring but since 2018, I have seen this on all M4 and M5 cars. Maybe one M4 in 2018, specially configured was given a miss but their Director made it sure it’s run in properly, he kept the car to himself for a while, I know because I bought that car later on .

During the same year, one Red M5 which later went to auctions was also given to Auto Car, if I am not mistaken but for a very short run. So, the events, where cars were not received in advance (even air lifted couple of times) they may have given without run in. So, maybe it happened similarly when you experienced or maybe it was a first event?

Originally Posted by Dippy

That isnt true. When BMW sent me the G30 530d media car it was brand new.

Only some specific M cars, the ones which have a 2000 km mandatory and very important service. They change engine oil, differential oil and reset the RPM limiter. I am not sure if this first 2000 km service requirements is applicable on current M2 but I have seen a few examples of M2 being used at track with less Kms. Can be that the sheer number of these made it impossible or they had little time or these don’t need 2000 km service. I remember, there were at least 10 cars for an event at BIC in 2018 but I don’t recollect the odo.

If you see the Auction list from past 2 years, except for 2 or 3 cars from Auto expo 2018, each of the M5 would have a 2000 km completed in first 7-15 days. Now, if this job is given to their regular drivers or some pros like our fellow member- Lee is unknown to me . I will ping him to update this thread with his comments.

This is a picture from 2018 BIC event, ODO is 2300 on an M5

[Thad E Ginathom]

On these high performance cars, especially, is it not rather important that the tyres are run in before heavy-footed motor critics stress test them?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Akshay6988

So my question to mods and reviewers is, the test cars you or any other auto journalists get in India, are those run in before by the manufacturer ? Or the reviewers just floor it ?

Almost never run-in. We do the running-in which is pretty brutal by the way. If I am testing a brand new Citroen with 200 km on the odo and have it just for 4 days, I am going to check how it behaves right from 800 rpm all the way to the redline, and everywhere in between.

Originally Posted by Turbanator

I am sure about BMW who will get first 2000 Kms by company drivers and get the oil service (due at 2000 for M cars) before these cars are given to marketing or press department.

BMW is damn particular. All their fast cars come to us with brand new or almost new performance tyres. Not just that, they pick the best model (Michelin Pilot Sports). Their fleet manager knows what he's doing.

On the other hand, a company like Mitsubishi gave us their performance sedan - the mighty EVO X - with brakes that were almost gone. These small little things indicate why some companies do well, and some go bust. From our review:

Unfortunately, the car that we test drove had about 1mm of material left on the brake pads when we got it. This meant that we couldn’t experience the brakes to their full potential and therefore can’t comment much on their performance.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

On these high performance cars, especially, is it not rather important that the tyres are run in before heavy-footed motor critics stress test them?

You bet. On any brand new car, it's not just the engine, but other parts too that need running-in (e.g. tyres). But no one cares with media cars. They are perhaps the most abused breed, right up there with dealer TD cars and those used for ad shoots.