Not so long ago, owning a car dealership seemed somewhat glamorous. Aside from the polyester suits, dealers got to see their names plastered on trunk lids and license-plate frames and they could pick any car off the lot to drive around.
While the automotive retail landscape has certainly changed, the glory days of car dealerships endure in an online game called Fantasy Showroom. It's like fantasy football for gearheads and auto industry analysts.
You start out with $2 million (how's that for a bailout?) and fill your lot with cars you hope other players will want to buy. Just like in real life, the longer the car sits, the less money you make when the car sells. Make the right choices, however, and you can fill your lot with all the cars you can afford. We think "Autopia Bentley-Bugatti-Ferrari-Fisker-Tesla" has a nice ring to it, even if we have to charge extra for floor mats
Currently, the most popular cars on the site include safe bets like the Toyota Prius, Honda Odyssey and Ford F-150, fanboy shout-outs for the Ford Mustang and the venerable 'Vette and of course lots of love for the BMW 3-series and Audi A4. Points are awarded based on actual sales and number of pageviews on buyer research sites, plus bonus points for high gas mileage. Behind the fun and games, however, lies a clever market research campaign.
"We created Fantasy Showroom for a simple reason: we want to better understand how people are engaging with cars," said Eve Maidenberg of Jumpstart Automotive Group, the creators of Fantasy Showroom. "More than ever, buyers are doing a majority of their car research online. "By adding some fun to the process, we will connect auto influencers with the real-world patterns of the auto industry, and allow both sides -- brands and consumers -- to gain a new perspective on the market."
That's valuable data for automakers and advertisers -- unless someone throws things off by seeing how long he can survive with a lot full of Chrysler Sebrings.
Photo: Flickr/vistavision
