Kelley Blue Book Predicts Escalade Will Receive Biggest Boost From “Transformers”

Today is the debut of Transformers: Age of Extinction in theaters around the USA. Fans of the series are quite aware of a certain yellow Camaro (aka “Bumble Bee”), and certainly the pony car’s image has received a boost from the franchise, so it comes as a surprise to learn the Kelley Blue Book is suggesting the Cadillac Escalade will see the “most significant increased interest on KBB.com” among General Motors models featured in the movie.

“We are predicting the Cadillac Escalade will see the biggest traffic surge on KBB.com once the new Transformers movie hits box offices with a 150 percent increase in new-car searches on the site,” says Kelley Blue Book analyst, Arthur Henry. “With its significant product placement on the big screen, the Escalade will benefit the most since it is a large luxury SUV and it is not commonly shopped by consumers today. Also, the Camaro and Stingray are seen as halo vehicles, which further drive interest to the Escalade.”

Kelley Blue Book is predicting the Escalade will see a 150-percent month-over-month increase in new-car searches on KBB.com. The Corvette Stingray is also estimated to experience a lift by 100 percent.

Contrast that with the already-famous Camaro: the new movie should spurn a boost of at least 75 percent of month-over-month new-car searches for the Camaro on KBB.com after this weekend. Since the first of the Transformers movies in 2007, which coincided with the Camaro concept car (before the production car was introduced to the public in 2009), the movie helped introduce the pony car to a global audience in ways that the Camaro never had before.

“General Motors’ most-recent movie partnership will continue to showcase the automaker’s latest and greatest aspirational models, but now in its fourth Transformers entry GM is flipping the script to also feature the all-new Chevy Trax, which is more of a mainstream model in the increasingly popular subcompact crossover segment,” adds Henry. “Based on previous history of cars being featured in prominent movies, Kelley Blue Book predicts that GM choosing to feature the Chevy Trax in the film will help catapult its upcoming North American launch. Automakers can leverage product placement opportunities such as movies and television shows to expose a new model to a targeted audience in a context where the shopper is already providing their undivided attention while also being entertained, which has a more natural feel for consumers versus traditional advertising.”