It’s that time of year when we
look back at the most-read stories of 2025.
And the winner is, coincidentally, the story naming the automakers that did the best job of marketing in 2024: MediaPost Names Best In Auto Marketing For 2024.
Who
doesn’t love recognition? It’s likely the story was shared widely, especially by the winning automakers and their agencies. Congratulations once again to Johannes Leonardo, best automotive
agency, and former VW CMO Andrew Savvas, who was named automotive marketer of the year shortly before revealing his plans to leave the company and the industry.
The
second most-read story was a tech-focused story: ‘Hey Toyota' About To Get Even
Better.
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It detailed how Toyota plans to make its in-vehicle voice command system even better. It will feature the first integration of AT&T 5G network connectivity,
which will help bring more reception areas through AT&T’s network across North America, along with increased speeds and expanded features.
Four of the remaining top 10
stories focused on vehicle test drives — something I do weekly to make sure I am up-to-date on the products and features that the OEMs are marketing. I also evaluate vehicles so I can vote on
what I think is best in my job as juror for the Women’s Worldwide Car of The Year.
It’s interesting that several of the stories focused on Toyota vehicles: Toyota Land Cruiser Holds Up Under Winter Driving (ranked third) and Toyota Tacoma Offers Versatility, Comfort (ranked seventh.)
Other vehicles that seemed to draw the interest of readers included the Subaru Outback (with the story ranked fourth) and the Kia Carnival (ranked eighth.) I recently got to drive some rescue dogs cross-country in the Kia Carnival, and the positive attributes
named in the review really held up.
Campaign stories were also popular, including one about the return of Scout Motors: Scout Motors Builds Anticipation With 'Baja' Campaign (with the story ranked
fifth.) The automaker is already drawing interest, even though the vehicles won’t hit the market until 2027.
Another campaign, this time for Kia, was interesting in that it
was “part two” of a previous campaign: Kia Sportage Continues
T-Shirt-Themed Road Trip (ranked ninth.)
Finally, news about electric vehicle maker Rivian along with legacy brand Jaguar rounded out the top 10 with Rivian Announces Search For First CMO (with the story ranked sixth) and Rivian Sponsors SXSW, Jaguar Focuses On NBA (ranked tenth.)