Pep Boys Sells for $800 Million

When you walk down to the local Pep Boys to replace your AC Condenser or Radiator Fan there may be a sign that reads “Under New Management.”  The iconic parts company recently sold to aLos Angeles equity firm for $800 million dollars.

There may be a sign out front, but not too much else shouldchange.  The new owners plan on keepingmanagement in place, and you know they will keep Manny, Joe and Jackaround.  Pep Boys would just not be thesame with those giant headed mascots.  Thereare no plans to shut down any of the 729 stores, or to let go any employees.

Pep Boys hit a rough spot in the road because of increasedcompetition and a bad economy.  Theyposted losses for four straight years. While their competitors saw growth during tough times, because of peoplewanting to fix their old cars instead of buying new ones, Pep Boys did not.Some analysts believe it is because Pep Boys has both a parts and servicedivision while their competitors only focus on one.

The new owner speculates that it will take a while to getPep Boys back in the fast lane, but they are confident it will happen.

Super Bowl Car Commercials

Cooling fans suck, radiator fans blow, and Super Bowl fans are known for loving commercials. A lot of times they are better than the actual game.  Whether they are funny like the BudweiserFrogs, sexy like the Cindy Crawford Pepsi spot, or a marketing masterpieceresembling the Apple 1984 commercial, they’re always entertaining.  The auto industry has always been a keyplayer in Super Bowl ads and they will continue to be this year.

Volkswagen found a lot of success last year with acommercial staring a youngster dressed up like Darth Vader.  The commercial not only ranked high for theSuper Bowl, but it also won some awards for best commercial of the year.  The company hopes to grow on this commercial’ssuccess with another Star Wars themed spot. In this year’s advertisement, VW ups the cuteness from a kid to puppies.Check out a teaser of the commercial CLICK HERE

Chevy also released one of their Super Bowl commercials.  It’s called “Chevy Happy Grad.”  The commercial is a humorous romp created bysome miscommunication. Now, I can continue with pompous movie critic phrasessuch as “humorous romp,” or you can just watch the commercial CLICK HERE

Kia plans to air a sixty second commercial, and I don’t knowwhat it’s officially titled but it should be called, “A 12 Year Old Boy’sDream.”  It features UFC Fighter Chuck Lidell,Victoria’s Secret Model Adriana Lima, and Motley Crue.  It’s too bad 12 year olds can’t drive cars,and it is also a shame that I cannot figure out how to put those two littledots over the “o” and “u” in “Motley Crue.”

Other car companies that are going to buy commercial time onthe Super Bowl are Honda, Acura, Hyundai, and Toyota.  And,  for the very first time in the history of the company, Lexus is also going to run an ad during thegame,