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A halo vehicle (or halo model) in automobile marketing is a car designed and marketed to showcase the talents and resources of the manufacturers and to promote sales of other vehicles within a marque.

Contents 1 Purpose 2 Typical 3 Disambiguation 3.1 Example 4 Opposite effect 4.1 Example 5 Noted Stylists 6 Examples 7 See also 8 References

Car companies often design a special vehicle, usually a luxury or sports model, with the hope that customers will come to dealerships to see it, but will buy other more practical vehicles instead. Such models are intended to shine a positive light on the manufacturer, and generate a positive buzz in the press and among consumers.

Halo cars have traditionally been sports-oriented, especially in the United States. The models may also have a special body style, such as a convertible, or be a new product, or even an entire line of cars that have a cachet about them.

The term can also be used to describe a vehicle that was designed to draw attention away from a manufacturer's plight and send a message that the manufacturer is undergoing a renaissance.

General Motors attempted to do with its Oldsmobile Aurora model. Studebaker also attempted to use the 1962 restyling of its Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk model as a halo model; however redesign of the vehicle couldn't hide the fact that car used an eight year-old technology and was the product of a company that was in poor financial shape.

In some cases, the attempt to create a halo model can backfire and result in bad publicity.

The case of the Edsel line of automobile in 1958. While the Chevrolet Corvair Spider and Monza were halo models for the rear engine model, their positive reviews could not overcome the negative press that the line received from Ralph Nader's book, Unsafe at Any Speed.

Include Frank Hershey, Harley Earl, Ed Glowake, Elwood Engle, William Mitchell, Raymond Loewy, Virgil Exner, Richard Teague, and many others.

Cars like the Corvette, Dodge Viper, and Toyota Supra were never intended to sell particularly well. The important element was the halo effect they had on their brands. The Honda NSX established Acura in the United States as a premiere engineering marque, in line with their caliper logo. The Viper brought new interest to Dodge just as the Corvette had to Chevrolet 40 years earlier.

• Marque
• Badge engineering

• Halo Car definition
• Auto Blog - Halo Car definition and listing
• USA Today, "Automakers hope love for car equals love for brand," 2006-08-30