Kantar Media Reports Increase in U.S. Advertising Expenditures

Automotive was the second largest category by dollar volume, with media spending of $3,373.5 million—a 7.7 percent increase. Dealer ad budgets rose 16.8 percent while manufacturers spent 2.2 percent more. Category growth was primarily attributable to Toyota and Honda, which could easily demonstrate growth compared to 2011, when their production and marketing activities were at a fraction of normal levels due to the earthquake and tsunami. Apart from Toyota and Honda, aggregate spending by the rest of the auto industry was flat in Q2.