Super Bowl ads spotlight Alabama cars - Montgomery Advertiser

The on-field matchup for Super Bowl 50 may still be up in the air, but we already know that one of the major players will be the Alabama auto industry.

After sitting out last year’s game, Hyundai is returning to the Super Bowl in a big way.

Much of that presence is meant to promote the redesigned Elantra that’s now being made at the Montgomery plant. The company will have a commercial during the pre-game show on Feb. 7, another commercial just before kickoff, and two more during the game itself.

Two separate ads feature the 2017 Elantra, which arrives at dealers soon. The company said the spots will show off the sedan’s safety, technology and convenience features.

Another ad will spotlight Hyundai’s luxury sedan, the Genesis, and a fourth ad will focus on Hyundai as a company during one of its biggest Super Bowl marketing pushes ever.

But wait, there’s more.

“…As an official NFL sponsor, Hyundai will also have a substantial onsite presence in the San Francisco Bay area at the NFL Experience, Super Bowl City and Game Day Fan Plaza,” HMA spokesman Michael Stewart said. “This will include fan engagements and vehicle displays.

“Additionally, more than 400 Hyundai vehicles will serve as promotional cars throughout Super Bowl week.”

The Elantra won’t be the only Alabama-made vehicle featured in Super Bowl commercials this year. Honda plans to show off its new 2017 Ridgeline pickup during the game, the Alabama Commerce Department said.

That truck goes into production early this year at Honda’s assembly plant in Talladega County, a facility that also builds the Odyssey minivan, the Pilot SUV and the Acura MDX.

Honda also sat out last year’s Super Bowl but decided this year to show off its new pickup to the biggest TV audience of the year.

The timing seems right. Sales of light trucks, crossovers and SUVs are hotter than they’ve ever been, thanks to falling gas prices. At 13.9 percent market share, the small SUV segment is now the largest category of vehicles in the U.S., trailed by small cars and midsize cars at 13.7 percent each, according to Kelley Blue Book.

Sedan-heavy Hyundai has tried to become more flexible by adding the ability to build its Santa Fe Sport crossover at the Montgomery plant starting this summer. It’s spending about $52 million to make those changes.

Still, the company decided to feature its top-selling Elantra sedan on the year’s grandest stage, and it hired some big names to craft the ads.

That talent behind Hyundai’s Super Bowl 50 spots includes “Friday Night Lights” and “Hancock” director Peter Berg, veteran ad director Fredrik Bond, Hyundai’s 2014 World Cup ad director Aaron Stoller, and Academy Award-winning cinematographer and director Janusz Kaminski.

“As we are finishing up shooting the spots, seeing their talent and skill in storytelling was inspirational to our entire team,” HMA Chief Marketing Officer Dean Evans said. “We can’t wait to see the finished products.”