Used Car Grand Prix
- Brand
- Honda
- Year
- 2016
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Automotive
- Mechanic
- Racing & Sports
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- Bascule Inc.
Objective
Honda wanted to turn a trip through its certified used-car inventory — the unglamorous Honda Auto Terrace stock search — into something people would actually want to do. By wiring real dealer inventory directly into a racing game, the brand also had a shot at a world first: internet-controlled mini-car racing, with 16 well-known voice actors cast as the cars' AI personalities to pull in an audience that had never thought about a used Honda.
Solution
On honda-gp.com, the player links a Twitter account, picks a region, and spins to pull a real used car from that region's dealer stock — its specs are then built into a physical mini racing robot styled after one of 16 Honda models, each voiced by a well-known voice actor. From there it's a queue: watch the live stream of ongoing duels until it's your turn. In your own race, you first drop traps across your opponent's three lanes, then steer by phone, switching between your own three lanes to dodge the traps thrown back at you while the two cars race down a straight track built from joined tablet screens. It's single elimination, head-to-head, broadcast live on Honda's site, YouTube, and Niconico over three days; string together ten straight wins and you walk away with a ¥100,000 gift certificate.
Results
7,073 entrants, about 34,000 cars built, roughly 300,000 live-stream viewers, and 94.6% program satisfaction (zero negative ratings in the Niconico post-stream survey).
- 1
The player opens the honda-gp.com tournament site on a smartphone and taps the "create car" button; linking a Twitter account is optional but required later to claim the win-streak prize.
- 2
The player picks a region, and the site pulls the real inventory of certified used Honda cars in stock there, then spins a roulette that randomly assigns one specific in-stock car as the player's racer.
- 3
The player views the drawn car's model and spec sheet, pulled straight from that listing.
- 4
Those specs are loaded into a physical mini-robot racecar, tuning its handling to match the used car, and the robot is given an AI co-pilot voice — one of 16 character voices, each performed by a different professional voice actor tied to its model.
- 5
The player confirms entry and waits in a queue, tracking how many races remain before their turn while watching the live tournament feed.
- 6
When their turn comes, the player sets traps on the opponent's lanes before the race starts.
- 7
The race is a live 1-on-1 duel on a straight 6-lane track built from tiled tablet screens, three lanes per racer, with the physical mini-cars actually driving across the screens; phone alerts cue the player to switch lanes and dodge the opponent's traps, with the AI voice coaching the moves.
- 8
The first car to cross the finish wins; the format is single elimination, and the winner immediately faces the next challenger, building a win streak.
- 9
Ten consecutive wins, with Twitter linked, earns the player a 100,000-yen gift certificate.
- 10
The entire tournament streams live on the site, Honda's YouTube channel, and Niconico, with special evening broadcasts on February 13-14 hosted by a presenter and popular streamers.
