A Halo vehicle in automobile marketing is one designed and marketed to promote sales of other vehicles within a marque. 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. The classic case is the Chevrolet Corvette which changed the image of Chevrolet of the 1950s from one of mainstream practicality to desirable sportiness.
Halo cars have traditionally been sports-oriented, especially in the United States. Cars like the Corvette, Dodge Viper, and Acura NSX were never intended to sell particularly well. The important element was the halo effect they had on their brands. The 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.
In some cases, halo cars have accentuated non-sports attributes. Advertising for the Honda Insight featured other Honda vehicles that were fuel-efficient. The Toyota Prius is marketed alone, but Toyota clearly likes the positive association of the hot-selling hybrid car. The Volkswagen New Beetle brought nostalgic consumers back to the brand, while Volkswagen hopes to keep them with the luxury image of the Phaeton.
During the pony car era, companies created halo cars for model lines. The Pontiac GTO enticed buyers to try out the more mild Tempest. Honda continues this today with their sporty Si trim line. Dodge has combined both with the SRT-designated Viper. They use this name across many vehicles, from the lowly (but quick) Neon SRT-4 to the Ram SRT-10 pickup.
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