Hello.
I remember reading that manufacturer supported racing is not a priority in this game, which I understand and support as a decision. To avoid the hassle of the additional complexity I’d like to propose non-manufacturer supported racing in the game. There’re two sides to this:
A) There’s a market for cars that are powerful/fast but neither luxurious nor prestigious and that doesn’t have a lot of brand-affiliation. Private racing teams spend a lot of money on cars that nobody else would want to buy. Success in this market share has an increased influence on brand awareness because these vehicles can often be seen on TV. A real life example of a brand that shapes it’s brand recognition in this manner would be Porsche.
It should be noted that for each class of racing that is included there is a different market. Teams looking for a 2000cc rally car will not buy a 5 litre GT. I wouldn’t recommend having more than two classes of racing in the game.
B) The performance of the cars in these segments could have an additional effect on the brand awareness at certain events. E.g. once a year there could be an important motorsport event. At this time the market share of all eligible models and their relative estimated track performance is evaluated and a winning model is chosen which will then effect the public awareness of the model’s brand.
Part A of this proposal is merely an additional market segment with very specific requirements and is probably already planned. Part B is likely an extension but doesn’t require any changes to the car/engine-designer or the business side of the game. It would merely be an additional bit of news you get once a year.
I would still not recommend including this in the first release of Automation, but I’d like to propose it for an early upgrade.