Car companies are busy hiring celebrities to endorse their brands. Does it really help boost car sales?

“I'll control myself and won't let anyone see me cry.”

In 1999, Cecilia Cheung's song "A Star's Wish" became extremely popular across the country. This song was an interlude for the movie "Star Wish" in which Cecilia Cheung starred. The work from twenty - six years ago laid the groundwork for the cooperation between Cecilia Cheung and Geely Xingyuan.

On October 10, 2025, the new Geely Xingyuan was officially launched, and at the same time, Cecilia Cheung was appointed as the global spokesperson for Geely Xingyuan. In fact, in the past few months, more and more car companies have chosen celebrities to endorse their brands. The "cut - throat competition" in the auto industry has also spread to the endorsement field.

Data from EntGroup Marketing Think Tank shows that in the first half of 2025, the automotive industry had the most significant year - on - year growth in the number of new brand spokespersons.

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In the past, new energy vehicle startups were not keen on hiring brand spokespersons. Li Xiang, the founder of Li Auto, once publicly stated, "We won't hire celebrity spokespersons because our car owners are the best spokespersons." Companies like NIO and Leapmotor also didn't hire brand spokespersons for a long time. At their press conferences, they often emphasized the performance and parameters of their cars and built the IP of their founders.

However, as the competition in the automotive market becomes more intense, even car companies with high attention and popularity need to find new topics and traffic.

On September 26, Li Xiang, who once said "no celebrity endorsements", officially announced that Jackson Yee would be the brand spokesperson for Li Auto. On October 16, Leapmotor, known for its cost - effectiveness, announced Fei Xiang as its first brand spokesperson.

The only two profit - making new energy vehicle startups have both started to consider hiring brand spokespersons at the same time.

"At this stage, especially during the launch of the D - series models, a brand spokesperson can resonate with users, better spread the concept of the car, and improve marketing efficiency," Leapmotor officially replied when asked about the reason for hiring a spokesperson.

In essence, car companies hope to shape brand personality, tell brand stories, and establish emotional connections with users through brand spokespersons to better promote their cars. However, when looking into the details, it's not entirely the same. Hao Ren (a pseudonym), a brand marketing expert at Geely, told Zhīwēi that there are several situations when a brand invites a spokesperson:

The first type is car brands that have strong additional brand value or niche value from the very beginning. They often match the target audience and precisely select brand spokespersons to strengthen consumers' recognition of the product through consistency. For example, Hongmeng Zhixing Zhijie invited national goddess Liu Yifei as its brand spokesperson, which is in line with its positioning as a "mid - to - high - end intelligent car brand". Wuling officially announced Meng Ziyi as the spokesperson for its Bingo family. Meng Ziyi, a young actress known for her "innocent beauty", perfectly matches the cute, small, and delicate Bingo series of cars.

The second type is to invite spokespersons who fit the target group, such as Li Auto mentioned above. Li Auto, which focuses on family cars, used to make a lot of money with its "family cars + range - extender" strategy. However, as more competitors enter this market and Li Auto faced setbacks in its pure - electric transformation, it urgently needs a new way to break through the market.

So Li Auto set its sights on the new - generation popular and talented star Jackson Yee, hoping to connect with the Generation Z market. Theoretically, celebrities, as cultural symbols, carry social meanings. Car companies hope to transfer this meaning to the brand through endorsement and reshape consumers' perception of the product. For example, Jackson Yee, who started as a child star and is only 24 years old, has a mature and steady personality, which can give Li Auto more youthful and technological features.

Previously, Hongqi Tiangong 05 invited Fu Hang, the latest king of stand - up comedy, as its "Passion Ambassador" for the same purpose. By inviting a celebrity with a different style, the brand and the car model can be given more diverse features and reach a wider audience.

Hao Ren also mentioned that if the spokesperson doesn't match the brand image, it may not attract the target audience and may not achieve the desired effect. For example, Nezha Auto invited Gulnazar as its brand spokesperson. However, due to the positioning gap between Nezha Auto, which targets the general public, and the delicate and elegant female star, the number of target customers attracted was limited. "But Nezha Auto had to invite a spokesperson with relevant qualities to elevate its brand and create hot topics to leave a mark in the public's memory."

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Xu Chao (a pseudonym), the co - founder of a fast - moving consumer goods brand, told Zhīwēi that when a company selects a brand spokesperson, there is usually a set of fixed selection logic. The candidates for brand spokespersons are comprehensively evaluated through multiple dimensions, such as the celebrity's influence index (derived from a series of measurement indicators), the fit with the brand image, and the brand budget.

When Zhīwēi asked if the logic of selecting a spokesperson for fast - moving consumer goods is different from that for durable consumer goods, Xu Chao, who has years of experience working in Nielsen and Kantar, gave a negative answer.

He said that although consumers have a longer decision - making process when purchasing durable consumer goods, the consumer decision - making process is not the main factor in selecting a brand spokesperson. So the main factors that brand owners consider when selecting a spokesperson are still the ones mentioned above, as well as the risk of the spokesperson having a scandal.

Of course, some car companies, although they don't hire brand spokespersons, will invite well - known figures to support their brands under titles such as "Brand Friend", "Chief Experience Officer", or "First Car Owner". For example, when the LeDao L90 was launched, Sha Yi's family appeared as celebrity car owners at the event.

Sha Yi's image of a happy multi - child family highly matches the brand tone and target users of the LeDao L90. Theoretically, it can strengthen consumers' recognition of the product through consistency. At NIO Day, NIO invited Karen Mok as its Chief Experience Officer to appear, which was playing on the popular internet meme "Karen NIO", attracting attention on the internet through a pun.

Previously, Yicai once reported that the CFO of a leading car company said that the development cost of a car is hundreds of millions of dollars, and the cost of inviting a celebrity to support the brand is negligible. After a car model is developed, the primary task of car companies is to make it a hit. According to the Zhīwēi editorial department, the annual endorsement fee for some well - known celebrities is about 3 million yuan.

By leveraging the influence of celebrities or popular internet memes, brands and new cars can gain public attention to a certain extent. For example, after Hongmeng Zhixing invited Liu Yifei to endorse, as of now, the topic "Liu Yifei, Brand Ambassador of Hongmeng Zhixing Zhijie" on Weibo has been read more than 260 million times and has over one million discussions. The cooperation between Li Auto and Jackson Yee also has over 100 million views and over one million discussions on Weibo.

However, from the perspective of the consumer's purchase decision - making process, celebrity marketing only solves the problem in the demand recognition stage, that is, stimulating demand and increasing brand exposure through the celebrity effect. But when it comes to the final purchase decision, consumers still need to go through two steps: independent information search and option evaluation. Only when the brand and the car model have excellent strength and performance can they defeat competitors and win consumers' favor.

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During on - site visits, the Zhīwēi editorial department found that most car companies do not display the logos of their brand spokespersons in their actual stores.

Even Li Auto, which has a life - size standee of Jackson Yee, does not mention Jackson Yee's endorsement in its sales pitch. Instead, it mainly introduces the performance and advantages of the new car. A salesperson at a Li Auto store in Shanghai told Zhīwēi that the number of pre - orders for the Li i6 has exceeded 80,000, but most customers are attracted by the car itself rather than making a decision solely based on the spokesperson.

Generally speaking, for domestic car companies, celebrity endorsement is more like a "traffic - attracting" expense. They use celebrities to attract a wider range of potential customers. As for the actual conversion rate, it still depends on the car's hard power. If the car has strong performance, the conversion rate will be high, and it will be a worthwhile investment.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Zhīwēi". Author: Zhīwēi Editorial Department. Published by 36Kr with permission.