The Best Christmas Car Commercials
A collection of the best Christmas car commercials, featuring everything from heartwarming classics to modern high performance.You’ve all seen the car commercials where someone wakes up and finds a new car with a big red bow on it, right? Well, this year, we went through minutes and minutes (they add up quickly!) of other Christmas car commercials to set the mood this season. They’ll make you laugh, roll your eyes, and maybe need a Kleenex. Here’s the best of the bunch.
Santa Gets An Audi Makeover
In this commercial, Santa is doing his normal Christmas Eve routine, delivering presents house to house. After yet another successful delivery, Santa sees the neighbors getting out of a red Audi. He also notices that he’s a little thick around the middle. Throughout the rest of this nearly four-minute advertisement, we get a Rocky-like montage of Santa jogging, boxing, jumping rope, and doing sit-ups.
The next year, to match his newer, slimmed waistline, he also gets a new Audi that’s as red as his rosy cheeks. Then the tagline shows up, “Progress is rewriting your own story.” In this case, Santa did just that.
Choosing the Mercedes-Benz
Santa looks at his variety of red vehicles in his garage, unsure which one to take this year. They’re all glossy red but from various eras in time. At the end of the line is a red 2012 Mercedes-Benz C 250 Sport Sedan. The doors unlock, Santa smiles, and then we see Santa taking it out for a drive on the barren winter roads.
He’s led by eight other silver Mercedes-Benz models, representing his reindeer, so the whole Benz lineup is featured in this 30-second commercial. It’s short, simple, and effective.
It’s Time for a Trade-In
The nostalgia is strong in this 1997 commercial for a Michigan Ford dealership. It uses a stop-motion Claymation animated version of Santa from the 1960s, mashed up with some real life footage of Ford models on the roads later on in the commercial.
The story here is that Rudolph and the other reindeer are tired, whether it’s their hooves or their backs. The solution? Rudolph hands Santa and advertisement for the Ford Year-End Clearance, with 2.9% APR financing or cash back deals. Santa says, “You’re saying get rid of my sleigh?” in shock. Rudolph uses just two words to convince Santa that’s time to trade in: “heated interior.”
A Modified Dodge Sleigh
Mrs. Claus is a gearhead. Who would’ve thought? Bill Goldberg, who has an impressive car collection in real life, is Santa but he’s only shown for a few seconds at the start of the commercial. After that, this commercial turns into a little interview-style shoot with Mrs. Claus and Kevin, the Elf. They detail how Mrs. Claus modded Santa’s ride.
Upgrades include a high-output HEMI V8, wide body package, and power bulge aluminum hood. Along with the “Ho Ho Go” tagline, the commercial closes out with Santa’s revamped sleigh, clearly a work of fiction but also very cool.
A Special Audi for Santa
Santa Claus is more like James Bond in this one. He’s got a dash of tradition with the red tie and pocket square, but he’s sleek, wearing a gray suit, and has a thick, but clean-cut beard. His assistant isn’t dressed as any kind of elf when he lets Santa know, “It’s time.”
After taking the elevator down to the garage, Santa is puzzled when he sees the sleek, silver Audi concept car. “Your new sleigh,” the assistant says. Santa gets in and is impressed with the coach doors and the steering wheel that moves itself into the dashboard. No driver required. “Welcome to the future, Mr. Claus,” the assistant says. Then we get shots of Santa leaning back, checking his list, and enjoying the ride towards his first stop. The entire commercial worked well in relaying the message that Audi intends on innovating the future.
The Ford Country Griswolds
I don’t know how much they had to pay to get Clark and Ellen Griswold in this commercial, but it’s hard to beat a classic movie like Christmas Vacation. This definitely had the Griswold vibe, but this time with a new twist. The commercial starts off with everyone going outside so Clark can plug in the Christmas lights. Drumroll and … nothing. Don’t worry, this commercial has a happy ending.
Ellen goes inside to flip the switch in the garage, but she also grabs the plug in for the Mustang Mach-E that’s in the driveway. When Clark tries again, the house lights up, the background music starts, and everyone sees the shiny red Mach-E. They’re more impressed with the car than the lights, but Clark joins them and says, “I love that new car smell.” Ok, the writing wasn’t the best on this one, but the throwback to a classic Christmas movie scene? They nailed it.
A Classic Chrysler
This commercial is a totally different style than the modern ones. It’s interesting to see how they advertised in the ’50s. There’s no flashy scenes, there are no quick jump cuts, and there’s not even any color in this commercial. For nearly a minute, the dialogue tells the story, with a few jingling bells used as sound effects.
The dialogue is simple but it does the job. “I guess you can’t blame him for wishing he drove a new 1955 Chrysler instead. You get behind the wheel and you’ll see why,” the narrator says. He continues: “Why not make up your mind right now. Give your family the hundred million dollar gift! order a new 1955 Chrysler tomorrow as a thrilling gift.” In the case that the Chrysler can’t be delivered in time for Christmas, the dealers are offering a scale model instead.
Driving Down Memory Lane
Chevy is pulling at the heart strings with this commercial. It’s a little over three minutes long, so there’s plenty of time for this literal trip down memory lane. The tells the story of a family of four, making a trip to their cabin for Christmas. They are loading up their older model Suburban and all the memories come back.
From old home video footage with their young dog to passing by the Christmas tree farm to the ice skates that left a tear in the back seat, the family recounts everything, good, bad, and chaotic. Stopping to get food, diaper explosions, the kids not wanting to go back to college, and the old “I will turn this car around” phrase were shown or mentioned. Of course, it ends on a happy note with the now older parents meeting the adult kids, the new dog, and their kids’ kids for another Christmas at the cabin.
Santa’s Volkswagen Goes in For Service
This commercial is for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, so it starts off with a man dressed as Santa pulling his red-colored commercial van into a VW service shop. “Ready for the big night,” the tech asks? Santa kind of sighs. Then we get a montage of Santa sipping coffee and doing some light aerobics as the tech is checking the fluids, tire pressure, and more.
Just as Santa sits down to attempt a Sudoku, the tech reappears and says “All done.” Santa thanks her for seeing the van late, gets into the car, and turns on his heated seats. “Now we’re in business,” he says. That’s when the messaging comes across the screen: Keeping every business on the road this Christmas. It’s a clever, quick-moving minute-long commercial.
The Substitute
The production quality alone makes this one stand out. Lots of cuts, lots of sound effects, and still, it tells a complete story in just over 30 seconds. When Santa gets sick, Mrs. Claus gets a little smile. She sets down her knitting needle, gets a red leather coat on, and then grabs the keys for Santa 1, the red Benz that Santa normally drives.
She gets in, presses her profile icon, and the vehicle says “Welcome, Mrs. C.” Eight silver Mercedes-Benz models are paired up in front of Santa 1 to lead the way, and Mrs. Claus is ready to go. “Let’s fly!” she says. The voiceover comes up and says, “Don’t let anything stop you.” This commercial was just published a month ago, so the incentives they’re offering in it are active on our December New Car Incentives post.
An Audi Parking Dilemma
We’re ending the list with one more Audi commercial. Instead of trying to reinvent the Santa story, this time they took to a real life situation. Two cars are entering a parking ramp at the mall – at the same time. There’s just one problem: the board ahead of them indicates that there’s just one parking spot left all the way up on level five.
The two Audis race towards the top level, each encountering their own issues along the way. One of the drivers has to stop for a woman who is loading her SUV with gifts and blocking the way, the other thinks he found a space but sees that it’s a handicapped spot, and then the original driver has to stop for a man who is clicking his key fob while trying to find his car. The entire journey highlights the speed, stopping, and maneuvering that Audi can deliver.
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