Partner With Us
Partner with The Auto Wire
Reach drivers when ownership decisions matter.
The Auto Wire covers recalls, repair costs, safety technology and buying intelligence in plain English. Our readers arrive with a decision in front of them — a recall notice, a repair quote, a renewal, a trade-in — and they are looking for a straight answer. That is the moment your brand can be useful, and the only moment we sell. Every sponsorship runs on The Auto Wire, Modern Car Collector and Backfire News, with national syndication.
Direct sponsorships only · One booking, three titles, national syndication · admin@theautowire.com
Reader arrives withIntent
01
A recall noticeWhat the campaign covers, whether the fix is free, how long the wait is.
02
A repair quoteWhether the number is fair, what the job actually involves, what can wait.
03
A renewal or claimCoverage questions, rate changes, what a dash cam or ADAS feature is worth.
04
A shortlistReliability, running costs, safety ratings, what to check before signing.
1.75MAuto Wire page views / month
3.7MSyndicated views, last 90 days
1.9MUnique readers, last 90 days
3.3MNetwork page views / month
§01
One booking. Three titles. National syndication.
Syndication is our business model: about 96% of our network’s readership comes through national syndication partners, not our own homepages. Book The Auto Wire and your sponsorship also runs on Modern Car Collector and Backfire News at no added cost — nearly double The Auto Wire’s own audience for the same booking.
| Title | Syndicated views (90d) | Unique readers (90d) | Added syndication (30d) | Page views / mo. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Auto Wire | 3.7M | 1.9M | 459K | ~1.75M |
| Backfire News | 2.5M | 1.5M | 372K | ~1.26M |
| Modern Car Collector | 607K | 343K | 90K | ~308K |
| All three titles, one price | 6.8M | 3.2M (de-duplicated) | 922K | ~3.3M |
Page views per month = syndicated 90-day views ÷ 3 + additional syndication views (last 30 days) + each site’s Google Analytics views. Sources: syndication partner dashboards (October 2026); Google Analytics for each site.
60.9M
Syndication reach
Network reach over the last 90 days.
2,547
Stories syndicated
Per quarter across the network — about 28 a day.
96%+
U.S. audience
Distributed nationally through syndication.
4,164
Newsletter subscribers
Across three newsletters, 26% average open rate.
§02
The ownership decision window
Most automotive advertising chases the purchase. The purchase is one event in a decade of ownership — and by the time a shopper is on a dealer lot, the brands they trust are already chosen. The Auto Wire reaches people earlier and more often, in the unglamorous moments that actually shape who they call, what they buy and who they insure with.
Stage AOwnershipRecall alerts, service intervals, tech explainers.
Stage BSomething breaksRepair cost reality checks, parts and warranty questions.
Stage CRisk & coverClaims, coverage gaps, safety tech worth paying for.
Stage DReassessKeep it or replace it — running costs versus payment.
Stage EReplaceShortlists, inspection checklists, financing questions.
§03
Who fits, and where
We take a narrow set of categories, because the fit has to be obvious to the reader. If a sponsorship needs explaining, it does not belong on the page.
Category 01
Automotive brands & OEMs
Our recall and technology coverage is where owners go when something about their vehicle worries them. Brands that show up with clear service information, warranty facts and honest technology explanations get credit for candour — the scarcest thing in the category.
Best formats
Section sponsorship
Technology explainer series
Newsletter presenting sponsor
Category 02
Insurers & claims services
Readers reach our coverage at the exact moments insurance becomes real: after a crash, during a rate increase, while weighing whether a safety feature lowers a premium. The intent is high and the questions are specific, which is why plain explanation outperforms brand advertising here.
Best formats
Sponsored explainer
In-article unit — risk & claims
Tools & calculator sponsorship
Category 03
Dealerships & dealer groups
Regional groups reach an audience already researching inspection checklists, trade-in timing and financing terms. We can target coverage by state through our driving-laws and recall reporting, so the message lands where you actually sell.
Best formats
Regional newsletter placement
Buying-guide sponsorship
Co-produced checklist
Category 04
Aftermarket & parts
Garage Deals and our accessories coverage exist because readers ask what is worth buying. Products that survive a real test earn a durable recommendation; products that do not, we will tell you before the campaign runs rather than after.
Best formats
Product test & review placement
Garage Deals sponsorship
Seasonal gear feature
Category 05
Safety technology
Dash cams, ADAS, telematics, anti-theft hardware and driver monitoring all sit inside our core beat. The Automotive Physics Lab gives this category something rare: space to explain how a system actually works, with the physics intact and the marketing left out.
Best formats
Automotive Physics Lab sponsorship
Demonstration video integration
Sponsored explainer series
§04
Sponsorship formats
Everything below is sold directly, labelled clearly, and produced to the same standard as our unsponsored work. Network packages and rates are listed below; custom formats, availability and lead times are in the media kit.
Editorial
Sponsored explainer
A full-length piece on a question your customers actually ask, written by our desk to our standards and labelled as sponsored. You get subject approval and a factual accuracy review; you do not get copy approval.
- Runs
- Article page & homepage
- Includes
- Production, disclosure, reporting
- Best for
- Insurers, safety tech, OEMs
Newsletter
Smart Driver Brief presenting sponsor
Exclusive presenting position on our weekly email covering recall alerts, safety issues, repair-cost changes and policy shifts. One sponsor per issue, positioned above the fold with a text unit readers will actually finish.
- Runs
- Weekly email
- Includes
- Masthead line & text unit
- Best for
- Every category
Section
Section sponsorship
Own a beat for a quarter: Car Recalls, Automotive Physics Lab, Garage Deals or Buying Guides. Your brand sits in the section header and in a fixed unit on every piece published in that section for the term.
- Runs
- Section index & all articles
- Includes
- Header line, fixed unit, report
- Best for
- OEMs, safety tech, insurers
Display
In-article & anchor units
Directly sold display in our highest-attention positions, kept well clear of the aggressive placements that make automotive pages unreadable. Standard IAB creative, or we can build the unit with you.
- Runs
- In-article, sidebar, anchor
- Includes
- Frequency caps, category block
- Best for
- Dealers, aftermarket
Product
Product test placement
We test the product, then publish what we found — including the parts you would rather we left out. The result is a review a reader can trust, which is the only kind worth buying.
- Runs
- Review & Garage Deals
- Includes
- Testing, photography, disclosure
- Best for
- Aftermarket, safety tech
Custom
Data & research partnership
Co-produced research using your data and our reporting — repair cost trends, claims patterns, recall response rates — published as a standing reference piece with methodology stated in full.
- Runs
- Feature, brief & social
- Includes
- Analysis, charts, methodology
- Best for
- Insurers, OEMs, safety tech
Network packages
One all-inclusive price: sponsored stories on all three titles, national syndication, newsletter and social promotion, and a final performance report.
Start here
Test Drive
$750
A first test.
- 1 sponsored story
- 3 placements (story × 3 titles)
- National syndication
- Newsletter feature to 4,164 subscribers (26% avg. open rate)
- Social media promotion
- ~10,000 estimated views
Campaign
Build-Up Campaign
$2,000
A steady build over three months.
- 3 sponsored stories
- 9 placements across all three titles
- National syndication
- Newsletter feature to 4,164 subscribers (26% avg. open rate)
- Social media promotion
- ~30,000 estimated views
Recommended
All-Access
$5,000
Maximum visibility before and during your moment.
- 5 sponsored stories
- 15 placements across all three titles
- Sponsor credit on event-week coverage
- National syndication
- Newsletter feature to 4,164 subscribers (26% avg. open rate)
- Social media promotion
- ~50,000 estimated views
Exclusive
Presenting Sponsor
$8,500
Own the coverage.
- 6 sponsored stories, including a recap
- 18 placements across all three titles
- “Presented by” credit on every event-week story
- Category exclusivity
- National syndication
- Newsletter feature to 4,164 subscribers (26% avg. open rate)
- Social media promotion
- ~60,000 estimated views + event-week stories
Start small, upgrade anytime: a Test Drive booking is credited in full toward any larger package booked within 30 days. Every placement gets its own tracked referral link, so traffic shows up in your analytics. Estimated views are based on last quarter’s average views per story across our syndication partners.
§05
Example placements
Renderings, not live campaigns. Every sponsored position carries a visible label before the reader reaches the first line of copy.
Article page — in-article unitExample
Repair costs
Why brake job quotes vary by hundreds of dollars in the same ZIP code
Sponsored — Your brandKnow the number before you approve the workOne-sentence value line, a link, and nothing that pretends to be our reporting.
Newsletter — presenting sponsorExample
The Smart Driver Brief
Presented by Your Brand · WeeklyThis weekNew recall campaigns, a warranty change worth reading, and one repair to stop deferring
Sponsor messageForty words, plain text, one linkSet above the fold, in the reading column, with the sponsor named at the top.
Section sponsorship — headerExample
Latest
What a recall notice actually means for your warranty
§06
Audience & performance reporting
We only quote numbers we can source. The figures on this page come straight from our syndication partner dashboards and Google Analytics (October 2026), and every campaign is reported the same way.
Included
Readership by intent
Share of sessions across recall, repair-cost, safety-tech and buying coverage.
Included
Newsletter delivery
Network sends reach 4,164 subscribers across three newsletters (1,350 on The Auto Wire), with a 26% average open rate. Open and click performance reported issue by issue.
Included
Geography & device
More than 96% U.S., distributed nationally through syndication. Where readers are and how they read, for regional and format planning.
Per campaign
Campaign reporting
Views per placement across every syndication partner and all three titles, plus clicks from a tracked referral link on each placement.
§07
Editorial independence policy
This is the policy, not a preamble to it. It applies to every campaign, and it is not negotiable as part of a buy. It exists because the recommendation is worth nothing to you if the reader does not believe it.
Clause 1
Sponsorship never buys coverage
Advertisers cannot commission, kill, delay or shape unsponsored reporting. Recall and safety coverage runs regardless of who is buying that week.
Clause 2
Sponsored work is labelled
Every sponsored piece, unit and email carries a visible label above the content. We do not use ambiguous wording to blur the line.
Clause 3
No copy approval
Sponsors review for factual accuracy about their own product and claims. Editorial judgement, framing and conclusions stay with our desk.
Clause 4
Tests report what we found
A product test is not a guaranteed endorsement. If the product disappoints, we say so — and you will hear it from us before publication.
Clause 5
Claims are sourced
Safety, savings and performance claims need a source we can name. Unsupported claims come out of the creative before it runs.
Clause 6
We decline bad fits
We turn down campaigns that mislead drivers, obscure costs or conflict with active safety reporting, and we will explain why.
§08
How a campaign runs
Five steps, in order. You will deal with the editor running the campaign, not an ad network queue.
Step 01BriefEmail admin@theautowire.com with the audience you need, the outcome you are measuring and your timing.
Step 02Fit & proposalFormats that suit the brief, availability, audience data and rates — or an honest note that we are not the right fit.
Step 03Creative reviewCreative is checked against the independence policy: claims sourced, labels set, targeting agreed.
Step 04LaunchPlacements go live on schedule, with a preview link for every sponsored piece before publication.
Step 05ReportingMid-flight check and close-of-campaign report, with a plain read on what worked and what we would change.
§09
Request the media kit
Tell us who you are and what you are trying to reach. We will send the current media kit — audience data, formats, rates and availability — along with a short note on which placements actually fit the brief.
What you get back
Current readership and newsletter figures, format rate card, section availability, and our disclosure standards in full.
Who you deal with
The editor running the campaign — not an ad network queue or a reseller.
Direct to the desk
Request the media kit →
Email admin@theautowire.com
Include these six details and we will reply with the current kit and a short read on which placements fit.
01Brand
02Category
03Audience you need
04What counts as success
05Campaign timing
06Budget range
No list rental, no resale, no third-party sharing.
Partnerships — admin@theautowire.com
Recalls · Repair costs · Safety technology · Buying intelligence
Recalls · Repair costs · Safety technology · Buying intelligence