C/D, R&T, MT magazines on thin ice with ad budgets sliced?

[Nissan Sport Editor]

With General Motors and Chrysler ad budgets drastically cut with bankruptcy and automotive ad budgets in general down over 25%, are the major car magazines--Car and Driver, Road & Track, and Motortrend--in danger? I hope not, but losing dozens of ad pages a year (heck, even an issue) can't be good for the bottom line. Especially when those ad rates can run $70,000 per page. At least at Nissan Sport we've got a bit more flexibility when it comes to budget and we don't rely on ads from manufacturers. Of course our most expensive ad runs $895 so we are in different leagues, but still....

To keep them around (and to stay informed on the latest car news), I renewed all of my subscriptions. But I did it online and not through their renewal form. Saved 50% over a standard mail-in renewal. (FYI, that drives me crazy; we don't do that--it's the same price online as it is on our renewal form.)