Tunnel Index

A curious measure of the health of the auto-industry, based upon advertising shoots in the 2nd Street Tunnel, Los Angeles.

“Economists have lots of ways to measure the woes of the auto industry,” Dan Neil wrote in The Los Angeles Times:

There’s the decline in the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate, the increased days of inventory and the bailout billions. To these I would add one more: the Tunnel Index.

Noting that the “2nd Street Tunnel in Los Angeles is probably the most recognizable city landmark most Americans have never heard of,” Neil elaborated on his theory:

Since 2006, 73 commercials for brands from Alfa Romeo to Volvo have been filmed in the tunnel, where the structure’s white-glazed tile pours a strangely liquid and idealizing light over the cars. The effect can make even the most dog-ugly cars on the planet — Pontiac Aztek, you’re wanted on the set! — look desirable. …

But the light has gone out of the tunnel of late. According to FilmL.A., the nonprofit organization that coordinates on-location shooting in the city, no permits have been issued in 2009 for car commercials. Although commercial production in the city is flagging anyway — down 34% in the first quarter — the 100% drop in tunnel permits suggests “very tough times in the car business,” FilmL.A. spokesman Todd Lindgren said.