DETROIT — Automakers largely sat on the advertising sidelines during this year’s Super Bowl in uncertainty The U.S. auto industry involves sales, tariffs, and regulations.

Automakers—historically major buyers of advertising during big games— Does not match the advertising content In the Super Bowl in recent years, only a handful of players have been awarded spots each year.

“The numbers are definitely going down,” said Sean Muller, chief executive of advertising data company iSpot. “The auto industry is tightening their belts and they’re probably going to cut their budgets and that’s certainly reflected in that. I think the Super Bowl is a good barometer of all that.”

According to statistics, in 2012, automakers accounted for 40% of Super Bowl advertising time, but by 2025, this proportion will drop all the way to 7% iSpot. Only three automakers are expected to air ads during this year’s competition, totaling about two minutes.

Longtime auto marketing executive Tim Mahoney said it’s a balancing act when it comes to Super Bowl ads. He said a company must have the right product, advertising campaign and, of course, capital to stand out and get a return on investment.

“The Super Bowl is just a huge platform, but it’s become so expensive,” Mahoney, who has worked at General Motors, Volkswagen, Subaru and Porsche, told CNBC. “Sometimes there are interesting ways to get around it… Adjacency can be clever.”

During Mahoney’s tenure, Subaru became a sponsor of the Animal Planet Puppy Bowl and General Motors Chevrolet Branded “black screen” TV screen Advertising for its in-car Wi-Fi before the 2015 Super Bowl.

Beyond Super Bowl, automakers increase sports advertising and Embrace more streaming According to iSpot, regional advertising covers the entire country.

“They are not cutting back on live sports,” Mueller said, citing data from iSpot that automakers currently account for about 60% of spending on live sports.

Auto industry executives interviewed by CNBC said they were deterred from advertising during this year’s Super Bowl because of the cost – A 30-second ad costs an average of $8 million – and think their advertising dollars are better spent elsewhere.

“We’re going to be really investing our efforts, money and creativity over a year or so,” said Stellantis chief marketing officer Olivier Francois. Known for past Super Bowl commercials. “There’s no need for a rush or anything in February.”

Strantis, located in Mid-term of the company’s turnaround planwhich will focus this year on America’s 250th anniversary as its main marketing push, along with more business-oriented spending and a provocative social media campaign targeting Jeep Featuring singing fish It launched this week.

Nissan cars, The company last ran an ad during the 2022 Super Bowl and is experimenting with parallel ads this year.

The Japanese automaker released a hilarious, energetic “Big Game” social media ad on Friday promoting the chip box for its Nissan Rogue SUV. The “Nissan Dip Seat” ads feature chef and “Bear” actor Matty Matheson promoting the fictional product. It also has a sweepstakes to win one of the cars.

“One of the key things for us is we want to find a way to be more social,” Allyson Witherspoon, Nissan U.S. chief marketing officer, told CNBC. “That’s part of our overall strategy this year.”

Witherspoon declined to discuss the cost of the ad, but confirmed it was less expensive than airing a traditional Super Bowl ad.

Others, such as honda carswill consider the Olympics as their main advertising expenditure. Honda sponsors the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams participating in this year’s Winter Olympics in Milan and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

“The Super Bowl is a huge moment. The Olympics have so many verticals that you can delve into and tell those stories,” said Ed Beadle, director of marketing at American Honda Motor Co.

The Winter Olympics opening ceremony takes place in Milan on Friday. This also kicked off a month Comcast NBCUniversal — which will broadcast the Olympics, Super Bowl and NBA All-Star Weekend — created “A legendary February.”

General Motors remains a wild card in this year’s game, as it’s the only automaker not to pre-release ads. The Detroit automaker is using the Super Bowl to launch its Cadillac F1 Team, Including showing off what its first livery car will look like to a national audience.

The automaker showed off a prototype of the car’s design in Detroit last month, including at the city’s auto show, but has yet to release any information about the ad.

Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL, is expected to air two 30-second spots focused on family relationships.

One scene, titled “Superhero Seat Belts,” shows a grandson and a grandfather swapping roles over the years and telling each other to buckle up. this other It tells the story of athletes such as NFL wide receiver Puka Nacua and their younger selves.

Volkswagen’s ad recreates the carmaker’s famous ’90s campaign targeting a new generation of customers as part of its “Great Invitation: Looking for a Driver” marketing campaign.

The new ad campaign includes a 30-second Super Bowl spot showing many of the automaker’s vehicles driving to House of Pain’s 1992 hit song “Jump around.”

—CNBC Lillian Rizzo contributed to this report.

Disclosure: CNBC parent company Versant carries NBC Sports-produced Olympic coverage on its networks, including USA Network and CNBC.