With the NFL regular season officially underway, automakers wasted no time seizing the opportunity to connect with large, engaged audiences. According to iSpot’s national TV ad impressions for Sept. 1-7, four of the five most-seen non-luxury auto ads heavily prioritized NFL games. Kia stood out as the exception, leaning instead on college football and broader entertainment content to reach viewers.
Honda takes first place with a spot for the 2026 CR-V TrailSport Hybrid. Nearly 78% of its total 115.7 million national TV ad impressions came from NFL games. College football was a distant second for reach (11.5%), followed by The Weather Channel's America’s Morning Headquarters (1.28%). According to iSpot’s Creative Assessment, 27% of surveyed viewers considered the visual scenes to be the “single best thing” about the ad.
Jeep’s No.2 ad gives a nod to influencer culture, complete with on-screen emojis and a declaration that the brand is “America’s original influencer.” Although the spot only aired on Saturday and Sunday, it racked up 103.3 million national TV ad impressions, thanks to its laser focus on football. NFL games generated 59% of total impressions, while another 24.5% came from college football.
In Kia’s third-place commercial, a young couple — sporting myriad matching t-shirts — embarks on various road trips in their 2026 Sportage Turbo Hybrid. The ad performed well from a creative standpoint, ranking in the 97th percentile for attention, likability and watchability. Reach came from a mix of programming: College football games generated 8.1% of its total 88.2 million national TV ad impressions, followed by HGTV's House Hunters (6.2%) and ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (3.8%).
At No.4: A Hyundai spot featuring Parker Posey demonstrating what makes the 2026 Palisade Hybrid extraordinary. Of its total 79 million national TV ad impressions, 71.2% came from NFL games and 10.3% from college football games. On the network side of things, over 71% of total impressions came from airings on NBC.
A promotion for Chevrolet’s Truck Month rounds out the ranking with 74.7 million national TV ad impressions. Just two airings during the NFL’s Ravens vs. Bills match-up on NBC generated 77.8% of total impressions. Additional reach came from MLB games (14.2%) and CBS Saturday Morning (3.5%). The spot inspired notable positive purchase intent, with 55% of survey respondents saying they were “more” or “much more” likely to purchase after viewing the ad.
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1. Honda: Paved by Determination
Impressions: 115,734,091
Interruption Rate: 1.66%
Attention Index: 126
Est. National TV Ad Spend: $4,287,240
2. Jeep: America’s Original Influencer
Impressions: 103,251,221
Interruption Rate: 2.00%
Attention Index: 110
Est. National TV Ad Spend: $2,859,363
Impressions: 88,212,148
Interruption Rate: 3.36%
Attention Index: 108
Est. National TV Ad Spend: $855,850
Impressions: 78,962,627
Interruption Rate: 3.78%
Attention Index: 91
Est. National TV Ad Spend: $2,670,462
5. Chevrolet: Dependability Comes Standard
Impressions: 74,692,544
Interruption Rate: 3.23%
Attention Index: 106
Est. National TV Ad Spend: $1,746,566
Data provided by iSpot, The New Standard for TV Ad Measurement.
Chart positions and other data may be updated in iSpot’s database as additional airings information becomes available.
TV Impressions - Total TV ad impressions delivered for the brand or spot.
Interruption Rate - The percentage of devices that were present at the beginning of the ad but did not complete watching the ad. Actions that interrupt ad play include changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV. The Interruption Rate is measured on a scale of 0 to 100%.
Attention Index - A comparison of the ad’s interruption rate against its specific media placement. The Attention Index is measured on a scale of 0 to 200, where 100 is the average and means the ad is performing as expected.
Est. National TV Spend - Amount spent on TV airings for the brand’s spots.
