Automotive

2005-03 UPDATE - Market Snapshots of the WEB

March 2005. Pontiac has identified camera phone users as a target demographic, and to promote its G6 line of cars is running a cross-channel (online and offline) campaign tailored to exploit this.
-source: General Motors Corporation

February 2005. Online automotive advertising increased by 50 percent in 2004, to $1.2 billion. Online campaigns are likely to continue stealing ad share from newspapers and broadcast TV over the next several years as the automotive industry follows a massive audience shift toward the Internet.
-source: Borrell Associates - Executive Summary

January 2005. NYTimes.com has enhanced its Automotive section with larger rich media ads and more specific targeting available to advertisers. The redesigned section is simplified for users also, with increased search capabilities including zipcode.
-source: NYTimes.com

January 2005. Dealerships using third-party advertising providers to drive traffic to their sites are receiving, and begining to demand, increasingly sophisticated analysis about user patterns and customer profiles, and are learning to improve their own sites, shifting towards actual sales through the Web, and tightening cross-channel integration between promotions in different media.
-source: Cars.com - press release

2005-01 UPDATE - Market Snapshots of the WEB

January 2005. While continuing to list used-auto classifieds for individuals, Yahoo will replace its dealer-supplied classifieds exclusively with AutoTrader.com's 2.5 million listings. AutoTrader.com gets 8 million unique visitors per month, performing 60 million searches. The average user views 15 vehicles before buying.
-source: AutoTrader.com

January 2005. Edmunds.com has introduced a Spanish-language version of its online 2005 buying guide, and is developing Spanish ads with its advertisers.
-source: Edmunds.com, Inc.

January 2005. Volvo launched a new web site as part of its usual integrated campaign (which includes a Super Bowl ad this year) to promote its new SUV. The online portion of the campaign will equal about 15 percent of the overall spend.
-source: Volvo Cars of North America

January 2005. Volkswagen is teaming with NBC Universal to raise brand awareness through multiple channels, including product placements in movies, and TV ads. The program integrates an online component, and details of this part will become available around May 2005.
-source: Volkswagen of America, Inc.

2004-09 UPDATE - Market Snapshots of the WEB

August 2004. Mercury will at least triple the Internet allocation of its marketing communications budget, from previous allotments of 3-6 percent, up to about 16 percent over the next four years, to assist in the launches of six new cars.
-source: Ford Motor Company

September 2004. Manufacturer's websites are beginning to show gains in popularity over independent automobile sites with prospective buyers seeking information - up to 40 percent from last year's 36 percent. Consumer satisfaction with independent sites is dropping, while manufacturer sites are gaining. The Internet impacted the choice of dealer for 22 percent of buyers, up from 14 percent in 2002.
-source: J.D. Power and Associates

COMMENT 2004-09. And Chrysler Group will soon roll out its reworked websites for selected brands. Among other services, the new national sites will schedule testdrives for prospective buyers with their local dealers. We will report how the new sites are doing.

2004-03 UPDATE - Market Snapshots of the WEB

March 2004. Chrysler Group intends to rebuild its websites for some brands in order to store customized data for individual customers, connecting the Jeep, Dodge, and Chrysler brand websites seamlessly to their respective dealer sites, displaying product information, inventory availability, and delivery. The aim is to create a smooth online transition from research to quote to delivery. Chrysler Group hopes to build deeper and more productive relationships with its customers, making it easier to leverage the Internet and dealers most effectively.
-source: Chrysler Group, Organic Inc.

COMMENT 2004-03. This is an industry first, and attempts to capture the user who almost always researches on the Web now before buying, but is currently uncommitted when entering the dealership.

2003-11 UPDATE - Market Snapshots of the WEB

October 2003. Auto dealers are now spending $2 on Internet advertising for every $3 spent on local TV. To win more of this budget, website venues need to improve their promotion of dealer inventory, accept private-party car ads online, and generate measurable leads for dealers. There is considerable opportunity to build and promote websites for independent dealers.
-source: Borrell Associates

October 2003. Of US consumers listing their biggest influences for buying a certain vehicle, 71 percent cited word of mouth, 48 percent said a direct mail offer from a dealer, 26 percent claimed ads on Internet search engines, with only 17 percent swayed by TV ads.
-source: Cap Gemini Ernst & Young

October 2003. One in five of all US surfers visits an automotive website in a typical week.
-source: The Media Audit

2003-03 UPDATE - Market Snapshots of the WEB

March 2003. 82% of auto consumers now research on the Web first.
-source: J.D. Power

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