The automotive Internet has developed into a complex web of relationships, with companies supplying content, inventory, and leads to one another. In order to inform our readers, I mapped some of this dynamic as a flow chart (shown below). Please note that not every automotive Internet company and relationship is ... Read More »

Each fall J.D. Power and Associates hosts an Automotive Internet Roundtable that brings together industry experts and thought leaders to discuss how the Internet can be better leveraged to market and sell more cars. During the 2007 Roundtable event, lots of folks were asking why aren’t dealers social networking. Two ... Read More »

The J.D. Power and Associates Manufacturer Web Site Evaluation Study (MWES) has consistently shown that higher overall usefulness of an OEM Web site is closely related to an increased likelihood of shoppers to test drive a vehicle.  But can branding efforts on the Web site also drive traffic to dealerships?
To ... Read More »

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become a core part of the web strategy for almost every major company and automotive manufacturers are no exception.  I recently did a field test to see how well the U.S. brand sites for OEMs perform on Google and Bing.  Google is an obvious choice given its dominance of the ... Read More »

Internet users have always sought information transparency; in automotive, this pressure was first felt on pricing, but has since grown to also encompass inventory.  Two years ago, Mazda was the only manufacturer to provide online access to new vehicle inventory available at dealer lots.  Today, there are 16 ... Read More »

Several weeks ago I noted that the Firefox and Safari browsers continue to gain share at the expense of Internet Explorer.  Since then, we released the results of our 2009 wave 2 Manufacturer Website Evaluation Study (MWES), which measures the usefulness of OEM web sites for the purpose of new vehicle shopping.  I ... Read More »

Several months ago Autotrader announced the launch of its own ad network, aka Autotrader Access.  The new offering is powered by Adify, a vertical ad network provider, which like Autotrader is owned by Cox Enterprises.  The network spans 170 sites, including sites owned by Cox (e.g. AutoMart, local media Web ... Read More »

Or does it? As a mom of a two-year-old, I know this statement is true in many ways. But how does being a parent of young children (under the age of 12) change the preferences and media behavior of new-vehicle drivers? Let’s start by looking at the types of vehicles driven by 25-34 year-olds who have children 11 and ... Read More »

• Who: The government will spend $1 billon on the new Cash for Clunkers program ( Car Allowance Rebate System ), which will allow consumers to trade-in their older, inefficient “clunkers” for new, more fuel efficient vehicles. • What: Credits of either $3,500 or $4,500 will be given to new vehicle ... Read More »

Manufacturer web sites feature some of the highest quality imagery and most interactive content available online.  The navigation and content (and in some cases, the entire site) is often Flash-based, but OEMs rarely use the latest Flash versions.  The chart below shows the minimum Flash versions required on the ... Read More »