Online advertising remains strong, even as ad spending has decreased across other media, and MySpace has benefited from this trend with several large-scale campaigns from auto makers.  But in recent months, Facebook has surpassed MySpace in terms of monthly unique audience and stickiness: its monthly unique audience grew 177 percent in the last year compared to a 9 percent decrease for MySpace and time per person on Facebook went from 1 hour 8 minutes in March 2008 to 3 hours 16 minutes in March …

While buyers may be delaying new vehicle purchases, consumers still actively post tens of thousands of brand and vehicle related messages each month. In its latest Automotive Industry Overview, Nielsen Online found that consumers have enthusiastically responded online to the Hyundai Assurance program (which allows leasers to return a vehicle with no penalty if they lose their income). Since the plan debuted in January, 2009, more than 1,900 messages have been posted, helped by general curiosity, praise from the media, Super Bowl commercials and the Assurance Plus addition in February. …

Amid the backdrop of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Nielsen Online analysts Joe Colacurcio and Scott Hamm discuss online auto conversations and value of pre-buzz on auto blogs like Jalopnik.

By Julie Enzweiler, Nielsen Online
The automotive industry has witnessed an extremely volatile and game-changing 2008. With Ford, BMW, Honda, Toyota and Volkswagen leading the way, here is a look at the top 25 automotive brands that consumers discussed online in 2008 relative to all online discussion.