While the American auto industry is no doubt facing an uncertain future, the Big Three can look to NASCAR for some positive news. Not only are the top five drivers in the Sprint Cup Standings all driving American, but also NASCAR fans, long known for their brand loyalty, are staying patriotic when it comes to their vehicles.

According to data from Nielsen’s People Meter sample fused with the respondents of MRI’s Survey of the American Consumer, NASCAR race viewers in Q1′09 were more likely than the average consumer to drive American:

Drivers of Chevrolet, …

Nielsen announced today the nominees for its third annual Nielsen IAG Automotive Awards. The awards recognize auto advertisers whose ads were found to be the most effective by Nielsen IAG’s 2.5+ million viewer panel. This year, awards will be distributed in three categories: Green Ad of the Year, Sales Event Campaign of the Year, and Automotive Ad of the Year.
Winners will be announced by Lois Miller, President of  Nielsen IAG Automotive, at the New York Auto Show on Wednesday, April 8.
“The automotive industry faced a very challenging year in 2008,” …

Last week, Nielsen looked at the history of Daytona 500 viewership. And with the 2009 Daytona 500 in the rearview mirror, it’s clear that the some of those trends are still on track.
 
Greenville, SC and Greensboro, NC maintained their spots as the top DMAs for this year’s race, scoring 21.2 and 19.9 ratings, respectively. Dayton, OH surged to the #3 spot with an 18.0 rating.
 2009 DAYTONA 500: TOP-10 LOCAL DMA RATINGS

RANK
DMA
HH RATING
# OF HOUSEHOLDS (000s)

1
Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville
21.2
182

2
Greensboro
19.9
136

3
Dayton
18.0
87

4
Indianapolis
17.2
192

5
Knoxville
17.0
93

6
Charlotte
15.6
175

7
Orlando-Daytona Bch-Melbrn
15.4
226

8
Nashville
15.3
155

9
Tampa-St. Pete, Sarasota
15.3
278

10
Jacksonville
15.1
102

source: The Nielsen Company 2009

At its peak (5:48pm ET), the race scored a …

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.