Julie Enzweiler, Automotive Research Director, Online Division

Despite the negative online buzz that the Obama administration’s “Cash for Clunkers” program received pre- and post-launch of the program, it appears to have been incentive enough to spur many consumers back into their local dealerships and to the Web to discuss and to research both the rebate and the automotive manufacturers themselves. In the two weeks following the launch, overall buzz for the government program increased 123 percent. However, in the last few weeks we have seen buzz levels begin to decline.

In economic terms, the auto industry was hit by the perfect storm: high gas prices, tight consumer financing, plant closings, brand reductions, dealership pruning, employee layoffs, longer vehicle retention, surplus inventory, manufacturer bankruptcies and waning consumer confidence. Despite a 37% decrease in total auto sales over 2008, bright spots persisted: the redesigned Forester revved up Subaru sales while price leaders Hyundai and Kia gained traction from new models. Online media has changed the rules of the road for auto marketing by placing consumer generated media squarely in the driver’s seat.

Toyota is tops when it comes to positive brand advocacy among major automotive brands, according to Nielsen Online’s new “Brand Advocacy Quotient” research. This quarterly measurement of consumer advocacy looks at online survey data and customer experiences shared through online buzz. Results, based on responses from more than 2,000 consumers, are indexed on a scale of -100 to 100.

Thanks to raves about its quality, size, style and dealer experience, Toyota achieved the highest rating of 69 followed by Honda (68), Lexus (68) and Acura (67).
Creating a positive brand image online …

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 …

Julie Enzweiler
In the past year, Nissan N.A. and Ford Motor Co. Web sites are showing signs of increased consumer interest as evidenced by comparing the unique visitors from January 2008 to January 2009. In terms of year-over-year growth in site visitors, Nissan N.A. saw an increase of 14% while Ford Motor Co. showed a 9% increase. Chrysler LLC experienced the steepest decline in site traffic at 26% followed by General Motors (-17%), Toyota Motor Sales (-11%) and Honda Motor Co. (-5%).

In January 2008, visitors to Chrysler LLC sites also visited …

Julie Enzweiler
On January 26, 2009 President Obama announced that emission standards could be decided at a state level. This decision has spurred on an extremely heated debate online among all communities.

Forty-two percent are positive towards President Obama’s decision, predominately driven by the Environmental communities, while 44% are negative.

Consumers provide in-depth reasoning behind their belief on reversing the Bush administration’s emissions ruling; however, there is a significant amount of confusion on the number of potential emission standards the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM’s) would need to adhere to. Most consumers …