[ankurvirmani19]

Amazed to see non of the Best selling MSIL cars in Top search list. May be because of the awareness that people already have about Maruti Suzuki.
However, XUV500 is no doubt one of the most searched cars in recent times due to the news it created after its launch.

[MaxTorque]

Good compilation and analysis. By the way I am also not a fan of such surveys..

Have anyone noticed that Google-Nielsen have used wrong logo for XUV500. They have used Mahindra-Navistar's logo instead of Mahinda and Mahindra's logo. Seems the Google experts are not aware of this...

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by jeganatu

Can you tell us the statistical data retrieved from Google Analytics .com of number of hits and its demographics for Team Bhp website?

A quick overview of the stats (for just the forum section) :
Unique visitors: 1,400,000+ per month
Pageviews: 10,000,000+ per month
Browsers : Chrome (37%), Firefox (25%), IE (24%)

Originally Posted by MaxTorque

Have anyone noticed that Google-Nielsen have used wrong logo for XUV500. They have used Mahindra-Navistar's logo instead of Mahinda and Mahindra's logo. Seems the Google experts are not aware of this...

Nice catch. I guess you could blame Google Images for that one

cya
R

[Jeroen]

Interesting report.

It still means that 50% does not use the Internet. What I understand on how the survey was put together, (major town and I assume people with access to Internet), the real percentage is probably higher yet.

Still, undeniable, and the trend is probably the same just about anywhere in the world where people have access to Internet, it gets used more and more to make any "buying decision", including cars.

Would be interested to see how the other +50% does research/makes up their mind. I dont know but my guess it would be a wide variety of different ways. Varying from friends and family, magazines, TV adds, just don't care etc.

Marketeers nightmare, because they're difficult to target and therefor to reach. My wife for instance has a very definite choice of cars. I have never ever seen her research it, online or in any other way.

Along those lines, there is a lot of research on the difference in car buying critiria between men and women. At least in Europe/USA.

I don't know how that works in India though? Women look for different things then men in a car. Car manufacturers are taken note of that too these days.

Can't remember all the specifics, but one thing that appealed more to the ladies then the gents was BIG glove compartments and cubby holes. Like those handbags don't hold enought stuff yet!

Jeroen

[vin_b]

I came across an article from one of google blogs where they given insights into certain industry from user's search patterns. The recent one is on Auto Industry where Google can predict whether a model would be success or not

Source

Search trends reveal buyer behavior, especially in the auto industry. This may not be the most obvious correlation, but recent research shows us that what Indians search for often predicts what they’ll actually buy. That’s because search has become a central decision-making tool among car buyers in India.

The digital detour is influencing consumer car buying decisions

Online search has altered the way people buy their cars; consumers today can travel any number of paths in their auto buying journeys. Today, consumers are passing through multiple purchase phases at once as they turn to search in intent-rich micro-moments throughout the day. They look for any relevant information on things like car specifications, reviews, and model comparisons.

NINE out of TEN car buyers turn to Google Search at every stage of their purchase journey

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by vin_b

I came across an article from one of google blogs where they given insights into certain industry from user's search patterns.

Modern day analytics, helped by the developments in big data processing surely is capable of predicting the success of products and even predict the requirements for future products based on search trends. As we speak, Analytics engines are chewing through data from sources like twitter which would have seemed too insignificant few years ago.

BUT, 9/10 car buyers in India use Google Search for their decision making, that too at every stage of their purchase?

I'll not swallow that pill, Google. That's just your marketing speak. Many people, especially from rural areas still decide based on word of mouth marketing, and sheer company goodwill based on past experiences.

[recshenoy]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

I'll not swallow that pill, Google. That's just your marketing speak. Many people, especially from rural areas still decide based on word of mouth marketing, and sheer company goodwill based on past experiences.

Theoretically In India even if 90% of the people google before buying car, most probably it will be "cheapest car" , "most fuel efficient luxury car" , "fuel efficiency better than Maruti". Sorry google, your marketing gimmick won’t pass through team bhp filter

PS: Till now in India it was easy to guess winning model. It should be revolutionary/good interior (Santro/i20/Creta) or pseudo butch look ( kwid) or it has to be Maruti

[Amit_breakfree]

This is an interesting read and as the use of data analytics and data mining is increasing in various researches, predicting such things may be possible in few cases.

Google may be able to predict the success or failure of a car model in developed countries like U.S. and other countries in Europe but this will be very difficult in developing countries such as India and others. There can be a number of reasons for this:

1. People in India focus more on the company than the model and they look forward to resale value, cost of servicing and maintenance, among others. While in developed countries, cars are sold on their individual merit and the purpose they serve.
2. Also, purchasing a car in India is more of a big financial decision where the whole family participates unlike the developed countries where purchasing a car is like acquiring a depreciating asset.

Hence, the application of such a predictive analytics in developing countries will be difficult but at the same time it'll be interesting to see if Google can come up with a way to eliminate the random nature.

[jkrishnakj]

If Google has just said that 9 out of 10 buyers turn to "online" research at every stage of their purchase journey, that would have sounded more palatable, but they taking credit for auto purchases is a bit of a hard one to believe.

It will be interesting to see what else comes thru to dissect this. Having said this, i am a believer of big data, and analytics and predictive analytics that many organisations are building on, and those are very interesting topics indeed.

[GTO]

It's a load of bull. As an example, take a look at the most searched cars over this 1.5 year period:

Originally Posted by GTO

Most Searched Car Launches/Variants: From Jan 2010 to May 2011

1.Maruti Alto K10
2.Ford Figo
3.Hyundai i10
4.Maruti Kizashi
5.Chevrolet Beat
6.Nissan Micra
7.New Hyundai Verna -Fluidic
8.VW Polo
9.Toyota Etios
10.Maruti SX4 Diesel

3 of Google's top 10 flopped miserably. Even the SX4 diesel can hardly be considered a success.

Google can definitely tell you which car people are very 'interested' in knowing more about. However, there's a big gap between 'interest' and 'purchase decision'.

[avira_tk]

If my Google search history is sold to some advertiser (that's Google 's business model), I'm sure it'll look like I own atleast half a dozen exotics. I haven't considered buying real estate, a car out a household appliance in a long time, but I do search for them on Google, just to know the latest trend, an actual purchase is a different ball game.

Searches on Google may not be done by actual buyers, but by the ones to whom those buyers turn to for advice. Tech savvy doesn't equal rich by any measure.

[apachelongbow]

This is typically the hard-sell online business models do to raise vc funding. Classic case when internet usage was starting in India, was all retail stores will be replaced online, people will buy everything from tomatoes to aircraft via the internet. More than 15 years later, online businesses have barely made a dent in everyday purchase, especially buying touch and feel items (tomatoes and cars included). Typical buyers will browse online, even purchase few items online, however serious deals will be cracked easily sitting down in the classic brick and mortar store rather than on the web. I was in the market recently to buy all household electronics for my new house. After we browsed through dozens of online marts, we finally cracked the best deal on in a brick and mortar store who gave us exactly what we wanted with a sweet discount due bulk purchase.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by vin_b

...given insights into certain industry from user's search patterns. The recent one is on Auto Industry where Google can predict whether a model would be success or not

Check out this video. It's a similar thing for the Music Industry, and very interesting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcTP...dex=13&list=WL

[RavenAvi]

Source and full article - http://auto.economictimes.indiatimes...uyers/54876438

Excerpt:

Historically, buying a car in India has been a family decision where word-of-mouth played an important role. That’s changing. With so much information available online “the definition of friends and family is changing. Today, bloggers, comparison websites, online reviews play a critical role,” says Jnaneswar Sen, senior vice-president (sales & marketing), Honda Motor Cars India. Consequently, the digital world is significantly changing the way cars are bought. “Unlike in the US where buying a car is a commoditised and transactional decision, here it is a highly emotional one where look and feel is important,” says Vivek Srivatsa, head (marketing, passenger cars), Tata Motors.

N Raja, senior vice-president (sales & marketing), Toyota Kirloskar Motor, says their analysis suggests that a typical customer has 24 touch points of which 19 are digital. Understandably, automakers are rejigging their sales and marketing strategy to deal with this shift. When Toyota unveiled its Innova Crysta, the launch build-up began on digital before the offline campaigns. As a result, 50,000 people came to the showroom to check out the car when it was launched. “That’s the power of digital,” says Raja. It is also cost-efficient. Cost per enquiry in the digital media is one-fifth of traditional media. “Even if the conversion rate in digital is half that of traditional media, it makes a lot of economic sense,” he says.

Companies like Toyota are giving tablets to agents, equipping them with all the information. Sanghi’s sales staff, earlier trained once a year, now go through training modules every month. Importance of test drives too has risen. Sanghi says five years back test drives vis-a-vis footfalls were fewer. “Today customers just message for one and expect it at their doorstep,” he says. Sanghi’s inventory cost for test drive cars today works out to Rs 3 crore. In a month, even in a place like Alwar, he could be giving over 500 test drives. This is just the start.

[volkman10]

The survey, conducted by Nissan Motor India in collaboration with Kantar IMRB across 20 states, focussed on day-to-day driving habits of motorists in India, with questions ranging from overspeeding, phone usage, punctuality and trust reveals some astonishing trends :

North India tops the chart in rampant use of cellphones while driving

three out of every five respondents use their mobile phones while driving

60 percent of respondents admitted to overspeeding in Kerala, followed by 51 percent in Delhi, and 28 percent in Punjab.

Link