There’s no shortage of studies published week in week out on various aspects of the automotive industry. And while for people like us they’re never uninteresting, they can start to be a bit redundant.
But once in a while you see a new twist. A UK-based insurance company, for example, has just published the results of a new study it carried out, and the concept is fascinating. So are the results.
The study by Veygo looks at which automotive brands are most often used as search terms on Google, in every country.
Across the planet, Toyota is the most common automotive brands entered in searches on the ubiquitous search engine. But in a number of countries, there are some surprising results. And what’s most incredible is that a country’s domestic brand is rarely the one that comes out on top. The most striking example of this is the United States, one of the 57 countries studied in which Toyota is most googled brand.
In Italy, it’s Volkswagen. And in England, the most searched brand is… Mercedes-Benz. And what are online searchers in South Korea and Japan most curious about? Not Honda or Toyota or Hyundai or Kia, but… BMW. In China, in case you were wondering, the most commonly searched automotive brand Is Tesla.
Over in Russia, meanwhile, consumers there seem mighty interested in Hyundais, of all brands!
In some countries, domestic brands do come out on top; in France, Germany and Sweden, the most googled brands are Renault, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo, respectively.
Globally, after Toyota, the most-searched brands after Toyota are BMW, most popular in 25 countries, and Mercedes-Benz, most googled in 23 countries.
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And what about American brands, you might be asking? Well, Chevrolet is the most googled automotive brand in Mexico, as well as in four South American countries (Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay). As for Ford, they are the most searched car brand in three very disparate countries: Hungary, Aruba and Gibraltar.
Those are slim pickings, but these brands can console themselves that they’re not Dodge, which is the most popular brand on Google in… 0 countries.
As for Chrysler? One country does seem to contain people more curious about that brand than any other, and that would be Burkina Faso. You couldn't make this up!
The 10 most googled brands overall, globally (searches per month):
Toyota - 7.8 million
Honda - 7 million
Ford - 6.4 million
Hyundai - 6.3 million
BMW - 6.2 million
Volkswagen - 5.8 million
Mercedes-Benz - 5.1 million
Nissan - 4.9 million
Audi - 4.8 million
Renault - 4.8 million