motoring 59
Web v showroom scales tip as online searches pick up
In excess of 10.7 million searches were made by UK consumers looking for cars online in August, reveals a report just published by leading independent digital marketing agency, Greenlight.
Greenlight’s ‘Automotive Sector Report’ found that on the car maker front, queries pertaining to Audi and BMW dominated searches. However, dealer- wise, searches for Vauxhall car dealers were most popular.
Greenlight’s findings come hot on the heels of research from GfK. It shows a growing number of UK consumers are comfortable to purchase cars directly via the web and predicts the sale of cars over the Internet will accelerate. Having strong online visibility and prominence in results
returned by search engines in response to keyword queries therefore, is critical to players when it comes to winning the ‘click’.
Greenlight’s report identified the most popular terms consumers used to browse for cars on Google UK in August and charted those car manufacturers and car dealerships whose websites were most visible to consumer queries.
The report found the terms ‘Audi’ and ‘BMW’ were each queried 450,000 times, cumulatively accounting for 8% of all automotive- related searches in August. ‘Mercedes’ then ‘Vauxhall’ followed with search volumes totaling 368,000 and 301,000, respectively.
Analysis of the search data
Engine idling costs £3.3b in wasted fuel per year
Fleetmatics Group plc, a leading global provider of fleet management solutions for commercial fleet vehicles, has revealed that reducing idling time on the 4.5 million commercial vehicles in the UK and Ireland could save businesses as much as £3.3 billion per year in fuel.
Data from the Group’s tracking of more than 331,000 subscriber vehicles reveals that vehicles operating without a fleet management solution will idle for 96 minutes per day, on average. By implementing a GPS fleet tracking solution, SME fleet owners can reduce vehicle idle time by 25% on average, or 24 minutes daily.
In 2011 it was estimated that only 860,000 or 24.9% of all commercial vehicles operating in the UK and Ireland had implemented a fleet management solution. Based on a penetration rate
of 24.9% of the 4.5 million commercial vehicles on the road today, we should already be realising a saving of 1.7 million litres of fuel per day or nearly £2.3 million daily. But, if all commercial vehicles operating in the UK and Ireland were to implement this technology, business could save a further 5 million litres of fuel or almost £7m – which totals daily savings of 6.7 million litres of fuel or £9.2m.
When translated annually these numbers could make an incredible impact on the UK and Ireland’s fuel dependency:
• Reduction in annual fuel consumption by 2,434,681,400 litres
• Saving more than £3.3b per year in fuel costs.
Details:
www.fleetmatics.co.uk
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – OCTOBER 2013
shows car dealerships made nowhere near a dent on manufacturers, with just 17,170 (0.16%) of all queries pertaining to them.
Of these, Vauxhall car dealers proved to be most sought out. Cumulatively, searches for them made up a 7% share of overall dealer-related queries.
With regards to digital developments and the relationship between car manufacturers and dealers, Melanie Atkinson, senior automotive analyst at Verdict Research, commented: “It’s a fine line between wanting to keep pace with digital developments but also being able to maintain the requirements of dealerships given that they are a prime selling point
for manufacturers direct to consumers. We’ve already seen a small number of manufacturers develop virtual showrooms, and we expect others to follow.”
“It’s fair to say that so far both car makers and the public haven’t been able to capitalise on the transactional benefits the internet has offered other sectors,” said Joe Vaughan, research manager at GfK Automotive. “But we’re now at a tipping point where the auto industry is revisiting the principle of leveraging the web as a sales channel. The signs look a lot more promising this time.”
Details:
www.greenlightdigital.com twitter.com/GreenlightMKTG
Toyota GT86 2.0 Boxer Manual from £259 + VAT per month*
Initial rental
Followed by 35 monthly rentals CO2
BIK Banding 2013/14 MPG (combined)
Jemca Group Business Centre Business Rose Kiln Lane, Reading RG2 0LJ
0844 234 4240 |
www.jemcacargroup.co.uk/business-users
*Offer available to business users only on models shown when ordered, registered and financed through Toyota Financial Services, Great Burgh, Burgh Heath, Epsom, Surrey, KT18 5UZ on a three year non-maintained Toyota Contract Hire agreement between 1 September 2013 and 31 December 2013 at participating dealers. Based on 10,000 miles per annum, excess mileage charges apply. Non-metallic. Other offers are available but cannot be used in conjunction with this offer. Indemnities may be required. Finance subject to status to over 18s only. Subject to availability. Toyota Dealers are independent of Toyota Financial Services.
GT86 2.0L Manual from £24,995 on the road. Pearlescent Paint £650 extra. Combined 36.2 (mpg) CO2 Emissions 181 g/km
www.businessmag.co.uk
£1,554 + VAT £259 + VAT 181g/km 28% 36.2
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