If there’s one thing car companies are sure to do, it’s brag about their awards and popularity. But what are people looking for when they search for cars? Yonkers Honda, a car dealership, decided to use Google Trends to find out.
The team looked at data from 2012 until early 2017, looking for what brand had the most search interest in each state. The results were surprising with many niche or luxury brands leading year in and year out.
In 2012, the brand that stands out the most is Smart with 6 states. However, Honda led the way with 10 states — a full 20%.
Moving to 2013, Smart had a significant drop off while Honda only dropped 2 states. Buick was popular as well with 6 states. Surprisingly, Maserati had 3 states.
2014 was another good year for Smart in terms of search interest. It was the top brand with 10 states. Tesla, a newcomer to the auto industry, ‘won’ its first state.
Overall, 2015 was a pretty balanced year when it came to searches. No one brand truly stood out among the rest. Tesla kept its 1 state, Nevada.
Smart dominated again in 2016 along with, surprisingly, Land Rover. Smart had 13 states while Land Rover had 6. This was a good year for Chevy as well with 7.
The beginnings of 2017 showed a different trend for much of the country. Alfa Romeo, not usually a very popular car in the United States, was leading in search interest in 5 states. However, they did spend big bucks on a Super Bowl commercial.
Google Trends is a great way to get a pulse on what a state or the country is searching for. While that doesn’t always correspond with what people are buying, it certainly shows what people are interested in.