According to an offline study conducted by AC Nielsen on behalf of Google India, the top 10 most searched new car launches in 2011 were Hyundai Eon, Mahindra XUV 500, Honda Brio, Tata Manza, Maruti Kizashi, Toyota Liva, Hyundai Verna, Nissan Sunny, Skoda Rapid and Ford Fiesta respectively.

In terms of query volume growth, bigger and higher-end cars like SUVs emerged to be the fastest growing car segment with 83 per cent growth YoY, followed by premium cars (82 per cent), sedans (75 per cent), luxury cars (74 per cent) and finally hatchbacks (53 per cent).

The survey that was carried out at car showrooms in top 8 metros has revealed that one in two car buyers conducted research online before arriving at the dealership. The survey also revealed that of those who had researched their purchase online, over 50 per cent changed their choice of car brands after uncovering new information on the web.

Respondents reported that they used the web to research and compare prices, watch online videos and find images, do competitive analysis, find dealer contacts and read both expert and user reviews. Most car buyers also rated OEM’s or, in other words, the carmaker’s website as the most important and trustworthy source of information. Of the 50 per cent respondents who went online, 42 per cent said they used search engine as the first source of information, just behind the opinions of friends and relatives’ (47 per cent).

The survey also revealed that Auto is among the fastest growing vertical on Google, with query volume growth of over 70 per cent year on year. In addition, in 2011 mobile queries grew 125 per cent year on year; from smartphones, the query volumes were almost double at 242 per cent.

Buyers rated internet more important than TV or print media for auto-related content, thanks to fast, easy access to necessary information and rich media formats such as online video. Over 56 per cent car buyers also choose to watch videos online as part of their research, with over 48 per cent rating YouTube as the destination and a important source of information on the Internet.

On average, car buyers spend 9-12 weeks researching before arriving at their final decision, and of those who turned to the web for assistance, over 90 per cent of shoppers used a search engine to learn more about the cars they were interested in buying.

Rajan Anandan, VP and Managing Director of Google India, said “This offline study substantiates the growing number of auto-related searches we’ve seen on Google search in India. Auto is among the fastest growing vertical in terms of query volumes on Google. Most OEMs have not yet tapped the full potential of the digital medium and we hope this study will help them understand and engage the Indian consumer online.”