By Clare Saliba E-Commerce Times
04/25/01 11:18 AM PT
Jupiter MMXI found that the European audience for automotive
Web sites in March 2001 was more than 70 percent male, falling primarily
into the age bracket of 25- to 34-year-olds.
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While automotive Web sites continue to gain
traction among Internet users in
the United States, data released Wednesday by Jupiter MMXI
found that European consumers
are increasingly steering toward such sites to
research auto purchases, get directions and
secure car loans and insurance policies.
"The Internet is clearly an established source of information for car buyers
in Europe," said Jupiter MMXI analyst Staffan Engdegard. "This is very
important from an advertising perspective."
Jupiter MMXI said that the number of Europeans visiting auto-related sites more
than doubled between April 2000 and March 2001.
Similarly, the study concluded that
the reach of auto sites in Europe's largest Internet markets also doubled
during the same period.
Engdegard noted that the automotive industry is one of the biggest
advertisers in traditional media channels, such as television and print.
"This information shows that car manufacturers must target the
ever-increasing number of Europeans Internet users in order to influence their
online, and more important, offline car purchase decision," Engdegard said.
Road Maps
Among individual countries, Germany registered the greatest reach for auto
sites, growing from 6.8 percent last April to 15.3 percent in March 2001,
with 1.9 million unique visitors for the month.
The United Kingdom placed second, with
reach growing from 6.9 percent to 12.6 percent during the same period. More
than 1.7 million unique UK users visited auto sites last month.
In France, the reach of auto Web sites
jumped from 3.8 percent to 10.3 percent, with 809,000
unique users.
In all of these markets, Jupiter MMXI found that the audience for automotive
sites in March 2001 was more than 70 percent male, and fell primarily
into the age bracket of 25- to 34-year-olds.
Local Sites
Popular sites in the UK included Autotrader.co.uk, Theaa.co.uk, RAC.co.uk
and Jamjar.com.
In Germany, Norway, and Spain, car manufacturer Web sites
saw heavy traffic. The homepages of German car
manufacturers Volkswagen, GM subsidiary Opel, BMW and Mercedes-Benz were
among the most popular destinations.
Sticker Shock
U.S. Internet car sales have suffered from a massive gap
between e-shoppers who browse and those
who actually purchase online. A recent Gartner Group study, for example,
found that while 45 percent of U.S. households used the
Internet to research a car purchase, 3 percent bought over the Web.
However, a report released last week by CNW Marketing Research found that
while more than half of American car buyers compare car prices on the
Internet before entering the showroom, the prices displayed on the most
popular Web sites often run hundreds of dollars higher than the actual
sticker price.
In a survey of 10 Internet car-selling Web sites, the average vehicle price
listed was $630 above the manufacturer's suggested retail price, the study
said. By comparison, prices were overstated by an average of $444 last year.
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