Top 5 Cars | Data Story

Top 5
Global Car Brands

»» five brands dominated the world of cars over the first nine months of 2016
»» on average, 570,000 people searched these brands per day
»» over 20 million cars of these brands were sold around the globe

Join us on our data-driven journey in the fascinating world of the automotive industry
»»»»»

With 5.52 million cars sold year-to-date September 2016, Toyota outperformed all other selected brands in sales.

On average, 270,586 people search "Toyota" around the world every day.

Sources: focus2move (sales data); Google Analytics (search data).

US #1 across all brands. Emerging world taking the stage.

The United States is the #1 market of interest origin to each of our selected brands. Canada, UK and Germany are also all up in the rankings. However, there is notable presence of emerging markets in the top 10 origin market for each brand. Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Turkey all claim their spot among those key locations for top car brands.

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Car brands adopt different marketing strategies and positioning across the world. In consequence, every region and every national market unveils a different picture.

On a closer look at the top 10 countries originating interest in the five brands studied by us, we find Toyota & Ford on top of the developed markets and Mexico. Hyundai ranks first in developing Brazil and Turkey.

»»» to appreciate the regional contrasts in the interest in these brands, we offer you our selection of key trends »»»

EUROPE

26.7% of the European search directed to our selected brands goes to Ford.
Toyota comes close, just 0.3% behind.

Kalinax Insights: Europe is the only region where Toyota does not come on top of this chart. Ford gets just about 2980 searches more in the Old World.

SCANDINAVIANS

Scandinavian countries rank high in the per capita interest charts for our selected brands.

Finland comes 2nd globally, Iceland 5th, Sweden is 9th and Denmark 12th. Trends vary from country to country and while Iceland is more intrigued by Nissan, Finland wants to know more about Ford.

UNITED KINGDOM

The UK is the third greatest origin of interest market in the world in absolute volume of search.

The British have a taste for Hyundai which enjoys an average of 386 daily searches per day. UK is Hyundai's 3rd origin of interest market in the world, per capita.

SPAIN

Spain comes 10th globally for absolute volumes of search for our 5 brands.

If they were to choose one of our 5 brands, the Spanish would go for Toyota with 30774 Spanish residents searching this brand daily.

Nissan

Scandinavia & Central America

Latvia, Canada and Slovakia also make Nissan's top 10 per capita interest markets.

Interest in Nissan per capita

Iceland
is not all about football and volcanos.
They also have a crush on cars, especially if these are branded Nissan.

The UK and Canada feature not only in the per capita top chart for Nissan, but also make notable presence when it comes to absolute volumes of search:

MORE details, an EMERGING MARKETS analysis and TOYOTA, FORD, VW, Hyundai world heat maps below.
Keep reading >>

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Emerging Markets

How do the five brands we study succeed in key emerging markets?

TURKEY

Hyundai

Turkey is the 7th largest market for the five selected brands in terms of absolute volumes of search.

The Turkish have a preference for Hyundai with 26 337 residents searching the brand on an average day. Turkey also makes the global top 10 for Toyota, Volkswagen and Ford. Nissan has failed to build a strong brand there.

POLAND

Toyota

Poland - this rising Eastern European market ranks 13th globally for absolute volume of search for the five brands in focus.

Toyota claims the top spot in Poland, followed by Ford. Poland also makes Hyundai's global top 10. Similarly to the trends in Turkey, Nissan does not enjoy huge popularity in Poland.

INDIA

Hyundai

India comes 15th globally for the five selected brands search overall.

Hyundai has adopted the most successful strategy in this market and has outperformed the other four brands in terms of brand value, with only Toyota being anywhere close.

Not seeing LATIN AMERICA? That's because we have an analysis for Mexico, Brazil and Argentina further down. Stay tuned!

Hyundai

You have the highest chance to meet a Hyundai fan in the following countries:

Canada, Austria & the UK

Interest in Hyundai per capita

Central Europe
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic & Switzerland all made Hyundai's Top 10 (per capita) locations.
Germany & Poland are among Hyundai's most successful markets too.

Below are Hyundai's top 5 locations per region (search volume):

Latin America

Kalinax Insights: LATAM is the only region where Nissan is close to coming first, standing just 1379 searches behind Toyota (on an average day).

BRAZIL

Hyundai | Toyota

Brazil is the 4th largest market globally for the five selected brands in terms of absolute volumes of search.

The Brazilian have a slight preference for Hyundai over Toyota and Nissan. Brazil is among the Top 10 locations for each of the brands we studied. In other words, they just love cars in Brazil.

MEXICO

Ford

Two positions down the global rankings from Brazil in 6th is Mexico.

It is Ford what most Mexicans search for. To be more concrete, 27 046 of them search this brand daily. Nissan comes second in front of Toyota. Just like Brazil, Mexico is in the top 10 locations for each of the five brands in focus.

ARGENTINA

Volkswagen

Just outside top 10, Argentina ranks 12th globally for absolute volume of search.

There is a clear winner in Argentina, and it is Volkswagen. 16 445 Argentines search this brand daily. Ford comes second best, while the Japanese brands do not trend.

Ford

Germans are more intrigued by Ford than by Volkswagen

They search "Ford" 45,329 times on an average day in Germany.

Ford search per capita

Australia
Boasts the highest concentration of residents interested in "Ford" globally,
Finland, Slovenia and Hungary also made the top 5, as evident from the map above.

Below are Ford's top 5 locations per region (search volume):

Asia Pacific

Do Asian brands do better in their home region?

AUSTRALIA

Ford

Australia is the 11th largest market globally for the five selected brands in terms of absolute volumes of search.

As already mentioned, the Australians have a strong preference for Ford. Toyota comes second, leaving the remaining three brands far behind. Even so, Australia still features as one of Nissan's top 10 locations globally.

SINGAPORE*

Toyota

Five positions down the global rankings from Australia, in 16th is Singapore.

Toyota attracts more interest in Singapore than the other brands we studied. Notably, Singapore boast the second highest concentration of Toyota fans globally, our per capita report suggests. The other four brand are rather unsuccessful here.

VIETNAM*

Toyota

Vietnam - only 17th globally, but still one of the key top 5 Asian locations.

Vietnam shows a clear preference for Toyota but it ranks high in search for all the brands we studied. 13.2% of the Latin-symbol search for "Toyota" in Asia Pacific can be tracked to this rather small country.

*Our research is limited only to the English language search, thus it does not paint the full picture for countries where non-Latin symbols may be used to search brand names.

Volkswagen

Slovakia, Lithuania and Canada

The only countries where a highest proportion of the population searches "Volkswagen" than in Argentina.

per capita Voklswagen search

U mean Folcsvagen?
We need to say that it is a bit strange the #1 selling brand does not top our search volume chart.
But then, when you think how naturally the Volkswagen correct spelling comes, it all starts to make sense.
*Our experts have included in their analysis various misspelled versions of the brand name, but this list is not exhaustive.

Below is Volkswagen's list of top 5 locations per region, when it comes to search volume:

North America

Africa

CANADA

Toyota

Second only to US, Canada is exploding of interest in cars. It is no wonder it comes first when we look at the per capita figures.

And it is Toyota what Canada needs to know more about. On average, the Japanese vehicles feature in the search of 63 689 Canadians daily. Canada doesn't stop there and features in the top 6 for all other brands studied.

UNITED STATES

Toyota

The greatest volume of search for the five brands we studied comes from the United States.

In numbers - 270 585 Americans type "Toyota" on an average day. This is 78% more than the second best in this ranking - Ford. Nissan and Hyundai are tie for the 3rd while Volkswagen remains last in the US.

SOUTH AFRICA

Ford

SA ranks only 14th globally in terms of search volume for the five brands, however tops its vibrant region.

Ford comes first in South Africa, leaving Toyota in second. The other three brands attract rather unimpressive volumes of interest in Africa's key market.