Google India car buyers’ study: 50% of cars buyers research online before final purchase

June 5, 2012: With over 120 million Internet users in India, the Internet is playing a major role in influencing car-buying decisions. An offline study conducted by Nielsen on behalf of Google India at car showrooms of leading carmakers in top eight metros (NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Kochi) has revealed that one in two car buyers had conducted research online before arriving at the dealership. The survey also revealed that of those who had researched their purchase online, over 50 percent changed their choice of car brands after uncovering new information on the web.

The study sheds light on how the Internet influences the purchase decisions. 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 OEMs’ website as the most important and trustworthy source of information. Of the 50 percent respondents who went online, 42 percent said they used the search engine as the first source of information, just behind the opinions of friends and relatives’ (47%).

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 percent of shoppers used a search engine to learn more about the cars they were interested in buying.

The automotive segment is among the fastest growing verticals on Google, with query volume growth of over 70 percent year on year. In terms of query volume growth SUVs was the fastest growing car segment growing at (83% YOY), followed by premium cars (82%), saloons (75%), luxury cars (74%) and hatchback cars (53% YOY).

Speaking about the study’s findings, Rajan Anandan, VP and MD of Google India (pictured), 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 to understand and engage the Indian consumer online.” The research was conducted between January and February 2012 outside showrooms of leading OEMs: Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Ford India, Chevrolet, Hyundai, Honda and Volkswagen. A total of 234 dealerships across eight cities were covered and the total sample size was 2,791 respondents. Of this 93 percent were males, with 75 percent of the respondents in the 25-44 age group. More than 75 percent of them belong to SEC - A.

Top 10 most searched new car launches in 2011:

• Hyundai Eon

• Mahindra XUV500

• Honda Brio

• Tata Manza

• Maruti Kizashi

• Toyota Liva

• Hyundai Verna

• Nissan Sunny

• Skoda Rapid

• Ford Fiesta