New Zealand No. 1 in the Automotive Internet

Press Release
ProfNet
Institute for Internet-Marketing
Germany

8.01.2004

1. ProfNet Internet Automotive World Study 2004

New Zealand No. 1 in the Internet

Detroit/USA – Regarding the major car manufacturing countries the US car brand websites are top in the world. Regarding every country New Zealand take the first place. This are the results of the first automotive Internet study which analysed every website of every car brand in every country. The international research team of the ProfNet Institute of Internet-Marketing (Germany), Fachhochschule Dortmund (Germany), Southeast University of Missouri State University (USA), University of Canberra (Australia), International University of Japan (Japan), National University of Singapore (Singapore), East China University of Science and Technology (China), University of Oulu (Finland), Educatis University (Switzerland), University of Pécs (Hungary) and Università Ca' Foscari Venezia (Italy) analysed the 1.363 websites with 145 criteria.
The 24 automotive websites of New Zealand leads the study with an average of 59 points (of 100). Second place take the 43 US websites with 58,3 points. Third is Japan. The United Kingdom offers with 46 websites the most in the world.

Ranking Country Web-sites Layout Hand-ling Conten Interactivity Total
1 New Zealand 24 14,0 12,5 19,8 12,9 59,1
2 USA 43 14,9 11,5 21,2 10,7 58,3
3 Japan 32 13,1 10,0 20,1 12,8 56,0
4 Hungary 29 12,3 12,1 17,8 10,7 52,9
5 Germany 45 12,6 11,9 19,9 7,5 51,9
6 Canada 21 11,2 10,8 20,9 4,6 47,4
7 Italy 31 11,3 10,8 16,4 7,3 45,8
8 United Kingdom 46 11,1 11,2 16,3 6,3 44,9
9 Switzerland 38 11,0 10,9 17,4 5,3 44,6
10 Chile 13 13,0 10,2 15,5 5,3 44,1
13 Irland 22 11,6 11,2 15,0 6,3 44,1
15 South Africa 26 11,2 11,2 15,8 5,8 43,9
16 Australia 37 11,5 11,0 16,4 4,7 43,7
17 Russia 33 11,1 11,0 18,1 3,4 43,5
18 Taiwan 19 11,1 9,7 16,6 5,9 43,3
19 International sites 32 11,4 11,8 14,5 5,4 43,1
20 Puerto Rico 2 12,5 11,9 13,9 4,8 43,1

Tab. 1: Top 20 by Countries

With 63 points (max. 100) wins Holden the lead regarding every car brand. BMW offers with 63 websites the most websites of car brands around the world.

Ranking Brand Country Web-sites Layout Hand-ling Content Interactivity Total
1 Holden (GM) Australia 2 14 14 26 10 63
2 Maserati (Ferrari) Italy 5 14 11 19 9 53
3 Smart (DC) Germany 6 14 10 19 9 51
4 Mini (BMW) United Kingdom 30 13 11 17 8 49
5 BMW Germany 68 12 11 19 7 48
5 Cadillac (GM) USA 5 12 10 18 8 48
7 Audi (VW) Germany 49 12 11 17 6 46
7 PSA France 1 12 14 17 3 46
7 Bentley (VW) United Kingdom 1 12 10 19 5 46
10 Opel (GM) Germany 33 13 10 16 6 45
10 Chevrolet (GM) USA 15 13 10 15 6 45
12 Infiniti (Nissan) USA 3 12 10 15 7 44
12 Ford USA 51 13 9 17 6 44
12 Porsche Germany 24 12 10 16 6 44
15 Saab (GM) Sweden 40 11 10 15 6 43
16 Mercedes-Benz (DC) Germany 59 11 11 16 5 42
16 Lexus (Toyota) Japan 24 13 11 14 5 42
16 Lancia (Fiat) Japan 11 11 11 15 6 42
16 Dodge (Chrysler) USA 5 12 10 14 6 42
16 Toyota Japan 65 11 11 15 5 42
16 General Motors USA 25 10 10 15 6 42
16 Volkswagen Germany 44 11 11 14 6 42
16 Renault France 44 11 9 15 7 42
16 Peugeot (PSA) France 56 10 10 15 6 42

Tab. 2: Top 20 by Car Brands Worldwide

The brand websites of the car manufacturers in the USA are the best of the major car manufacturing countries like Japan, Germany or France. The US websites are leading in the area of interactivity like communication to the customer. With integration of the dealership they sale cars direct with the Internet. This sales networking is missing in other countries. In this area the US websites are the world benchmark.

If you need more results on detail please contact our team:
- Australia: Petra Bouvain, petra.bouvain@canberra.edu.au
- China: Regina Huang, reginah@sina.com
- Finland: Heikki Karjaluoto, heikki.karjaluoto@oulu.fi
- Germany: Uwe Kamenz, kamenz@profnet.de
- Hungary: Gábor Rekettye, azabu@axelero.hu
- Italy: Tiziano Vescovi, vescovi@unive.it
- Japan: Phil Sidel, psidel@iuj.ac.jp
- Singapore: May Lwin, maylwin@nus.edu.sg
- Switzerland: Konstantin Theile, theile@educatis.com
- USA: John Cherry, jcherry@semovm.semo.edu

ENDS

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