THE BRAND WE GOOGLE MOST IS...
WHAT do you reckon is the most Googled car brand in Ireland? BMW? Mercedes? Audi?
No, we’re a lot more practical than that. When we go online to research our next purchases, the brand we go to most frequently is Hyundai, home of the bestselling Tucson SUV.
If we’re practical, other countries are better at fantasy. In Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Venezuela (where a loaf of bread now costs probably around a million dollars thanks to hyperinflation), the brand they seek out most is Lamborghini, which is an aspirational purchase everywhere.
In China, Norway and the Netherlands, it’s the electric Tesla, hardly surprising in the case of the European pair, given Norway’s move away from its dependence on oil, and the environmental concerns of the Dutch about rising sea levels. On the Hyundai front, we’re in good company with Russia, Chile, Peru, Panama, Paraguay, the Czech Republic and a few others.
The research comes from Veygo, the magazine from the UK’s Admiral insurance brand, and shows that, on a global scale,
Toyota is in first place as the most searched brand in 57 countries (7.8million searches every month), including the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, and most of Africa. In Europe, it comes top only in Finland, Iceland, Poland and Malta. In terms of the actual number of searches, Honda is in second place at 7million, followed by Ford with 6.4million
Only five nationalities searched most for native brands – the French (naturally!) were most likely to search for Renault, the Germans (also naturally) for Mercedes-Benz, Indians for Maruti Suzuki, Malaysians for Perodua, and Swedes for Volvo, though I think we can add the Mexicans, who searched most for Chevrolet, the General Motors brand that has devolved much of its car-building to that country.