{"id":1468,"date":"2009-07-17T07:31:47","date_gmt":"2009-07-17T11:31:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/idblog\/?p=1468"},"modified":"2009-07-20T13:11:00","modified_gmt":"2009-07-20T17:11:00","slug":"big3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/idblog\/2009\/07\/17\/big3\/","title":{"rendered":"Big 3 on the Information Superhighway"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the resignation of Obama Car Czar Steven Rattner<\/a>, the Big 3 \u2013Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler\u2013 are reeling, and attention has again focused on automotive management of Federal bailout money.\u00a0 E.M. Forster’s Internet “screens with a view<\/a>,” could provide insights on strategic, regional brand and inventory decisions.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Regional<\/a>

Regional Google Search Query Interest in Hybrid Cars.<\/p><\/div>\n

Within the Big 3, brand management and differentiation remains challenging.\u00a0 However, Google Insights for Search indicates relative strengths, direction and amplitude of trending, and geographic hotbeds.\u00a0 At Ford Motor Company, Lincoln has more than double the search volume as Mercury, and three times that of Volvo.\u00a0 But while Mercury has interest in Kansas, Oregon, and California, Volvo is predominately popular in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.\u00a0 In fact, seven of the top ten \u201cVolvo\u201d query states are in New England.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Regional<\/a>

Regional Google Search Query Interest in Pickup Trucks.<\/p><\/div>\n

Comparing common models such as Sedan, SUV, Hatchback, Hybrid, and Pickup, managers would discover relative consumer preferences, and see that online interest \u2013arguably a leading indicator of consumer engagement\u2013 is highly regional.\u00a0 Over the past 90-days, American Google search volume on \u201cHybrid\u201d cars is 265 percent greater than \u201cSedan,\u201d and 900 percent greater than search on \u201cHatchback\u201d vehicles.\u00a0 But automotive managers would also realize that consumers in the Northeast are are increasingly interested in Hybrid vehicles, while Hatchbacks have strong popularity in Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest.\u00a0 Despite rising oil prices, online queries about Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV) remain highly popular across the Southern United States, from Texas to Florida.<\/p>\n

\"Regional<\/a>

Regional Google Search Query Interest in Hatchback Cars.<\/p><\/div>\n

With SUV online popularity strong in Southern states, Ford executives might compare search volumes across their line of relevant vehicles, namely the Expedition, Explorer, Escape, and Edge.\u00a0 While the Ford Expedition and Edge have comparable interest, there is 60 percent greater search volume on the Escape, and 140 percent on Ford Explorer.\u00a0 However, the Ford Expedition\u2019s limited Internet traffic comes from the region with the strongest ties to Sport Utility Vehicles.\u00a0 Despite the Explorer\u2019s popularity in Alaska, the Escape\u2019s popularity in Michigan, and the Edge\u2019s popularity in Iowa, the Expedition\u2019s most interested consumers hail from Louisiana, Texas, and Florida.\u00a0 By understanding regional interests in vehicle type, Ford could better target appropriate vehicles regionally.<\/p>\n

\"Regional<\/a>

Regional Google Search Query Interest in SUVs.<\/p><\/div>\n

As Steven Rattner makes a return to Cerberus<\/a> Capital \u2013on the shores of the Hudson, if not the River Styx<\/a>\u2013 his replacement would be apt to consult Internet search as a leading indicator of consumer behavior. The Big 3 may yet become reliant on Gore’s Information Superhighway as much as they have on Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the resignation of Obama Car Czar Steven Rattner, the Big 3 \u2013Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler\u2013 are reeling, and attention has again focused on automotive management of Federal bailout money.\u00a0 E.M. Forster’s Internet “screens with a view,” could provide insights on strategic, regional brand and inventory decisions. Within the Big 3, brand management and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2121,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[678,2143],"tags":[6587,6588,2019,6590],"class_list":["post-1468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ideas","category-tech-tools","tag-big-3","tag-car-czar","tag-obama","tag-steven-rattner"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/idblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/idblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/idblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/idblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/idblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1468"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/idblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1481,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/idblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1468\/revisions\/1481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/idblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/idblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/idblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}