We came across this interesting article on CarConnection today, referencing a study done by the Frontier Group that was surprizing to say the least. Younger folks driving less.. a lot less? Several possibilities for this are discussed including results from polls by concerned automakers. General consensus is that driving cuts into texting and social media time vs more lifestyle friendly public transportation. The Frontier Group study makes an interesting case with a focus on data for transportation policies. Download the Frontier Group study here
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Topics:
Logistics,
Mobile,
Marketing,
Safety,
Auto Manufacturers,
Automotive
NHSTA to Deploy Fleet of 2800 V2V-Ready Vehicles This Summer.
Most new vehicle technologies, including even safety features, are introduced as premium options on luxury vehicles. In the case of safety features these gradually become available to lower priced vehicle segments as it becomes more mainstream. However, the exception to this rule happens when regulations are put in place that require new technology be installed on new vehicles from a certain date forward. Based on the NHTSA’s interest in Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) technology and possible safety benefits it may become one of those exceptions before too long.
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Topics:
Automotive Data,
Safety
As we explained in our article "VIN-to-Trim/Style Matching Explained", VINs often are not encoded with enough information to determine a single vehicle style. This means that important details such as MSRP, MPG, and certain standard installed equipment may not known based on the VIN alone. If you're working with DMS data, there's a good chance that you have additional, valuable data at your disposal that you can use along with the VIN to decode down to a single vehicle style.
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Topics:
Automotive Data,
VIN
We found an interesting study this morning published by Google which describes consumer automotive shopping behavior in 2011. Some highlights below here as well as a link to Google direct for the full presentation.
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Topics:
Auto Portals,
Fuel Economy,
Automotive Data,
Vehicle,
Marketing,
Safety,
Vehicle Equipment,
Dealers
US and Canadian VINS are required to contain a certain level of information about the vehicle, including year, make, model, body style, engine, restraint system, and GVWR. However, a lot of important vehicle details are encoded in the VIN by some OEMs, and not by others. Working with VIN data can be tricky business when they're used in different ways by the 40+ US passenger vehicle makes. This article explains a few key concepts related to VIN decoding and something called style matching, that are critical to working with VIN data successfully.
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Topics:
VIN
Oftentimes we don't look for the spare tire in our vehicles until we are on the side of the road with a flat tire. Once in that situation you may be checking frantically for it. You check the trunk or rear cargo area, under the rear of the vehicle but it is nowhere to be found. It may be that you are one of many consumers that have purchased a vehicle without a spare tire. AAA has noticed the growing trend of vehicles without spare tires and reports the trend is likely to continue in a recent article online
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Topics:
Safety
In recent years, there have been fewer and fewer vehicles offered with a manual transmission. Automotive News recently stated in an article that only 5-7% of new vehicles sold in the US have a manual transmission. This has resulted in more VIN decodes being transmission specific, which is a nice benefit to those of us doing VIN decoding. However, the manual transmission will be missed by both me personally and by dealers everywhere.
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As technology, solutions and inventory processes continue to evolve, automotive marketing companies face some interesting challenges when it comes to vehicle marketing. With so many classified sites representing dealer inventory locally, regionally and nationally – it can be difficult to “rise above the rest”. This is also (maybe especially) a challenge with Franchised automotive dealer websites which represent an auto dealers inventory direct.
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Topics:
Auto Portals,
Automotive Data,
Marketing,
Auto Manufacturers,
Automotive
Developers will receive access to Manufacturer General Motor's OnStar API which is called ATOMS (advanced telematics operating system) sometime in the first half of 2012. OnStar president Linda Marshall described the consumer benefits in terms of functionality comparable to computers, smartphones and tablets as a response to the growth in the mobile applications market for Android and iOS platforms.
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Topics:
Automotive Data,
Auto Manufacturers,
Automotive,
Vehicle Equipment
We came across this fun video, and while it is entertaining it also serves to really make the point that the right car for a potential buyer is really based on that buyers needs. Although we think few consumers will struggle to decide whether they will purchase a Ford Fiesta vs a Lamborghini - it is clear that vehicle comparison is a critical piece of vehicle marketing.
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Topics:
Vehicle,
Marketing,
Automotive
