Tesla 3: Is The Hype Selling Cars?

A recent study of search traffic to automotive websites by Hitwise shows
that while Tesla has captured lots of public attention, other EV brands such
as the Hyundai Ioniq, Nissan Leaf and Chevy Bolt pull a higher share of
search traffic to their own websites, as well as comparison sites like
Edmunds, iMotors or Car and Driver, suggesting more potent signs of purchase
intent. 
 
If you want to create quotes from any of the report, please attribute to:
Rochelle Bailis, Global Director of Content,  Hitwise 
 
While the rest of the auto industry struggles, electric and hybrid vehicles
have taken off, with fully electric cars increasing sales by a whopping 134%
year-on-year. Nearly every auto maker is playing catch-up and producing its
own EV line, but currently Tesla dominates the market. They account for
approximately 4 out of 10 electric vehicle sales in the US and recently
eclipsed GM and Ford in market valuation, making Telsa the most valuable
American car company in the world.
 
What is the secret behind their momentum? It constitutes a unique blend of
innovation, branding, and PR strategy, spearheaded by their prominent CEO,
Elon Musk. Since it was publicly announced in 2016, the Model 3 has been
showered with publicity. This year, Tesla's roll-out of the first several
car models was expertly crafted to build coverage, interest and anticipation
over the entire month of July. As searches for Tesla soared, they appeared
to pull search share away from other EV players like the Hyundai Ioniq.

Searches for top electric vehicles pulled using Hitwise Intelligence from
6/3/2017 - 8/18/2017.
 
These peaks of interest in the Model 3 over the month of July were mirrored
on several auto industry websites, like Car and Driver. Below we break down
a play-by-play timeline of the Model 3 subpage rank on caranddriver.com over
the course of July.
 
Article Ranking
 <http://www.carandriver.com/tesla/model-3>
www.carandriver.com/tesla/model-3
 
First Model 3 Produced: Production announcement of first vehicle leads to
boost in traffic to the Model 3 product subpage on Car and Driver.
 
Handover Party: First 30 cars are given to their new owners during an
illustrious "Handover Party," and the subpage jumps back up to second place
in Car and Driver.
 
Next two weeks: Relatively quiet on the PR front. Model 3 page slowly falls
in rank and share.

Sub-domain traffic share for caranddriver.com pulled using Hitwise Article
Tracker, over 4 individual weeks ending 7/29/17.
 
All this hype is great, but does it translate to widespread purchase intent
for the Model 3? Perhaps not. During the week when the first Model 3
vehicles were released, searches for "tesla model 3" drove a lot of traffic
to technology publications like the Verge and Wired, and less relative share
to its own website compared to other electric vehicle brands.
 
Meanwhile, other EV brands pull a higher share of search traffic to their
own websites, as well as comparison sites like Edmunds, iMotors or Car and
Driver, suggesting more potent signs of purchase intent. Tesla has captured
public attention, but the burden still remains to convert enough interested
researchers to make up for the steep financial investment it's made in the
Model 3.

Downstream search clicks (website traffic) from search terms "tesla model 3"
"hyundai ioniq" "nissan leaf" and "chevy bolt" pulled over the week ending
7/29/17.
 
 
Bottom Line: Leverage the power of anticipation and plant seeds of desire in
future customers: 
 
Like Tesla, auto brands have the opportunity to stoke early desire amongst
future customers before they are ready to buy; use an overlap analysis to
identify segments that are unique to your brand, ideally those who are young
and aspirational. This can be a particularly powerful strategy for electric
vehicles, where it's crucial to fight for mindshare early.
 <http://www.hitwise.com/> Hitwise, a division of Connexity, is a leading
audience insights tool for hundreds of companies worldwide. Hitwise insights
are derived from an online behavioral panel of over 8 million individuals
tracked on over 20 million websites across 500 million monthly search
queries and from over 100 million in-market shoppers. Qualitative consumer
insights are added to the mix based on up to 60,000 attributes then made
addressable across 650 million devices. Hitwise provides marketers in all
industries with unparalleled insights paired with powerful programmatic
technology. As a result, marketers can identify their best audience segments
and then activate them, all in one place.
 
 
George H. Simpson
George H. Simpson Communications 
203.521.0352
george@georgesimpson.com <mailto:george@georgesimpson.com> 
www.georgesimpson.com <http://www.georgesimpson.com>