Navigating automotive websites can be a real pain. But Honda came out on top in J.D. Power and Associate’s recent study on the usefulness of automotive manufacturer websites.
The semiannual study measured 34 manufacturer websites for speed, appearance, navigation, information and content based on evaluations from more than 10,200 new-vehicle shoppers. When the study was fielded in November, participants said they would be in the market for a new vehicle within the next two years.
Honda scored highest with 836 points out of a possible 1,000. The study found that the site performed particularly well in the information, content and speed measures.
Also in the top five: Mazda, with 818 points; MINI, with 815 points; Porsche, with 814 points, and Acura, with 813 points. Cadillac was the most improved brand since the last study, climbing 15 spots to 18th overall. Porsche improved 14 positions since the previous study. Ford was the top-ranked U.S. manufacturer at 6th with 810 points.
Overall, the study found that users who accessed a website through a model page were significantly more satisfied than those who entered through a home page. The highest-ranked websites performed consistently regardless of the entry point.
“Certain brands that perform consistently well among users who enter at the home page and through model pages—such as MINI and Porsche—have navigation schemes that remain the same throughout the website,” said Arianne Walker, director of marketing and media research at J.D. Power and Associates. “This makes it possible for website users to access relevant information from anywhere on the site. This certainly reinforces the fact that automotive brand websites need to be intuitive and should reduce the number of clicks it takes for the user to get to their desired destination.”
Websites that performed the worst, such as Scion — which ranked last with 695 points — tended to have homepages with little model-level information and cumbersome navigation, said Walker.
I personally had some bad experiences last year when I was looking up some new car information on some of the big car makers websites. I did notice that Honda’s was much easier to use, even though the flash element took about 5 seconds to load. Congrats to them for a job well done. You can read the entire report here.