HUMMER Website Scores High Again

[BlueHUMMERH2]

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...4510389&EDATE=

Kia 868
HUMMER 865
Mazda 864
Honda 859
Toyota 853
Jeep 852
Acura 850
BMW 850
Suzuki 848
Land Rover 846
Chevrolet 843
Dodge 841
Saab 840
Hyundai 839
Lexus 836
Chrysler 835
Nissan 835
Mercury 834
Industry Average 834
Porsche 833
Cadillac 832
Pontiac 832
Saturn 832
GMC 831
Lincoln 830
Volvo 830
Subaru 827
Jaguar 826
Scion 825
Mercedes-Benz 824
Volkswagen 824
Buick 822
Ford 818
Infiniti 810
MINI 805
Mitsubishi 805
Audi 768


Overall Manufacturer Web Site Usability Declines for the First Time Since
2004

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Jan. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Kia.com is the most
useful manufacturer Web site for new-vehicle shopping, according to the
J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Manufacturer Web Site Evaluation Study(SM)
(MWES) -- Wave 1 released today.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/...7/LAF028LOGO-a)
The semi-annual study measures the usefulness of manufacturer Web sites
during the new-vehicle shopping process. New-vehicle shoppers evaluate Web
sites in four key areas: appearance, speed, navigation, and
information/content.
Kia ranks highest with an index score of 868 on a 1,000-point scale --
a four-point improvement from the previous study, which was released in
June 2006.
"Providing a satisfying experience to all site shoppers, no matter what
information they desire, is one of the most challenging site design tasks
for manufacturers," said Steve Witten, executive director of
marketing/media research at J.D. Power and Associates. "Kia has
accomplished this task and scores significantly higher than the industry
average in all four areas measured in MWES. Kia provides straightforward
navigation, light page weights for quick site speed and combines text and
images throughout the site to clearly demonstrate its models' capabilities
and functionality."
HUMMER, which ranked highest in the previous study, Mazda, Honda and
Toyota, respectively, follow Kia in the rankings. Both HUMMER and Kia have
ranked among the top 10 manufacturer Web sites five consecutive times.
"While HUMMER's site design is completely different from Kia's, using
rich videos to demonstrate capabilities, vibrant images throughout the site
and a detailed 'Build a Vehicle' tool, both manufacturers have created
sites that consistently satisfy their specific shoppers," said Witten.
Across all manufacturer Web sites, the industry average of 834 is down
four points from the previous wave of the study, ending a positive
increasing trend in industry usability since 2004. The negative impact of
incorporating advanced technology to the detriment of site speed has
affected the industry average. Seven of the nine manufacturer Web sites
that were redesigned since the prior wave of the study fell significantly
in the MWES speed measure, which identifies shopper perceptions of a site's
speed. These seven sites also have incorporated more Flash technology on
their home pages or throughout their sites than in the previous wave.
"Clearly, some manufacturer Web sites appear to have gotten ahead of
their shoppers' capabilities, forcing technology onto shoppers who just
aren't ready for it yet," said Witten. "Knowing your shoppers and their
technological capabilities and expectations should be one of the first
steps in site design. The incorporation of Flash and videos into a site can
negatively impact a shopper's experience if the site gets ahead of their
capability curve or improperly implements the technology."
The study continues to demonstrate that the more useful a manufacturer
Web site is, the more traffic it is likely to drive to dealerships.
Offering satisfying online shopping experiences to more shoppers has made
manufacturer Web sites a key destination for shoppers researching new
vehicles.
"Looking forward, some manufacturers will have to take a more
conservative approach to their site design, allowing manufacturers with
technologically advanced shoppers to be more aggressive in testing new
design tactics until they become mainstream," said Witten. "After all, the
objective of a manufacturer Web site is to drive shoppers to the dealership
and sell more vehicles, not necessarily to have the most cutting-edge Web
site in the industry."
The 2007 Manufacturer Web Site Evaluation Study -- Wave 1 is based on
evaluations by 11,280 new-vehicle shoppers who indicated they would be in
the market for a new vehicle within the next 24 months.

[3Hummer]

I remeber when i was first looking when i was getting my car i did find the Hummer website very good it was easy to use and navagite and gave me everything in a clear way unlike some other car websites. In example some of my friends are getting new cars and when we try to go online to build their car on the website it takes us like a year to find the build your vehicle page.

[NEOCON1]

[Wu Jen]

Originally Posted by NEOCON1

X2

[wpage]

Kia site by 3 points over Hummer. Too bad thier vehicles a joke!

Good automotive products are more important than good websites.

[wpage]

Originally Posted by Steve - SanJose

Good automotive products are more important than good websites.

True

2nd that.