PARIS MOTOR SHOW 2012 MEDIA ANALYSIS – SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
· In a shift from the Geneva show, Peugeot overtook Volkswagen to take the top spot as the most mentioned manufacturer for online news, social media and both forms of online content combined. Peugeot took full advantage of Paris being a ‘home’ motor show and duly generated significant online discussion centred around its Le Mans-inspired Onyx Concept, the new 208 GTI/XY Concept and its lurid yellow 2008 Concept.
Nonetheless, the arrival of a new VW Golf is always big news and the unveiling of the MkVII and GTI Concept served to make Golf the single most talked-about vehicle at the show across all online sources.
· Paris marked the first time McLaren Automotive had exhibited its products at a major motor show and the P1 Concept appeared to be worth the wait. The P1, which carries over design cues from the legendary F1, achieved second place overall, edging its compatriot, the Jaguar F-TYPE (unveiled just across the hall), into third position, among show vehicles. Peugeot rounded out the top five with the Onyx and 208.
· Sports cars or sports variants occupied six of the top ten places in the vehicle ranking. Meanwhile, half of the top ten offered hybrid or alternative power. What resulted was an intriguing overlap between performance-focused hybrids such as McLaren’s P1 (ranked 2nd overall) and Peugeot’s Onyx Concept (4th), which battled for outright honours against the more environmentally-focused Lexus LF-CC Concept (7th), Nissan TeRRA Concept (9th) and BMW ActiveTourer Concept (10th).
· There is almost no such thing as a conventional car these days, however VW (Golf), Peugeot (208), Audi (A3) and Renault (Clio) flew the flag for small and family cars, and with the latest iterations of GTI and RS variants breaking cover, these too offered a dash of spice. There are few resurrections likely to stir the average car enthusiast or journalist into commenting like the return of the fabled GTI name to a Peugeot hatchback, and although previous efforts from Peugeot have paled somewhat against the seminal 205 GTI, Peugeot’s confidence in its communication around 208 GTI set pulses racing once again. That VW and Renault unveiled their new Golf GTI and Clio RS at the same time, sets the stage for the B-roads of Western Europe to once again host a battle royale for hot-hatch honours in the coming months.
· The three different cars which ranked top across the various categories of online coverage said a lot about the type of content favoured within each category. The VW Golf appealed most to bloggers, forum contributors and online editorial journalists, indicating the ‘real-world’ focus of these genres. The McLaren P1, meanwhile, pressed all the right buttons on twitter and facebook, indicating the ‘fantasy’ vote, while the Jaguar F-TYPE attracted the highest number of comments on YouTube, which reflects Jaguar’s attempts at reaching aspirational consumers through their Lana Del Ray tie-in.
· Audi and BMW were as closely matched as ever in overall social media, with just 0.1 percentage point separating them for second and third respectively. There was more daylight between them in online news, however, with Audi ranking fourth behind Peugeot, VW and Renault, while BMW took seventh behind Ford (5th) and Mercedes-Benz (6th).
· Other notable launches included the new Range Rover and long-awaited Mazda6, which ranked 11th and 12th respectively overall. While the Range Rover provided an evolutionary development of its famous silhouette, Mazda’s new D-Segment competitor offered more of a dramatic change in the design stakes, following on from the critically acclaimed Takeri Concept to make a real impact in this hotly contested area of the market. Indeed, the Mazda6 was the highest-placed D-Segment representative.
· Ford’s presence at Paris was muted by recent standards, owing to the unveiling of many of its new vehicles at an invitation-only ‘One Ford’ event in the weeks leading up to the Paris show. As a result, the brand ranked eighth overall with new Fiesta just outside the top 20 and new Mondeo in the mid-30s for the show period. This, however, belies the enthusiastic reception afforded both cars, which occupy such key positions in Ford’s European strategy.
· Nissan’s hydrogen fuel cell TeRRA Concept was the only zero emissions vehicle in the top ten and its innovative tablet entry/control system technology struck a chord with technology sites and enthusiast forums alike. TeRRA ranked eighth in social media and ninth in online news.
Methodology
Findings are based on volumes of articles or posts from three weeks before the first press day (September 5th, 2012) to two weeks after the first press day (October 10th, 2012).
All articles or posts must discuss or tag the show, be that Salon Mondial d’automobile, Paris motor show or other linguistic variants.
Sources for online news are key global media outlets tracked by Kantar Media using the Autotracker online analysis tool.
Sources for social media coverage included blogs, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Kantar Media Precis is the UK’s largest media evaluation group with a dedicated automotive division.
Charts & tables
Leading manufacturers – social media (by volume of discussion):
Leading manufacturers – online news (by volume of articles):
Leading models – social media (by volume of mentions):
Leading models – online news (by volume of articles):