December Car Sales Make 2015 an #AutoMarketing Blockbuster!

December New-Car Sales Close Record-Breaking Year, Up 13 Percent Year-Over-Year, According To Kelley Blue Book

Analysts Project 2016 Sales Could Reach 18 Million; Full-Size Trucks to Report Highest Sales Since 2007

CLOSE -- New-vehicle sales are expected to increase 13 percent year-over-year to a total of 1.7 million units in December 2015, resulting in an estimated 18 million seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR), according to Kelley Blue Book www.kbb.com, the only vehicle valuation and information source trusted and relied upon by both consumers and the automotive industry.  December will cap the biggest year of U.S. new-car sales that the industry has ever seen, with total light vehicle sales of roughly 17.5 million, representing a 6.1 percent jump from 2014 totals. The previous high was 17.35 million units in 2000.

"December has become one of the biggest sales months of the year, helped by year-end targets and prominent holiday sales events," said Tim Fleming, analyst for Kelley Blue Book. "As we move into the new year, expect this strength to continue, although at a slower rate than this year. In 2016, Kelley Blue Book forecasts sales in the range of 17.5 million to 18 million units, which would represent another record-breaking year."

There are several factors that could disrupt the new-car sales momentum, including rising interest rates, an increasing supply of off-lease units that could weaken used-car prices, and increasing manufacturer incentive spending that Kelley Blue Book has seen in recent months, which could be representative of a slowdown in natural consumer demand.  

Key Highlights for Estimated December 2015Sales Forecast:

• In December 2015, new light-vehicle sales, including fleet, are expected to hit 1,700,000 units, up 13.1 percent from December 2014 and up 29.3 percent from November 2015. 
• The seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) for December 2015 is estimated to be 18 million, up from 16.8 million in December 2014 and down from 18.1 million in November 2015. 
• Retail sales are expected to account for 84.3 percent of volume in December 2015, up from 83.4 percent in December 2014.

Best Month on Record Expected for Jeep; Hyundai-Kia Faces Challenges in Market Moving Away from Cars

As was the case for much of 2015, Fiat Chrysler is projected to do well in December, and the Jeep brand in particular, with expected growth of more than 15 percent.  

"Fiat Chrysler has become increasingly dependent on Jeep to drive sales growth, and December should be the best month on record for the Jeep brand," said Fleming. "However, combined sales year-to-date of other Fiat Chrysler brands are slightly down in volume." 

Hyundai and Kia are anticipated to have one of the largest percentage increases at 18 percent.  However, sales this year have been propped up by an increase in fleet units. With a sales mix that heavily favors cars, Hyundai and Kia face challenges in a market that has shifted more toward SUVs and crossovers. 

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	Sales Volume 1			Market Share 2
Manufacturer	Dec-15	Dec-14	YOY %	Dec-15	Dec-14	YOY %
General Motors (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC)	299,000	274,483	8.9%	17.6%	18.3%	-0.7%
Ford Motor Company (Ford, Lincoln)	244,000	219,369	11.2%	14.4%	14.6%	-0.2%
Toyota Motor Company (Lexus, Scion, Toyota)	242,000	215,057	12.5%	14.2%	14.3%	-0.1%
Fiat Chrysler (Chrysler, Dodge, FIAT, Jeep, RAM)	223,000	193,261	15.4%	13.1%	12.9%	0.3%
American Honda (Acura, Honda)	152,000	137,281	10.7%	8.9%	9.1%	-0.2%
Nissan North America (Infiniti, Nissan)	137,000	117,318	16.8%	8.1%	7.8%	0.3%
Hyundai-Kia	130,000	110,094	18.1%	7.6%	7.3%	0.3%
Volkswagen Group (Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche)	58,000	56,571	2.5%	3.4%	3.8%	-0.4%
Total 3	1,700,000	1,503,478	13.1%	-	-	-
1 Historical data from OEM sales announcements
2 Kelley Blue Book Automotive Insights
3 Includes brands not shown

 

Full-Size Pickup Trucks to Reach Highest Sales Since 2007; Compact SUVs/Crossovers Most Popular Segment in 2015

With national gas prices as their lowest point since 2009, Kelley Blue Book expects full-size pickup trucks to be the top segment in December. This segment also was helped in 2015 by the new Ford F-Series and a surge from the Chevrolet Silverado, and the segment should report the highest sales total since 2007 at nearly 2.2 million units.  

Helped by new models like the Chevrolet Trax and Jeep Renegade, as well as low gas prices, the compact SUV and crossover segment is projected to be the No. 2 segment in December, with expected growth of nearly 40 percent. This segment has led industry growth for the past three years, and 2015 will mark its first year as the most popular segment in the industry.  

	Sales Volume 1			Market Share
Segment	Dec -15	Dec -14	YOY %	Dec -15	Dec -14	YOY %
Full-Size Pickup Truck	241,000	211,240	14.1%	14.2%	14.1%	0.1%
Compact SUV/Crossover	238,000	170,212	39.8%	14.0%	11.3%	2.7%
Mid-Size Car	216,000	199,993	8.0%	12.7%	13.3%	-0.6%
Compact Car	212,000	189,725	11.7%	12.5%	12.6%	-0.1%
Mid-Size SUV/Crossover	199,000	171,131	16.3%	11.7%	11.4%	0.3%
Total 2	1,700,000	1,503,478	13.1%	-	-	-
1 Kelley Blue Book Automotive Insights
2 Includes segments not shown

There are 28 sales days in December 2015, compared to 26 sales days in December 2014. All percentages are based on raw volume, not daily selling rate.  

To discuss this topic, or any other automotive-related information, with a Kelley Blue Book analyst on-camera via the company's on-site studio, please contact a member of the Public Relations team to book an interview.

For more information and news from Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com, visit www.kbb.com/media/, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/kelleybluebook (or @kelleybluebook), like our page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kbb, and get updates on Google+ at https://plus.google.com/+kbb. 

About Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com)
Founded in 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource®, is the only vehicle valuation and information source trusted and relied upon by both consumers and the automotive industry. Each week the company provides the most market-reflective values in the industry on its top-rated website KBB.com, including its famous Blue Book® Trade-In Values and Fair Purchase Price, which reports what others are paying for new and used cars this week. The company also provides vehicle pricing and values through various products and services available to car dealers, auto manufacturers, finance and insurance companies, and governmental agencies. Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com ranked highest in its category for brand equity by the 2015 Harris Poll EquiTrend^® study and has been named Online Auto Shopping Brand of the Year for four consecutive years. Kelley Blue Book Co., Inc. is a Cox Automotive company.

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SOURCE Kelley Blue Book

For further information: Chintan Talati, 949-267-4855, chintan.talati@kbb.com: or Joanna Pinkham, 404-568-7135, joanna.pinkham@kbb.com: or Brenna Robinson, 949-267-4781, brenna.robinson@kbb.com: or Michelle Behar, 949-268-4259, michelle.behar@kbb.com

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Can Car Dealers Create Viral Content... Intentionally?

How do you intentionally create and send content viral?

Viral content is any piece of media posted to social networks that becomes wildly popular overnight. It could be a Youtube video, Facebook post,  tweet, or almost any social media content that gets shared hundreds, or even thousands upon thousands of times.

After being created and published, Viral content starts to work for automotive professionals on autopilot, as your dealership's brand gets exposed to a whole new audience that you had never previously reached organically.

Many car dealers and marketing professionals I work with seem to think that getting their #Automotive relevant content to go viral is as likely as hitting the lottery, but nothing could be further from the truth.  If you're looking to generate buzz for your dealership or if you just want your own 15 minutes of fame, continue reading...

Jessica Holmes has put together 10 ways to make your Automotive content marketing go viral (and none of them involve buying a lottery ticket or coming to Vegas!)

1. People want to look smart (so let them)

Image Source: Pixabay

When people think about sharing content, they consider social currency.  If it makes them look clever or smart, the more likely they are to pass it onto their friends and followers.

In February of 2012, LinkedIn sent out emails to select members that were part of the top 5 percent of most viewed profiles for the previous year.

Thousands and thousands of people flocked to Facebook and Twitter to spread the good news.  The biggest beneficiary of this was LinkedIn because it raised its profile and probably got thousands of new members.

2. Keep it short

The vast majority of viral content is short. Videos tend to range from around 30 seconds to one minute. Anything longer and you might lose your grip.

The same goes for blogs. People have short attentions spans; so make it easy for them with "scannable" content such as images, dot points and subheadings.

3. Take a human angle

Perhaps you have found the perfect drink to have on your wedding anniversary?  Maybe you want to share some traits your boss has that you hate, and you figure most people can relate to?

If people can relate and apply it to their own lives, they are much more likely to share.  When something is personal to someone, they will pass it on.

4. Make it genuine

Most people are not looking for videos or blogs that seem highly produced or overdone.  There must be a genuine feel.

A "how to" guide is a good example, and videos behind the scenes of an interesting event is also an excellent example.

5. Go interactive

Image Source: Pixabay

Do you have expert knowledge on an interesting subject?

People want and expect content they can discuss, and the more this is true, the more it your content will get shared.

Interactive content such as quizzes are a great way to do this.

6. Let readers comment

If you are a blogger, you need a good comment section system, such as Disqus, if you want a chance to go viral.

If you get a good comment or a controversial one, respond to it.  A good community of people commenting will always increase your chance of virality.

7. Use lists and images

People love lists and images.

If you make your blog post a list, your chances of going viral increase a great deal. If you then pad out that list with some creative imagery, you increase your viral chances even more.

8. Create a compelling headline

With so much content out there today, you must make a great first impression, or you'll be passed in favor of another.

Make your headline catchy, benefit-driven and curious…

A good acid test, is to ask;

"Would I click on that headline?"

9. Don't make anyone feel foolish

Image Source: Pixabay

When people share content, they are actually putting their own reputation on the line for all to see. So be careful not to alienate groups or down talk minorities.

Public figures, on the other hand, are often fair game. For example, the presidential run of Donald Trump is a controversial subject. If you support him or not, there is enough information out there to support either view, and you are sure to get a reaction from those on both sides of the fence.

10. Make posts appropriate

If you are going to post on Facebook, make sure you use proper grammar and formatting to make your content readable.  Nothing is more annoying than one big, huge, long paragraph.

If you are going to Tweet, do not use all 140 characters.  Be sure to leave at least 10 to 12 spaces (this helps for encouraging re-tweets).

Getting your content marketing to go viral is not an exact science by any means.  But if you follow these proven guidelines, you can certainly increase your chance of having a viral blog, Tweet or share that gets you the exposure you want.

Good luck!

Edited and reposted from article written by Jessica Holmes: content crafter at Crawford and O'Brien, a dental SEO company that provides search marketing practices at a world class level. She has been in the internet marketing industry for several years and can be found online tweeting about her writing or at home, hiking sunny Arizona trails.

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Is Today's Google RankBrain Tomorrow's Skynet?

AI Is Here, and It's Affecting Your SEO: A Look at Google's RankBrain... 

Repost of article written by Amy Arnold

In late October, Google announced that they are actively using an artificial intelligence algorithm called RankBrain as part of the search results engine. This has rolled out slowly since early 2015 and has become a factor for website owners and search marketers to pay attention to, according to Bloomberg.

"RankBrain has become the third-most important signal contributing to the result of a search query."

What are you saying? What madness is this?

RankBrain is used as a way to interpret the searches that people submit to find pages that might not have the exact words that were searched for. It correlates words on your website page to those expected to be seen about the topic. A very simple example from Search Engine Land: RankBrain helps determine whether your page is about "apple," the fruit, or "Apple," the company.

RankBrain is self-learning. It's analyzing billions and billions of searches and click actions to determine what content is more helpful to consumers and what is less helpful. When there are content updates on your site or a competitor's website, this algo is reanalyzing and reconfiguring search results. This is not done in real time.

How often does RankBrain update?

Because it is self-learning, it is constantly updating itself. But the real question is: how often is it updating search results?

"Google periodically updates the system by feeding it a load of new data to help it better reason with new concepts."

So Google is feeding it batches of search data, and it's crunching through the data in batches. The algo is constantly updating itself as it learns from the content it's analyzing, but the search results are not constantly updating. Search results are updated in batches, which may explain some unexpected ups/downs in Google organic traffic that don't match up to announced algo updates.

Does Google's RankBrain change any SEO that we do?

As RankBrain learns more and more, and as Google feeds it more new data to crunch, we may see some organic traffic blips, up or down. These will not likely be announced data updates. Google has said they typically won't announce data updates. Ups and downs are expected as the AI figures out how your content relates to specific search terms relative to the other content in your market.

With the launch of Hummingbird and the continuous Pandas, Search Influence has long seen the need for really informative consumer-focused content. We have seen consistently positive results across many websites in many industries with this standard of content. If your content is written in accord with Panda and Hummingbird, meaning it is rich text, educational, and really on topic, RankBrain should not be a problem for you.

For further reading, this blog post by Cyrus Shepard was one of the more influential in our constantly evolving content standards, and I think it is definitely related to this discussion.

What's Next?

"Facebook Inc. uses AI techniques to filter the newsfeed that comprises the personalized homepage of the social network and Microsoft Corp. is using artificial intelligence to increase the capabilities of its Bing search engine."

Google is actively using self-learning artificial intelligence, its driverless cars have driven over 1 million miles, and it has the dead/undead Google Glass. Reach into your sci-fi knowledge, and consider what Google might do next.

Image Sources:

Google RankBrain

Smartphone

- See more at: http://www.searchinfluence.com/2015/11/google-rankbrain-ranking-factor/?utm_source=SEO+Insider&utm_campaign=1cfaf57fb3-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c3b485eec5-1cfaf57fb3-94481141#sthash.fjCfGMW0.dpuf

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