BMW tops the lists for most searched and Instagrammed car

• There are 27.5 million BMW hashtags on Instagram, six million more than the second most Instagrammed brand (Honda)
• In 2017 the BMW 3 Series was the most searched for car on Auto Trader’s marketplace.

BMW is winning the car brand popularity contest, as Auto Trader, the UK’s largest automotive marketplace for new and used cars, reveals that BMW tops lists for the most Instagrammed car brand as well as the most searched for car on Auto Trader’s marketplace.

Over the past seven years, BMW has consistently been the car brand that has been searched for the most online amongst Auto Trader users, with the BMW 3 Series searched over 40 million times on Auto Trader in 2017. The latest figures from the month of February 2018 show that BMW continues to top the list of the marketplace’s most searched for cars, receiving 12.2% of overall make/model searches

The German manufacturer is also the most-hashtagged car brand on Instagram, with a staggering 27.5 million hashtags. Audi and Mercedes are the second and third most-searched car brands, and are the fifth and sixth most-Instagrammed respectively (13 million and 12.8 million hashtags).

Six car brands feature in both the top ten most searched for cars on Auto Trader and the top ten most instagrammed car brands. The most-Instagrammed car brands are a balanced combination of premium and practical - Honda and Ford come long before Ferrari, Audi and Mercedes.

Erin Baker, Editorial Director at Auto Trader says: “BMW embodies quality German engineering, attractive looks and premium interiors, so it’s no surprise that it continues to dominate both brand searches on Auto Trader and Instagram photos.”

“But it’s also not surprising that the most snapped cars on Instagram are clocking high numbers of searches on Auto Trader. Car finance has made premium brands more affordable and accessible for UK buyers, which has led to expensive (and Instagram-worthy) models finding their way into more new and used searches.”

Car finance deals are becoming increasingly popular amongst prospective buyers in the UK, and users can check what car they can afford based on their monthly budget with the help of Auto Trader’s car finance calculator.

About Auto Trader

Auto Trader Group plc is the UK and Ireland’s largest digital automotive marketplace. Auto Trader sits at the heart of the UK’s vehicle buying process and its primary activity is to help vehicle retailers compete effectively on the marketplace in order to sell more vehicles, faster. Auto Trader listed on the London Stock Exchange in March 2015 and is now a member of the FTSE 250 Index.

The marketplace brings together the largest and most engaged consumer audience. Auto Trader has over 88% prompted brand awareness and attracts an average of 55 million monthly cross platform visits a month, with circa 70% of visits coming through mobile devices.

The marketplace also has the largest pool of vehicle sellers (listing more than 470,000 cars each day). Over 80% of UK automotive retailers advertise on autotrader.co.uk.

For media enquiries and further information, please contact:

Maria Hughes

Media Relations Manager

BlueGlass

Email: mhughes@blueglass.com

Telephone: 020 7242 0142

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