±±¾©Èü³µpk10

When some European city eventually builds the Museum of the Internet, the cars should be given their own floor. It's a sector with deep pockets - in 2007 it became the second-biggest online advertising category behind jobs.

But despite the big budgets, most manufacturers seem never to have really got clarity on why they are using it. Product demonstration? Product awareness? Keeping the ever-hungry dealers fed (and happy)? They've innovated with ad formats but have never really got too bold with their sites.

WHICH BRINGS US TO FIAT ...

Site: www.fiat.co.uk

Developer: AKQA

Since AKQA redesigned the Fiat site last year, suddenly something quite different is going on. I remember someone telling me a few years ago that good strategy was about sacrifice and the Fiat 500 section of the site exemplifies this. It's brave and different, and I get a sense it does a damn good job of getting people into the showroom.

A key challenge for car sites is how to get all the information across without turning the site into something that resembles an instruction manual. Fiat's use of voice on the site launch is very smart, freeing up the page for bigger visuals and really pushing the 500's image.

The site navigation is simple and structured. It is easy to get into the site and back out again without having to back button or retread old footsteps. The overview and spec section have been stripped back, with models and colour availability rotating, rather than asking users to choose and build. This is probably the only car site reviewed here that didn't offer a "build your car" option, and I think it really works. It's done in such a way that you are clear on model and specs, while leaving you wanting to find out a bit more ...

The site offers three options for obtaining a test drive: you call them, they call you or you check for availability online. This is the only site that offers all three and the thought of being able to call the dealer rather than put myself into their call-back database felt far less pressured and made me more likely to pick up the phone.

I wasn't keen on the tone of the copy on the site, which came over as a little contrived at times and at worst really cringey. The voiceover was great until he capped it with a Vicky Pollard-esque: "I so want one." Likewise the seat description of " ... like being hugged by your 500. Bless." Stop. Not good.

But, as I said at the beginning, it's about taking a position and, like it or not, the site does it. You get a sense there was a clear brief of "Get people into the showrooms" and the site holds back just enough to leave you wanting to find out more. Great job.

AND NOW FOR THE REST ...

Probably the most similar in tone to the 500 site, Mini's website, http://mini.co.uk, has the luxury of being able to stand alone rather than being part of a manufacturer's overall site. The navigation of the site is once again very simple. Despite there being more than 30 different sections leading off different levels of the nav, it's been developed in such a way that it's really easy to get stuck into the site. It has a good, clean design and some good, consistent framing of images.

I thought the 'build your mini' section was a little underwhelming - I could hardly see the car. Wouldn't it make sense to make the car bigger to fill the space on the page? Another thing I didn't like is that there always seems to be some ticker or text building and as such the site is a little fidgety. Overall, I felt it was a good site, though, and it met my expectations.

The BMW website was less straightforward. I counted eight different homepage versions on the BMW site - www.bmw.co.uk - not quite sure why. They ranged from different models to greener engines. You would have thought they would lead with one and stick with it.

I did like the size and resolution of the pictures; you could really have a good look at the cars themselves. The model navigation of 1 3 5 6 7 X3 ... etc is a great touch - it looks great and you can quickly get a sense of the full model range. The top level navigation of Experience, Facts and Figures and Build was clear and worked, although the videos in "Experience" were clunky and I couldn't find an inside shot of any of the cars.

On booking a test drive, the postcode checker got me to my nearest dealer pretty quickly and was quick and efficient and once again no pressure to get the "call back".

Mercedes was a funny one (www2.mercedes-benz.co.uk/). It started off really well and then soon became fairly uninspiring. Obviously the site has to get you into the right section (one wrong turn and we could end up looking at upholstery swatches for the 36-ton Axor truck) and once in the car section you get led through a very simple wizard asking for model and spec and so on. The problem is that you then get spat out into online brochure ware and it's dull.

The images aren't too consistent and vary by model (an alloy here, wing mirror there). Likewise, to book a test drive was more like filling in a tax return than a step towards buying a luxury car.

I'm not sure what has happened with this site, but it feels like it was built in lots of different places and at different times. It could do with tightening up.

The Volkswagen site, www.volkswagen.co.uk, has a great home page. The car manufacturer has only recently unveiled a new site, replacing a far less consistent and stylish offering. Its website now places the emphasis on 'what do you want to do?' and filters you into 'own', 'buy', 'used' or 'fleet'. There is even a little out-of-focus image which you can pull into focus. It's a nice touch (so go and have a look!).

Going into the car model sections, you can once again filter by navigating by image or use the filters (speed, size and so on).My only criticism of the site is that you sometimes get a little lost as to which section you are in and how to find the bit you want - but this is a minor point. Good site.

- Jeremy Hill is partner at Circus Street

TOP CAR MANUFACTURER WEBSITES

Rank Web address Visits
(% relative
market share)

1 www.ford.co.uk 5.86
2 www.volkswagen.co.uk 5.49
3 www.bmw.co.uk 5.45
4 www.audi.co.uk 4.69
5 www.vauxhall.co.uk 3.95


Rank Web address Page
impressions
(% relative
market share)

1 www.bmw.co.uk 10.07
2 www.audi.co.uk 8.65
3 www.vauxhall.co.uk 5.05
4 www.mercedes-benz.co.uk 5.02
5 www.ford.co.uk 4.70


Rank Web address Session time
(minutes:
seconds)
1 www.honda.co.uk 10:00
2 www.bmw.co.uk 8:52
3 www.swiftleisure.com 8:31
4 www.audi.co.uk 8:06
5 www.renaultsport.co.uk 8:02

Source: Hitwise, figures for January 2008