Honda Civic drives viewers to YouTube

The people in the U.K. are apparently fascinated with the Honda Civic--or, conversely, Honda has found a way to really draw attention to its car in the U.K.

Either way, an advertisement for the Honda Civic topped the list of most watched automotive videos on YouTube in the U.K. in 2012. The result is something of a surprise in a market where luxury car makers like BMW (which came in third on the list) and Mercedes (10th) were supposed to be making the biggest splash.

The Honda video was uploaded in February 2012 and showed the development of the Civic from a gleam in engineers' eyes to a finished product. It came in ahead of Peugeot, BMW, Autotrader, the new Kia Sportage, the new Kia Optima, Jaguar U.K., the new Kia, Nissan Juke and Mercedes.

According to Colin Burcher, automotive industry head at Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), all of 2012 was a "great year for online video advertising in the automotive sector," according to a story in Motor Trader. "A wide variety of automotive brands are engaging with audiences via online video and recognizing the important role that YouTube plays delivering both mass reach and targeting in-market car buyers."

Online video car ads provide insights into car features and the ability to interactively link back to manufacturers and dealers in some instances.

"We are now seeing Automotive brands building out their online video strategies and developing a wide range of video content including: TV adverts, product videos, aftersales guides and original content specifically for YouTube," Burcher concluded.

For more:
- Motor Trader had this story

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