HONDA MOTOR COMPANY COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS REPORT joyce xu informatics 283 MHCID @ UCI march 3, 2018
TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Direct Competitors Indirect Competitors Influencer Features Recommendation
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INTRODUCTION quick overview
HONDA'S VALUE PROPOSITION
The Power of Dreams Founded in 1949 by Soichiro Honda, Honda Motor Company first began operations as a motorcycle manufacturer. Shortly after, expansion into the automobile space has since paved the way for their success. Since then, power equipments, engines, solar products, robots and even aircrafts have been added to Honda's line card. Today, the innovative company continues to be a leader in the mobility and automotive industry committed to excellence, sustainability and safety.
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS BRIEF Purpose Our team conducted competitive research to review and compare online sites and applications within the automotive industry. The goal was to identify any opportunities or gaps for our client Honda. The report includes information on our findings: Honda's direct and indirect competitors.
Direct Competitors Toyota Nissan
Indirect Competitors Lyft
Goals This competitive analysis will show how other players in the market are performing based on a series of predetermined attributes. It also details current trends that are both working and not working on competitor websites.
Influencers BMW Tesla Nike
DIRECT COMPETITORS companies that offer similar products to your customersÂ
TOYOTA Year Founded 1937
Revenue Streams Car Sales Financing Parts & Service Repairs
Primary Categories Cars Minivans Trucks Crossovers SUVs Hybrids Hydrogen Cars
Content Types 360 interior views Minimal text Gallery VIdeos
Website.grader.com Score 89
Website Traffic 7.4 MillionÂ
Website www.toyota.com
TOYOTA Homepage GOOD
Toyota's site is very clean. The layout is simple and not overwhelming. Above the fold, users can quickly access build & price, search inventory, offers. The upper-middle section of the page provides users shortcuts to view popular categories, models, and trims. The minimal amount of scrolling required on the homepage is a bonus. Users are able to digest enough information in the span of the first couple minutes to know where to get started.Â
TOYOTA GOOD
Navigation & Browsing
Internal product pages indicate a clear breakdown of trim types.Â
GOOD
Toyota has a dedicated page of all vehicles that can be sorted and easily filterable. This allows users to narrow in on their search criteria.Â
TOYOTA Build & Price
GOOD
Toyota's Build & Price experience is very simple. There is a dedicated tab for each selection and the system keeps the user in check along the way. Clear checkmark indicators lefts the user know to continue to the next section. In addition, an added bonus is that there is a dedicated page for building and pricing.Â
TOYOTA eCommerce-like Experience GOOD
Many pages and elements within Toyota's site resemble that of an eCommerce website. Allowing the options to filter and select their preferences makes the car shopping experience online much like it is in real life.
TOYOTA PERFORMANCE
SEO
Website Grader Test
Score
22/30
30/30
HubSpot's free website grader tool
89
MOBILE
SECURITY
website.grader.com
allowed us to quickly get feedback on Toyota's website. The tool's algorithm measures page size, page requests, and page speed.
30/30
10/10
NISSAN Year Founded 1933
Revenue Streams Car Sales Financing Parts & Service Repairs
Content Types Live chat feature 360 interior views Minimal text Gallery & videos
Website www.nissanusa.com
Primary Categories Cars Minivans Trucks Crossovers SUVs Sports Cars Electric Commercial
Website.grader.com Score 84
Website Traffic 4.8 Million
NISSAN Homepage GOOD
Overall, Nissan's site is also very clean. It's a short homepage as well and doesn't require the user to scroll much due to its simplicity and good use of space. Like Toyota, Nissa also has four easy shortcuts above the fold for users to easily interact with. The site has large font that's legible, a clear navigation structure and even a live chat feature that we did not see on Toyota or Honda's sites.
NISSAN Homepage BAD
If the user types in www.nissan.com, they land on the wrong site. This domain is probably where most users would think to go to.Â
NISSAN Navigation & Browsing GOOD
Users are able to quickly select their desired car category easily via the secondary navigation choices OR the filters on the page.Â
NISSAN Locate a Dealer GOOD
The maps interface allows users to quickly search for directions. Efficiency is important so users stay on your domain as long as possible.Â
GOOD
The interface provides users with visible system status and messages.Â
NISSAN Live Chat GOOD
Nissan was the only competitor out of the two we saw that had a live chat feature.
GOOD
The popup shows a clear indication to the user that their request is processing. This feedback mechanism adds to the live chat's customer experience.Â
NISSAN Website Grader Test
Score
HubSpot's free website grader tool
84
website.grader.com
allowed us to quickly get feedback on Nissan's's website. The tool's algorithm measures page size, page requests, and page speed.
PERFORMANCE
SEO
19/30
25/30
MOBILE
SECURITY
30/30
10/10
INDIRECT COMPETITORS companies that offer alternative products to your customers
LYFT Year Founded 2012
Competitive Advantage Lyft is an on-demand rideshare service where users can request a car Get anywhere without owning a car Inexpensive & reliable
Content Types Maps Minimal text Social interactions
Revenue Streams Transactional
App Store Stats 4.8/5 stars 85.2K ratings #2 in Travel
Personalization Personalized account Credits Ride history Settings Referrals/Invite friends
LYFT Self-driving cars Autonomous vehicle fleets will quickly become widespread and will account for the majority of Lyft rides within 5 years. Last January, Lyft announced a partnership with General Motors to launch an on-demand network of autonomous vehicles. If you live in San Francisco or Phoenix, you may have seen these cars on the road, and within five years a fully autonomous fleet of cars will provide the majority of Lyft rides across the country. Source: Medium - The Third Transportation Revolution Lyft’s Vision for the Next Ten Years and Beyond
INFLUENCERS relevant UX features or findings from influencers
BMW Test drive feature BMW has a Test Drive feature on their website where potential buyers can schedule a test drive. This allows the user to book directly with a dealer online and a clear next step. It creates stickiness and allows the potential buyer an incentive to go to a dealer.Â
TESLA
No scroll homepage Tesla's homepage is the most minimalist out of all the car competitor sites we've visited. There is no scroll. Just a video with a few options to proceed to the internal pages. The use of a video background also provides an emotional experience where potential car buyers can imagine themselves owning a vehicle.Â
NIKE Auto-play video A homepage video is visually and emotionally engaging adding to the user's overall experience and a form of buyer persuasion.Â
RECOMMENDATION next steps
RECOMMENDATIONS Opportunity The car industry is extremely difficult to compete in. There are various reasons why consumers choose one brand over another. Honda's advantage is that they excel at being diverse. They not only produce automobiles, they have specializations in motorcycles, racecars, jets, as well as water boats. Honda is already a leader in the North America car market. Honda's biggest competitors are Toyota and Nissan. Both of these competitors have already started exploring different fuel sources such as hydrogen and electric vehicles. Although Honda is excelling with car interior technology and safety specs, they can compete by investing in R&D of alternative environmental vehicles such as Hydrogen fueled cars and/or self-driving cars.
Our Recommendation: The Future of Autonomous Vehicles Honda should partner up with ridesharing services such as Lyft or Uber to exclusively use self-driving Honda vehicles. They would be the first in the market to publicly use self-driving cars on a mass basis.
NEXT STEPS SUMMARY Website Experience Enhance the current Build & Price functionality to be more intuitive; each car model should have its own respective Build & Price page Make Build & Price visible in the global navigation Less is more: reduce the amount of scrolling a user needs to perform on the site Display all quick-access links above the fold Reduce content on the homepage Increase the speed of your site to avoid bounce rates Provide a 360 interior view of a car model on internal car pages Allow the user to have an eCommerce-like shopping experience: filtering and narrowing down their search criteria Improve the site's performance - see next slide
Marketing Strategy Allow potential buyers to sign up for a test drive Consider a Live Chat feature
SITE PERFORMANCE