Internet users on an 'auto' overdrive on Google search

With the 12th Auto Expo round the corner, internet users have gone on overdrive on Google search to find out latest about their favourite automobiles.

"Overall auto queries in India have taken a leap by crossing a remarkable milestone in the year 2013; bringing India into the top 12 list of countries in terms of absolute number of searches," Google said in a statement.

Auto queries jumped by more than 250 percent on mobile devices, showing the popular trend of fast growing internet audience on mobile phones.

Online search trends usually mirror the consumer trends offline. This is evident through the fact that Maruti is the top searched car brand, closely followed by Hyundai, Mahindra, Honda and Tata.

Maruti cars are also the most searched cars, again closely followed by the cars of the same four car brands - Hyundai, Mahindra, Honda and Tata.

The searches have peaked up in the recent weeks closer to the auto expo that begins Wednesday. The 12th edition of the biennial event will be held at India Expo Mart, Greater Noida from Feb 5-12.

Utility vehicles segment has been the most searched car segment for the past two years, followed closely by the compact car segment. Maruti Swift was the most searched car across all car segments in 2013, Google said.

A major shift was witnessed in the consumer search pattern, with generic searches surpassing brand queries.

About 35 - 40 percent of the most relevant auto queries came from mobile devices in 2013.

In Dec 2013, nearly two million hours were spent browsing automotive content online and over 30 thousand hours of auto video content were consumed.