SensorTower: In the US market in 2023, Asian and Pacific car brands contributed 46% of total car sales, and digital advertising spending continued to grow

The Zhitong Finance App learned that SensorTower published an article stating that the US is an important market for Asia-Pacific car brands, and Cox Automotive data shows that in 2023, Asia Pacific car brands will account for 46% of total car sales in this market. Among them, the Japanese car brand Toyota's sales share in the US market reached 15%, second only to General Motors (GM)'s 17%. The Korean car brand Hyundai (including Hyundai, Genesis, and Kia) contributed 11% of the market share in 2023.

Asia Pacific automotive brands maintain leading positions in sales and ad spend in the US market

Asia Pacific automotive brands are very active in digital advertising to maintain leading market positions. According to Sensor Tower data, among the top 10 car advertisers in the US market spending in the past year, Asia-Pacific brands have more than 7 seats. From Q2 2023 to Q1 2024, the Korean car brand Hyundai increased 42% month-on-month in digital advertising spending in the US, surpassing US$200 million, ranking first. Toyota's advertising spend increased 3% to nearly $150 million, ranking 3rd.

Brands such as Hyundai, Honda, and Mazda continue to increase advertising investment in Q1 2024

As the US automobile market grows and competition intensifies, several Asia-Pacific car brands such as Hyundai, Honda, and Mazda will increase their investment in digital advertising in the US market in 2024. In the first quarter of 2024, Hyundai's advertising spending in the US market increased 74% year over year to reach US$61 million, ahead of other Asia-Pacific car brands in the market. Japanese car brand Honda's Q1 advertising spending surged 130% year-on-year in 2024, close to $48 million, second only to Hyundai.

The sharp rise in Honda's advertising spending in the US market is due to the promotion of electric vehicles. In the first quarter of 2024, Honda's pure electric model, the Honda Prologue, advertising spending increased 17 times month-on-month, making it the model with the highest advertising share of Honda currently.

OTT is an important digital advertising channel for automotive brands in Asia Pacific

The OTT platform is an important digital advertising channel for leading Asia-Pacific car brands such as Hyundai, Toyota, Nissan, and Kia Motors in the US market. In the first quarter of 2024, the Korean car brand Kia Motors accounted for 62% of total advertising expenses in the US market. Hyundai and Nissan invest around 30% of their advertising expenses on OTT platforms.

The YouTube channel is popular with car brands such as Hyundai and Honda. In the first quarter of 2024, Hyundai invested 45% of its advertising expenses in the US market on the YouTube platform.

There is some overlap between Hyundai and Toyota advertising audiences, but the Toyota audience is more focused on cars and sports

Sensor Tower user insight data shows that although Hyundai and Toyota advertising audiences overlap in terms of age, gender, and user profile, there are certain differences in the audience exposure of different brands.

The main audience for both Hyundai and Toyota advertisements is young users aged 18-34, accounting for 64%. In terms of gender distribution, the proportion of men in both brand advertising audiences is higher than that of women, but Hyundai's share of women is 46%, which is slightly higher than Toyota's 41%.

In terms of ad exposure differences, the Hyundai ad audience favors household managers, who are most commonly exposed to food and drug advertisements, such as Whole Foods Market and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) ads. However, the Toyota advertising audience is more like car enthusiasts, and is often touched by Honda, Nissan, and Mazda advertisements.

Hyundai advertising materials emphasize practicality, and Toyota advertising stands out for performance

By comparing with competing models, Hyundai's popular advertising materials highlight practical functions such as remote parking and blind spot monitoring, providing convenient solutions for family travel while emphasizing price advantages.

Toyota's popular advertising materials mainly highlight the performance and safety of cars through cool driving scenes, and reach more sports enthusiasts by cooperating with sporting events.