A study was released in early October by MH Group Communications and Forum Strategies that focuses on the success of social media for the nine leading luxury auto brands.

They ranked them in the following in terms of their ability to engage the social media audience:

1. BMW
2. Porsche
3. Audi
4. Mercedes
5. Cadillac
6. Lexus
7. Acura
8. Infiniti
9. Lincoln

According to the study, BMW and Porsche are the clear leaders with some significant challenges coming from Audi and Mercedes while the last five are simply falling behind.

The study found that most engagement took place on Facebook, and YouTube with an impressive 90% of discussion and commentary being successful. This is a truly impressive number given social media’s high tendency to go negative in terms of product discussion.

Major Findings:
• German automakers Porsche and BMW outperform Japanese, Cadillac, Lincoln in social media
• No brand has successfully created a well-rounded social media plan
• Facebook and YouTube are the sites most used by the luxury brands
• Brand identity is being diluted by the overabundance of unofficial brand pages on social media networks

“Social media programs can no longer be considered a nice add-on to traditional marketing efforts, but rather should be viewed as a foundational element that drives interaction with luxury auto brand consumers,” from a blog post by Mark Hass of MH Group Communications

Study Advice:
• Lead the conversation about your brand with Twitter
• Link from Facebook to existing e-commerce infrastructure
• Turn YouTube into a brand TV network
• Don’t forget about Flickr
• Integrate all platforms to create a global brand

After a successful marketing campaign called the Fiesta Movement, where Ford reportedly brought in 50,000 potential buyers with the use of sites like YouTube, Twitter and Flickr and with a very minimal marketing budget, Ford is going social again.

Ford has now created the Fusion 41. (41 is the number of miles per gallon the Fusion gets.) The Fusion 41 is a relay race designed to create buzz about the 2010 Ford Fusion and Fusion Hybrid.

The Rules:

• 8 people will be chosen. Ford is basing the selection on “their passion for Fusion and their ability to share compelling information about the vehicle on the internet.”
• Each will be allowed to choose 4 people to help them.
• Each team of five will be given a list of task to do over 41 hours, continuing the 41 theme.

After tasks are complete, the teams must diseminate that information over as many social networks as possible.

The team who completes the events the fastest and gets most noticed on the social media sites is the winner. The payoff: free gas for a year and a paid for Fusion.

Both the Fusion 41 and Fiesta Movement are great examples of the power of social media in the automotive industry.