Experian Automotive and Experian Hitwise recently discovered online users have increased their share of overall vehicle make and model searches for the four weeks that ended Oct. 8 as compared to the same time frame two years ago.

And the rise is substantial. Analysts say it’s up by 37 percent.

Drilling deeper into its findings, Experian determined Ford was the most-searched manufacturer during the second quarter. Analysts found the Blue Oval held 13 percent market share of online searches, the only nameplate with double digits. Coming next was Dodge at 8.4 percent.

Experian pointed out Ford also received the greatest number of new-vehicle registrations during the same time period, indicating strong interest online along with actual purchases offline.

Analysts found there was much greater movement in branded searches during the second quarter among other manufacturers, too. They learned Kia, Cadillac, BMW, Volkswagen and Mazda all moved up in rank by two spots or more.

In fact, Kia actually moved up from eighth to sixth during the second quarter after holding the 12th position a year ago.

Additionally, Experian determined there were 135,058 new Kia vehicles registered in the second quarter, up 18 percent from the previous quarter.

For Mazda, BMW, Kia, Subaru and Jeep, analysts surmised the gap between market share of branded searches and market share of new-vehicle registrations were minimal, indicating that searches precluded actual purchase.

They explained Kia searches accounted for about 4 percent of the branded manufacturer searches and a little more than 4 percent of the new vehicles registered in the second quarter.

Experian noted the share of new-vehicle registrations for Chevrolet and Toyota were both higher than the share of online searches.

Furthermore, Experian indicated brands that received the highest relative change in new-vehicle registrations for the second quarter also increased their share of searches substantially with the exception of a few niche brands such as Lamborghini and Mini.

Analysts added Fiat experienced the largest increase in new-vehicle registrations in conjunction with a 72-percent increase in branded searches in the second quarter, versus the previous quarter. They connected the gains to the launch of the Fiat 500 in the U.S.

“As the 2012 automotive models continue to roll out throughout 2011, consumers in the market for a new vehicle are increasingly searching online for automotive makes and models,” explained Heather Dougherty, director of research at Experian Hitwise.

“Experian Hitwise and Experian Automotive have been working closely together to bridge the gap between consumers’ automotive interests online and their offline behaviors,” Dougherty added.