COSTA MESA, Calif. -

Two Big 3 brands kept their respective perches as the most-researched brands during the second quarter and domestics, overall, were on top for sales and consumer interest. But European car companies appear to have a full head of steam and may be on the verge of a sales spike down the road, according to NADAguides.

The latest quarterly Brand Share Report indicates that once again, Ford ranked as the brand attracting the most attention on NADAguides.com, as it took a 14.3-percent share of the consumer interest on the site.

Chevrolet (11.8 percent) and Toyota (9.6 percent) held on to their No. 2 and 3 spots, respectively. In the first quarter, Chevy was at 11.9 percent and Toyota grabbed 10.3 percent of consumer interest.

Nissan — which boosted its research level by 93 percent — moved from fifth to fourth, swapping positions with Honda.

Despite Ford keeping the top spot, it decreased in brand share, falling 15.5 percent compared to the first quarter. The Big 3 overall was down 4.4 percent for consumer interest, with sales climbing 1.9 percent. Analysts with the site believe this “may be an indication that sales for the domestic brands may see a decrease in the near future.”

Meanwhile, interest for European brands was up more than 9 percent — the strongest gain of any group — as they took a 16-percent consumer interest share. This was partly due to the Fiat 500 making its debut and the surge in research for the Mini brand.

More specifically, with the Mini Countryman launching, interest in Mini jumped over 206 percent while Fiat enjoyed a more than 168-percent gain.

“The shift in interest for the European brands was not surprising to the analytical team. Compact, fuel efficient and versatile vehicles are capturing more and more market interest as they address current in-market car shopper needs,” said Troy Snyder, director of product development for NADAguides.

“Brands prepared for this demand with diverse model lineups and the ability to deliver these vehicles are benefiting from the demand,” Snyder added.

Korean companies earned a brand share of 11.4 percent. However, as far as market share for sales, Korean brands (9 percent) narrowly edged out Europeans (8.9 percent).

So what does a strong gain in consumer interest but not a corresponding sales hike mean for European brands? Possibly a great deal of future sales growth, according to analysts.

“With the increases in consumer interest for European models, yet not a huge shift in sales, NADAguides analysts feel that this may be a foreshadow to future consumer purchasing intent — expecting to see a larger increase in European sales in the coming months,” they explained.

Moving along, Japanese brands saw consumer research dip 1.8 percent, and they experienced a 3.5-percent decline in sales.

“NADAguides analysts attribute some of this disparity to the circumstances surrounding production disruption and related vehicle shortages following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami — signifying that interest is still there for the Japanese brands, but with limited availability, sales may have slowed,” officials stated.