WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. -

Based on the perspectives of new-vehicle shoppers surveyed late last year, the car brands whose websites are most useful during the shopping process are a pair of Japanese brands from the same manufacturer.

Releasing its 2012 Manufacturer Website Evaluation Study — Wave 1 on Wednesday, J.D. Power and Associates found that Acura, followed by Honda, has the strongest overall satisfaction when it comes to automotive websites.

Acura topped the list with its score of 808 out of 1,000, with Honda close behind at 806. Rounding out the top five were Hyundai (803) then Infiniti and Lincoln, each of which received a score of 802.

For this analysis, the websites of automakers were evaluated based on speed, appearance, navigation and information/content.

To gather the data, J.D. Power conducted a study in November 2011 and took the responses of more than 9,400 people. Each of these new-vehicle shoppers said they plan to be shopping around for a new vehicle within the next two years.

The semi-annual study found that overall, consumers are becoming less satisfied with automaker websites. In fact, the average satisfaction score for this study was 772, compared to the average of 784 in Wave 2 of last year’s study.

Officials pinned much of the decline on downturns in navigation and information/content satisfaction. A possible reason for consumers being less pleased in these areas may have to do with automakers finding difficulties crafting sites that work for desktop computers, as well as tablet devices, J.D. Power suggested.

Interestingly enough, tablet ownership was at just 20 percent for this study. However, almost half (47 percent) of tablet owners tap into automotive information with their devices.

With gains in tablet ownership expected, J.D. Power stressed the need for automaker websites to adjust to these changes.

“As automotive brand websites attempt to accommodate the dimensions, resolution and layout best suited for tablet use, some have changed their design in ways that inhibit usage on desktop computers," stated Arianne Walker, senior director of media and marketing solutions at J.D. Power.

“For example, pages that require scrolling to view all of the content on a particular page may be preferred by tablet users, but they are quite frustrating for desktop computer users, who are used to clicking to access content directly, rather than finding it on the page by scrolling,” she added.

J.D. Power went on to point out the differences preferences among desktop and tablet users when it comes to linking, with big button links being more suited for tablets than text links, which work just fine on desktops.

Likewise, the company stressed that “finger swiping” is more common to grab content on tablets, with mouse cursors being the navigation choice on desktops. J.D. Power urges automakers to include both on the sites.

Additionally, J.D. Power found that the most useful websites are typically the ones that feature social media integration throughout the site in a variety of forms (home page, model pages, configuration tool and photo gallery). Conversely, the lower-performing automaker sites are typically the ones where social-media integration isn’t widespread.

“The widespread usage of social media has created an expectation of constant availability," Walker noted. “By integrating links to social media platforms throughout several site features, automotive brand websites enhance convenience for users and also increase the possibility that website users will promote the brand within their social networks.”

J.D. Power, LMC Automotive See Continuation of Hot December

In another analysis from the company, it was discovered that the new-car market is seeing the strongest January for turn-rates in “several years”, with retail sales essentially showing a continuation of the hot market in December.

This strength to kick off 2012 should quash any concerns that the market will experience a let-down, according to the latest analysis from the company’s Power Information Network and LMC Automotive.

LMC Automotive was formerly the automotive forecasting unit at J.D. Power. LMC purchased this J.D. Power division in November.

“Retail light-vehicle sales in January are showing stability coming off the 2011 high note in December,” stated John Humphrey, senior vice president of global automotive operations at J.D. Power.

“Vehicles are currently remaining on dealer lots for fewer than 50 days on average, which is the lowest level for January for the past several years,” he added. “This is a good indication that pent-up demand is beginning to return to the market.”

More specifically, analysts predict retail sales of 681,000 units for the month, which would be a 6-percent year-over-year gain. The resulting seasonally adjusted annualized rate would come out at 10.8 million, down month-over-month but a significant gain over January 2011.

Meanwhile, analysts are forecasting 869,600 total light-vehicle sales (including retail and fleet) for the month, which would be a 6-percent year-over-year hike, as well.

Fleet sales are likely to climb 9 percent year-over-year and command a 22-percent share of total sales, officials project. The total SAAR for January is expected to hit 13.5 million, which is on par with December and up from 12.7 million in January 2011.

Projections for 2012

Moving along, analysts also offered their expectations for the year, noting that January sales have picked up where December left off, continuing to be strong. They added that because of the ground gained last year, the market is set up to see hearty sales again in 2012.

LMC is keeping its full-year total sales projection at 13.8 million units with retail sales likely to come in at 11.3 million.

“The upward movement of auto sales during the second half of 2011 and the stabilization of that trend in January casts a favorable light on 2012, despite the macro-level risks the industry continues to face,” said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting at LMC Automotive.

“Coming off the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, a renewed sense of optimism is returning to the industry, as the focus continues to shift from survival to planning for the future,” he added.

Production Predictions

Next up, LMC delved into light-vehicle production numbers from 2011 while also forecasting 2012.

Overall, there were 13.0 million units produced in North America last year, up 1.2 million units year-over-year. For European automakers, their numbers went up more than 34 percent as they became more localized in production.

With greater manufacturing operations here as well, Hyundai showed a 44-percent hike in North American production. The Big 3 climbed 15 percent.

In light of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami and Thailand flooding, Japanese automakers saw more than a 5-percent dip in production.

Days’ supply for the industry was at 52 to start the year, down from 61 days’ supply to kick off December. This drop was spurred by high sales last month and the holiday production shutdown, officials noted.

Breaking it down, cars were at 55 days’ supply to begin this month, compared to 59 last month. Trucks were at 50 days’ supply, off from 63 days at the start of December.

LMC is projecting North American production will total 13.8 million units this year, which would be a 6-percent year-over-year hike.

“As industry-level inventory has returned to a healthy level, the need for a disciplined balance and management of supply and demand will continue to return as well,” said Schuster.