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A car commercial might last 30 or 45 seconds, and in most cases, only a tiny portion of it will discuss pricing.  I’m not complaining - high-def laps are more interesting than transferable leases - but this is all the more reason to turn to blogs, social networks, and other online resources for financial information.

Web 2.0 Talks About Car Pricing

“Millions of consumers go online daily to talk about and research cars prior to making a purchase,” notes a new Nielsen BuzzMetrics report.  “In fact, online buzz for transaction pricing and incentives across automotive discussion forums is up 40% since January 2007.”

Forums can connect prospective buyers with current owners, and provide figures concerning both new and used cars.  Manufacturers’ sites, by contrast, only state sticker prices on new cars.  And there’s no telling what you’ll hear from an auto dealer.

Other sources also exist, of course.  BuzzMetrics constructed what’s known as a brand association map around the word “incentives,” and the term “Edmunds” appears very close to the center of the map.  Edmunds, which specializes in pricing, professional reviews, and hard statistics, is one of the best friends a car shopper could hope for.

Still, even Edmunds has social components, and it looks like these Web 2.0 attributes are set to play an increasingly large role in the automotive market.