As General Motors files for Chapter 11 today, and the government steps in with $30 billion in additional aid, online discussion seems focused on the appropriateness of government intervention. I’m preoccupied with a more basic question; assuming General Motors successfully restructures itself, is there sufficient demand for GM vehicles to maintain a viable business?
Lets check-in on Hitwise search term data to see what our queries might reveal about the GM brand. According to the Wall Street Journal, over the last eighteen years, GM’s U.S. market share has fallen from 45% to 22% as of 2008. The chart below shows a precipitous decline in searches for top GM brands.

Going through the list of all search terms driving traffic to our Automotive – Manufacturers category, I ranked the top 10 automotive brands searched over the last four weeks (period ending 5/30/09):
1. Toyota
2. Honda
3. Ford
4. Nissan
5. Hyundai
6. Dodge
7. Kia
8. Suzuki
9. Volkswagon
10. Jeep
The first GM brand, “Chevrolet” shows-up in the #12 spot during this period. But most telling for brand challenges going forward, is the variations in search queries containing “GM” over the last four weeks. (on a separate note, over the last two years luxury auto brands have dropped out of the top ten signaling price-sensitivity to economic conditions).

In the weeks leading up to today’s bankruptcy filing, of the top 100 searches containing “GM,” 65% focused on financial information (e.g. stock price, bankruptcy filing, bondholder interest), while 25% sought information on closing dealerships. What was noticeably missing from the top 100 was any mention of GM models or brands. Reviewing the list of GM search variations in their entirety, one of General Motors’ most significant challenges going forward will be to create demand in new and existing car models while overcoming fear that dwindling dealerships will diminish support.