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Toyota, BMW Lead Among Most-Shopped Non-Luxury, Luxury Auto Brands, According to Latest Kelley Blue Book Brand Watch Report

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Toyota dominates as the most-shopped non-luxury automotive brand while BMW remains on top among luxury brands, as revealed along with other new-vehicle shopping and consumer perception findings in the latest Kelley Blue Book Brand Watchä Report for Q2 2021. In addition, amid ongoing supply-chain issues and inventory struggles throughout the auto industry, pickup truck shopping increased, traditional car shopping stabilized, and SUV shopping leveled off in the second quarter of the year.

Kelley Blue Book’s Brand Watch Report features insights from a consumer perception survey among new-car shoppers that also weaves in shopping behavior to determine how a brand or model stacks up with its segment competitors on a dozen factors key to consumers’ buying decisions. Kelley Blue Book produces a separate Brand Watch Report for non-luxury and luxury brands each quarter.

“As the entire automotive industry continues to grapple with the ongoing microchip shortage and related supply chain disruptions as a fallout of the global pandemic, it’s interesting to see how consumer perceptions and shopping behaviors change in some areas and how they hold steadfast in others,” said Vanessa Ton, senior industry intelligence manager for Kelley Blue Book. “Top brands like Toyota and BMW have stayed at the top of shoppers’ consideration lists, but interest in popular models has shifted and other brands are starting to close in. We also see that segment considerations fluctuated quite a bit among shoppers in response to inventory shortages.”

Non-Luxury Brand Highlights: Toyota Most-Shopped Non-Luxury Brand, as Ford Closes the Gap; Japanese Brands Lose Shopping Consideration, with Subaru Suffering Biggest Loss; Trucks Regain Traction as SUVs Level Off, Cars and Minivans Hold Steady

According to the Q2 2021 Kelley Blue Book Brand Watch Report for non-luxury brands, inventory-constrained Toyota continues to hold onto its top spot for shopping consideration. Of all non-luxury vehicle shoppers, a full one-third considered a Toyota in Q2, slipping by one percentage point from the first quarter but still maintaining the lead. Shopping consideration also translated into sales, as Toyota sales rose 74% in the second quarter, far outpacing the industry’s 50% gain and causing its market share to edge higher. For the first time, Toyota (together with its luxury sister brand Lexus) sold more vehicles in the quarter than General Motors.

Despite Toyota’s most-shopped status, ongoing inventory shortages likely hampered the brand’s growth in Q2. Shopping consideration for the Toyota RAV4 fell 15% from the first quarter, likely because the RAV4 and its hybrid version had the lowest inventories of all models during the second quarter. Toyota’s midsize Tacoma pickup truck, also in short supply, experienced a 6% decline in consideration. However, the Toyota Camry rode the wave of growth in traditional-car sales with an 18% increase in shopping consideration, landing the sedan a spot on the Top 10 most-shopped non-luxury models for the first time since last year.

Meanwhile, Ford narrowed the gap with Toyota in the second quarter despite its own supply challenges. In the first quarter of the year, Toyota was at 34% and Ford was at 29%, but in Q2, Toyota slipped to 33% while Ford rose to 31%. Ford was one of the few brands that had higher shopping consideration in the second quarter than the first, despite production cuts and inventory shortages. The brand was lifted by rising consideration for certain models, including the full-size F-150 pickup (up 13%), the larger F-Series trucks (up 22%), Explorer (up 8%), and Mustang Mach-E. Meanwhile, Ford’s crosstown domestic rival Chevrolet experienced an increase in non-luxury shopper consideration, up to 27% in Q2 from 25% in Q1. Shopping consideration for the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup was up 28% from Q1, the biggest gain of any model in the industry.

Japanese non-luxury brands lost shopping consideration, with the exception of Mitsubishi which held steady. South Korean brands Hyundai and Kia held steady, as well – despite lower or stagnant shopping consideration, all had higher sales in Q2, and some set records. Subaru suffered the biggest loss in shopping consideration of any brand, falling to 13% of all shoppers (a drop of three percentage points from Q1), possibly due its extremely tight inventories caused by the chip shortage. Subaru’s most popular models, the Outback and Forester, had the scantest inventories throughout the quarter and fell the most among the Top 10 most-shopped non-luxury vehicles. Shopping consideration for Forester declined 26%, while Outback was down 22%.

When examining non-luxury segments, shopping consideration for pickup trucks picked up steam once again in Q2 after taking a breather in the first quarter from previous frenzied levels. Of all non-luxury shoppers, 31% considered a truck. The return of interest in trucks may be due to strong construction and housing starts as Americans beef up home projects amidst the pandemic. Some shoppers also may consider pickups as an alternative to SUVs.

SUV consideration leveled off in Q2 after reaching new heights in Q1. Of all non-luxury shoppers, 64% considered an SUV, down from a record 67% in the first quarter. Weakened shopping consideration for compact and midsize SUVs – both very popular categories with extremely low supply – likely drove the SUV category softening. Undoubtedly SUV consideration will regain momentum as several anticipated new models hit the market soon, including Jeep’s new Wagoneer and Grand Cherokee offerings, the Mazda CX-50 and the Toyota Corolla Cross.

Sales of traditional cars rose 62% in Q2, and shopping consideration for traditional cars held steady at 33% of all non-luxury shoppers. Some SUV shoppers likely looked to cars as alternatives to SUVs that were in short supply, while some used-vehicle shoppers who found empty dealership lots chose to buy a new car instead. The minivan segment held steady at 5% of all shoppers, and minivans had the lowest inventories of any segment through much of Q2.

The Top 10 most-shopped non-luxury vehicles list for Q2 represents a mix of trucks, SUVs and sedans, as well as domestics and imports. Ford and Toyota led with three vehicles each on the list, while Honda and Subaru each had two, and Chevrolet had one.

Kelley Blue Book Brand Watch Report Q2 2021: Top 10 Most-Shopped Non-Luxury Vehicles

Rank

Vehicle Category

Make

Model

1

Full-Size Truck

Ford

F-150

2

Full-Size Truck

Chevrolet

Silverado 1500

3

Compact SUV

Honda

CR-V

4

Compact SUV

Toyota

RAV-4

5

Midsize SUV

Subaru

Outback

6

Full-Size Truck

Ford

F-250/F-350/F-450

7 (tied)

Midsize Car

Honda

Accord

7 (tied)

Midsize Truck

Toyota

Tacoma

8 (tied)

Midsize SUV

Ford

Explorer

8 (tied)

Compact SUV

Subaru

Forester

8 (tied)

Midsize Car

Toyota

Camry

Luxury Brand Highlights: BMW Most-Shopped Luxury Brand, Widens Gap with Lexus; Luxury Car Shopping Stabilizes Amid SUV Dominance; Tesla Consideration Wanes, Yet Model 3 Remains Most-Shopped Luxury Vehicle

According to the Q2 2021 Kelley Blue Book Brand Watch Report for luxury brands, BMW experienced a stellar second quarter in terms of both shopping consideration and sales. Despite the global chip shortage challenging the industry, BMW managed to outmaneuver its competitors to deliver the largest gain in shopping consideration among luxury brands while also capturing the lead in luxury vehicle sales. With a healthy second-quarter gain of three percentage points from the first quarter, BMW remains the most-shopped brand for the 12th straight quarter. Of all luxury vehicle shoppers, 23% considered a BMW. Increased shopping consideration for two sedans and two SUVs spurred along BMW’s gains in Q2: the 5 series sedan increased 42% and the 3 Series sedan rose 33%, while the X5 and X3 utility vehicles increased 11% and 8%, respectively. With the forthcoming U.S. introduction of new products like the electric i4 sedan and 2 Series, BMW consideration has room to grow even further.

For luxury brand runners-up, Lexus widened its gap to winner BMW but held steady at 19% of shopping consideration, Audi gained a percentage point to tie with Lexus, and Mercedes-Benz captured 15% to take the third-most-shopped spot. The second-biggest gain in shopping consideration for Q2 went to Porsche, due to a surge in consideration for the 911, Macan and 718.

By segment, shopping consideration for luxury SUVs remained unchanged from the first to the second quarter; of luxury vehicle shoppers, 66% considered an SUV. The luxury SUV category may gain momentum with the forthcoming release of several new models this year, including the redesigned Lexus NX, the Volvo C40 and the long-awaited Infiniti QX60. While luxury cars have not experienced the dramatic decline in shopping consideration that non-luxury cars have in recent years, consideration in the category is stabilizing and slightly growing. Q2 luxury car shopping gained one percentage point to 55% of all luxury vehicle shoppers. Luxury car consideration may improve – or at least stabilize further – with the upcoming introduction of new models like the Audi A3, BMW 2 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Acura ILX.

Even though luxury car shopping eked out a gain while luxury SUV shopping held steady for Q2, utility vehicles still comprised the majority of the Top 10 most-shopped luxury vehicles. Of the Top 10, seven were SUVs and only three were cars. BMW leads among brands with four vehicles on the Top 10 list, Tesla and Buick each had two, and Lexus and Acura each had one. While Tesla shopping consideration has waned overall in Q2, dipping a percentage point due to declining consideration for the Model 3, Model Y and Model S, the brand continues to dominate the list of most-shopped EVs and holds tight to the No. 1 spot of most-shopped luxury vehicles with the Model 3.

Kelley Blue Book Brand Watch Report Q2 2021: Top 10 Most-Shopped Luxury Vehicles

Rank

Vehicle Category

Make

Model

1

Entry Luxury H/P/E Car

Tesla

Model 3

2

Luxury Car

BMW

5 Series

3

Luxury Midsize SUV

Lexus

RX

4

Entry Luxury Car

BMW

3 Series

5

Luxury Midsize SUV

Buick

Enclave

6

Luxury Midsize SUV

BMW

X5

7

Luxury Compact H/P/E SUV

Tesla

Model Y

8

Luxury Midsize SUV

Acura

MDX

9

Luxury Subcompact

Buick

Encore

10

Luxury Compact SUV

BMW

X3

Artificial Intelligence

XtalPi Unveils XtalGazer: A Comprehensive AI-Driven Polymorph Selection Platform

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — XtalPi Inc., a leading global technology company in integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to advance the discovery of groundbreaking medicine and innovative materials, announced today the launch of its proprietary comprehensive solid form discovery and selection platform, XtalGazer. This advanced platform aims to significantly improve the polymorph selection process for the pharmaceutical industry by integrating AI- and automation-powered experimental and computational approaches.

XtalGazer provides a total solution for delivering high-quality polymorph screening and selection methods to expedite drug development and mitigate risks. It represents a paradigm shift in solid-state research, moving from the traditional trial-and-error approach to a data-driven, design-led methodology. The platform provides an expansive suite of foundational tools to accelerate polymorph discovery, characterization, and selection process, empowering pharmaceutical companies to conduct thorough research with less active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in shorter development cycles.
A key component of XtalGazer is XtalCSP, a crystal structure prediction platform to perform global searches of crystal structures for target molecules and the other optional components in the corresponding searching space, offering a deep insight into possible stable forms. Furthermore, crystallization strategy recommendations will provide AI-backed experimental design to help avoid human bias. XtalGazer also utilizes MicroED to rapidly elucidate crystal structures from powder samples, reducing the need for growing single crystals.
XtalPi’s launch of XtalGazer marks another significant step in the company’s ongoing exploration of solid-state research. From crystal structure prediction platforms being one of the first products to launch at XtalPi, to today’s comprehensive polymorph selection platform, XtalPi will keep fulfilling its promise to solving challenging problems in this space. XtalPi will continue to deliver faster, more accurate, and more comprehensive approaches to building an ecosystem for the R&D process in solid-state, pre-formulation and crystallization.
For more information about XtalPi, please visit www.xtalpi.com.
About XtalPi:
XtalPi is an innovative technology company powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. Founded in 2015 on the MIT campus, XtalPi is dedicated to driving intelligent and digital transformation in the life science and new materials industries. With tightly interwoven quantum physics, AI, cloud computing, and large-scale clusters of robotic workstations, XtalPi offers a range of technology solutions, services, and products to accelerate and empower innovation for biopharmaceutical and new materials companies worldwide.
Media Contact: Vivienne [email protected]
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ICIS and Base Oil News Announce Partnership to Enhance Market Insights

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LONDON, March 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — ICIS, a global source of commodity intelligence, is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Base Oil News, a premier news outlet founded by industry expert Iain Pocock that provides in-depth coverage of the base oils and lubricants market. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in the dissemination and exchange of critical market data and insights.

With more than two decades of journalism experience at Bloomberg, Reuters, and Argus Media, Iain Pocock brings unparalleled expertise to this partnership. His deep understanding of illiquid energy markets makes him a credible and influential figure in the industry. Since November 2023, Iain has been working closely with ICIS to share and exchange valuable data and insights, enhancing the services both platforms offer to the base oils and lubricants market.
Through the collaboration, Iain integrates ICIS’ extensive content and data resources in Base Oil News market coverage. In return, he contributes market insights to ICIS News, including expert and exclusive analysis of supply and demand dynamics, price margins, and other critical market drivers. This exchange ensures that subscribers of both ICIS and Base Oil News have access to the most comprehensive, timely, and accurate market information, empowering them to make informed decisions.
“It’s a very exciting partnership – where we leverage each other’s strengths and provide actionable insights to our customers,” said Iain Pocock, Founder of Base Oil News. “The market is the winner.”
“As ICIS is already the world’s most trusted pricing benchmark for base oils, this collaboration with Iain Pocock and Base Oil News provides an even stronger and deeper service to our customers,” said Stephen Burns, Editorial Director at ICIS. “Iain’s expertise and extensive industry connections are invaluable, and we have established a fruitful partnership that benefits the market at large.”
For the latest insights from Iain Pocock on ICIS News, visit ICIS News.  
About ICIS
ICIS – Independent Commodity Intelligence Services – helps businesses through seamlessly delivering data and analytics, across the chemical, fertilizer and energy markets. A trusted source and benchmark for price information and insight across key commodities markets worldwide. Our independent, transparent market intelligence informs thousands of quality decisions every day, taking the pressure out of negotiations and giving customers space for more innovative thinking, through published datasets including price assessments, price forecasts, supply and demand fundamentals and more.
Over 150 years of shaping the world by connecting markets to optimise the world’s valuable resources. With a global team of more than 600 experts, ICIS has employees based in London, New York, Houston, Karlsruhe, Milan, Mumbai, Singapore, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Dubai, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Tokyo and Perth.
ICIS is part of RELX, a FTSE15 company with a market cap of £64bn and an employee base of over 30,000 experts across 40 countries.
About RELX
RELX is a global provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries. The Group serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs approximately 30,000 people of whom almost half are in North America. RELX PLC is a London listed holding company which owns 52.9% of RELX Group. RELX NV is an Amsterdam listed holding company which owns 47.1% of RELX Group. The shares are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX and RENX. Total market capitalisation is approximately £64bn | €75bn | $81bn.
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Trianz Welcomes Israel Abraham as Vice President of Services for Extrica.ai – The Data to AI Platform

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SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Digital transformation technology & services company Trianz is pleased to announce the appointment of Israel Abraham as Vice President of Extrica Platform Services.

Trianz has embarked on a transformative journey, redefining its value proposition with an ‘IP Led’ model, with a commitment to deliver the fastest time to value, lowest human dependence, and highest ROI. Central to this approach are our hyper-automated platforms, Concierto.Cloud, Extrica.AI, and Pulse, driving industry-leading transformations in cloud, data and analytics, AI, and the digital workplace.
Israel Abraham is a very well-known pioneer and industry leader in AI, data management, and analytics systems, with over three decades of experience. He joins as the services leader for Extrica- the Trianz Data to AI platform, which productizes data, provides data a face and purpose, and accelerates time to insights and AI by 50% or more. In the role of Extrica Services leader, Israel will lead the shaping, visioning, and delivery of Extrica.ai based enterprise wide datamesh, BI, and AI solutions for customers worldwide.
“We are thrilled to welcome Israel Abraham to the Trianz family,” said Sri Manchala, CEO of Trianz and author of Crossing the Digital Faultline. “He is a leader in modernization as well as conceptualization of data platforms anew. Israel’s prior background in the industry with financial services and insurance giants underscores our commitment to securing top-tier talent that brings real-world experiences and needs to our technology platforms. As we continue to broaden our footprint in the digital transformation space, Israel’s visionary leadership and practical experience will serve as the cornerstone in accelerating insights and AI to deliver transformative value to our clients.”
Having played pivotal roles in highly reputed and large organizations such as Liberty Mutual Insurance, MassMutual, Safeco, and CNA Insurance, Israel has garnered recognition as a seasoned leader in big data and AI cloud implementations. His accolades include the prestigious 2014 Ventana Research IT Innovation Award, the 2009 Informatica MDM Innovation Award, and three filed Data Engineering patents in the last four years.
“Trianz has been at the forefront of digital innovation, and Extrica.ai is a paradigm shifting data to AI platform that completely changes how analytics and AI are delivered- much faster, taking business ahead of change. I am excited to scale the adoption of the Extrica platform, which has attracted attention from giants across the industry and hyperscalers,” said Israel Abraham. “I look forward to engaging with customers, bringing my own experiences, and collaborating with the talented team at Trianz to further enhance the capabilities of the Extrica Platform Services to transform data & AI strategies, execution, and outcomes for customers.”
About Trianz
Trianz is a leading-edge technology platforms and services company that accelerates digital transformations at Fortune 100 and emerging companies worldwide in data & analytics, digital experiences, cloud infrastructure, and security. Our ‘IP Led Transformations’ approach, informed by insights from a recent global study spanning 20+ industries and 5000+ companies, addresses challenges posed by the rapid pace of AI-driven transformation, digital talent scarcity, and economic uncertainty. Our IP and platforms, including Concierto, Extrica, and Pulse, revolutionize cloud adoption, data analytics, and AI insights, empowering organizations to navigate the complexities of digital transformation seamlessly.
Founded in California and with an organization of over 2,000 associates across the United States and India, Trianz is a Premier Partner of AWS, consistently rated #1 by clients for value delivery over the past five years. Trianz has been ranked as one of the best Consulting Firms by Forbes and has been certified as a Great Place to Work for three years in a row. To learn more about Trianz, email [email protected] or visit www.trianz.com.
Watch Trianz CEO Sri Manchala’s insightful interview with Bloomberg on Partner | Crossing The Digital Faultline & Leading Towards Transformative Success – YouTube and delve deeper into his book Crossing the Digital Faultline at Crossing the Digital Faultline | Trianz.
Trianz Media [email protected] +1-408-387-5800
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