HONDA

MOTOR COMPANY
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS REPORT

joyce xu 
informatics 283
MHCID @ UCI 
TABLE OF
CONTENTS

Introduction 03

Direct Competitors 06

Indirect Competitors 20

Influencer Features 23

Recommendation 27
INTRODUCTION
quick overview
 The Power of Dreams
HONDA'S VALUE Founded in 1949 by Soichiro Honda, Honda Motor Company

PROPOSITION first began operations as a motorcycle manufacturer. Shortly

after, expansion into the automobile space has since paved
the way for their success. Since then, power equipments,
engines, solar products, robots and even aircrafts have been
added to Honda's line card. 

Today, the innovative company continues to be a leader in

the mobility and automotive industry committed to
 excellence, sustainability and safety. 
COMPETITOR
ANALYSIS BRIEF
Purpose Direct Competitors
Toyota
Our team conducted competitive research to review and compare online Nissan
sites and applications within the automotive industry. The goal was to
identify any opportunities or gaps for our client Honda.

The report includes information on our findings: Honda's direct and Indirect Competitors
indirect competitors. 
Lyft 

Goals
This competitive analysis will show how other players in the market are Influencers
performing based on a series of predetermined attributes. It also details
BMW
current trends that are both working and not working on competitor
Tesla
websites. 
Nike
DIRECT COMPETITORS
companies that offer similar products to your customers 
TOYOTA

Year Founded Content Types

1937 360 interior views
Minimal text
Gallery
Revenue Streams VIdeos
Car Sales
Financing
Parts & Service Repairs Website.grader.com Score
89
Primary Categories
Cars Website Traffic
Minivans
7.4 Million 
Trucks
Crossovers
SUVs Website
Hybrids www.toyota.com
Hydrogen Cars
TOYOTA

Homepage

GOOD
Toyota's site is very clean. The layout is simple and not
overwhelming. Above the fold, users can quickly access
build & price, search inventory, offers.

The upper-middle section of the page provides users

shortcuts to view popular categories, models, and trims.

The minimal amount of scrolling required on the homepage

is a bonus. Users are able to digest enough information in
the span of the first couple minutes to know where to get
started. 
TOYOTA

GOOD
Navigation & Browsing Internal product pages indicate a clear
breakdown of trim types. 

GOOD
Toyota has a dedicated page of all vehicles that
can be sorted and easily filterable. This allows
users to narrow in on their search criteria. 
TOYOTA

Build & Price

GOOD
Toyota's Build & Price experience is very simple.
There is a dedicated tab for each selection and the
system keeps the user in check along the way. Clear
checkmark indicators lefts the user know to
continue to the next section. In addition, an added
bonus is that there is a dedicated page for building
and pricing. 
TOYOTA

eCommerce-like Experience

GOOD
Many pages and elements within Toyota's site
resemble that of an eCommerce website. Allowing
the options to filter and select their preferences
makes the car shopping experience online much like
it is in real life.
TOYOTA

PERFORMANCE SEO
Website Grader Test Score 22/30 30/30

HubSpot's free website grader tool 89 MOBILE SECURITY

website.grader.com
30/30 10/10
allowed us to quickly get feedback on
Toyota's website. The tool's algorithm
measures page size, page requests, and
page speed.
NISSAN

Year Founded Primary Categories

1933 Cars
Minivans
Revenue Streams Trucks
Crossovers
Car Sales SUVs
Financing Sports Cars
Parts & Service Repairs Electric
Commercial
Content Types
Live chat feature Website.grader.com Score
360 interior views
84
Minimal text
Gallery & videos
Website Traffic
Website 4.8 Million
www.nissanusa.com
NISSAN

Homepage

GOOD
Overall, Nissan's site is also very clean. It's a short
homepage as well and doesn't require the user to
scroll much due to its simplicity and good use of
space. 

Like Toyota, Nissa also has four easy shortcuts above

the fold for users to easily interact with. 

The site has large font that's legible, a clear navigation

structure and even a live chat feature that we did not
see on Toyota or Honda's sites. 
NISSAN

Homepage

BAD
If the user types in www.nissan.com, they land
on the wrong site. This domain is probably
where most users would think to go to. 
NISSAN

Navigation & Browsing

GOOD
Users are able to quickly select their
desired car category easily via the
secondary navigation choices OR the
filters on the page. 
NISSAN

Locate a Dealer

GOOD
The maps interface allows users to
quickly search for directions. Efficiency is
important so users stay on your domain
as long as possible. 

GOOD
The interface provides users with visible
system status and messages. 
NISSAN

Live Chat 

GOOD
Nissan was the only competitor out of the
two we saw that had a live chat feature.

GOOD
The popup shows a clear indication to
the user that their request is processing.
This feedback mechanism adds to the
live chat's customer experience. 
NISSAN

PERFORMANCE SEO
Website Grader Test Score 19/30 25/30
HubSpot's free website grader tool 84 MOBILE SECURITY
website.grader.com
allowed us to quickly get feedback 30/30 10/10
on Nissan's's website. The tool's
algorithm measures page size, page
requests, and page speed.
INDIRECT COMPETITORS
companies that offer alternative products to your customers
LYFT

Year Founded Revenue Streams

2012 Transactional

Competitive Advantage
App Store Stats
Lyft is an on-demand
4.8/5 stars 
rideshare service where
85.2K ratings 
users can request a car
#2 in Travel  
Get anywhere without
owning a car 
Inexpensive & reliable Personalization
Personalized account
Content Types Credits
Maps Ride history
Minimal text  Settings
Social interactions Referrals/Invite friends
LYFT

Self-driving cars
Autonomous vehicle fleets will quickly become
widespread and will account for the majority of Lyft
rides within 5 years.

Last January, Lyft announced a partnership with

General Motors to launch an on-demand network of
autonomous vehicles. If you live in San Francisco or
Phoenix, you may have seen these cars on the road,
and within five years a fully autonomous fleet of
cars will provide the majority of Lyft rides across
the country.

Source: Medium - The Third Transportation Revolution

Lyft’s Vision for the Next Ten Years and Beyond
 INFLUENCERS
relevant UX features or findings from influencers
BMW

Test drive feature

BMW has a Test Drive feature on
their website where potential
buyers can schedule a test drive. 

This allows the user to book

directly with a dealer online and a
clear next step.

It creates stickiness and allows

the potential buyer an incentive
to go to a dealer. 
TESLA

No scroll homepage
Tesla's homepage is the most minimalist out of all
the car competitor sites we've visited. There is no
scroll. Just a video with a few options to proceed to
the internal pages. The use of a video background
also provides an emotional experience where
potential car buyers can imagine themselves owning
a vehicle. 
NIKE

Auto-play video
A homepage video is visually
and emotionally engaging -
adding to the user's overall
experience and a form of buyer
persuasion. 
RECOMMENDATION
next steps
RECOMMENDATIONS
Opportunity
The car industry is extremely difficult to compete in. There are various reasons why consumers choose one brand over another. 
Honda's advantage is that they excel at being diverse. They not only produce automobiles, they have specializations in motorcycles,
racecars, jets, as well as water boats. 

Honda is already a leader in the North America car market. Honda's biggest competitors are Toyota and Nissan. Both of these competitors
have already started exploring different fuel sources such as hydrogen and electric vehicles. Although Honda is excelling with car interior
technology and safety specs, they can compete by investing in R&D of alternative environmental vehicles such as Hydrogen fueled cars
and/or self-driving cars. 
 

Our Recommendation: The Future of Autonomous Vehicles

Honda should partner up with ridesharing services such as Lyft or Uber to exclusively use self-driving Honda vehicles. They would be the
first in the market to publicly use self-driving cars on a mass basis. 
NEXT STEPS SUMMARY
Website Experience
Enhance the current Build & Price functionality to be more intuitive; each car model should have its own respective Build
& Price page 
Make Build & Price visible in the global navigation
Less is more: reduce the amount of scrolling a user needs to perform on the site 
Display all quick-access links above the fold
Reduce content on the homepage
Increase the speed of your site to avoid bounce rates
Provide a 360 interior view of a car model on internal car pages
Allow the user to have an eCommerce-like shopping experience: filtering and narrowing down their search criteria
Improve the site's performance - see next slide

Marketing Strategy
Allow potential buyers to sign up for a test drive 
Consider a Live Chat feature 
SITE PERFORMANCE