Mercedes-Benz has been named the most influential car brand by a social media agency in Scotland.
The agency looked at the social accounts for the major car brands, before calculating the total followers across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
With 48,133,119 fans and followers, Mercedes-Benz finishes top, ahead of BMW (46,284,467) and Volkswagen (41,587,168) in second and third place.
Whether or not true ‘influence’ can be judged purely on number of followers is up for discussion. However, there’s no doubt that the three German brands are big players in social circles.
With 34 million Twitter followers, Volkswagen leads the way in the automotive sector, while BMW tops the Instagram table with 23 million fans.
But Mercedes-Benz only manages to finish 27th overall, making it a relative minnow in comparison to some non-automotive brands.
National Geographic leads the way with a mammoth 202,817,271 followers and fans, making it the most influential brand in the eyes of Pilotfish Media.
Next up is Samsung (180,880,818), followed by Nike (134,840,198), NBA (118,371,052) and Coca-Cola (116,650,534).
Top 10 most influential car brands
| Brand | YouTube | Total | |||
| Mercedes-Benz | 20,992,148 | 3,415,143 | 22,625,828 | 1,100,000 | 48,133,119 |
| BMW | 20,992,255 | 1,992,760 | 23,043,452 | 955,000 | 46,284,467 |
| Volkswagen | 34,046,736 | 580,669 | 6,801,763 | 158,000 | 41,587,168 |
| Lamborghini | 12,722,642 | 1,852,725 | 22,531,891 | 1,090,000 | 38,197,258 |
| Ferrari | 16,381,658 | 562,120 | 16,103,144 | 641,000 | 33,687,922 |
| Porsche | 11,694,523 | 1,799,720 | 1,760,357 | 786,000 | 32,240,600 |
| Audi | 11,206,274 | 2,029,077 | 14,901,907 | 448,000 | 28,585,258 |
| Ford | 15,773,235 | 1,193,886 | 3,602,808 | 2,000,000 | 22,569,929 |
| Mini | 12,283,157 | 91,377 | 1,099,070 | 100,000 | 13,573,604 |
| Jeep | 6,013,939 | 996,269 | 5,627,470 | 168,000 | 12,805,678 |
| Toyota | 9,466,553 | 771,663 | 1,529,967 | 370,000 | 12,138,183 |
Most influential brands overall
Looking at brands overall, Pilotfish Media claims these are the most influential:
- Most influential brand: National Geographic
- Most influential sector: Sport
- Most influential brand on Facebook: Samsung
- Most influential brand on Twitter: NBA
- Most influential brand on Instagram: National Geographic
- Most influential brand on YouTube: National Geographic
Click here to see the table in full.