Top 10 Cars Of 2006 via Google Adwords

Here is a fun review of our 10 most searched Cars, from over 10 million searches in the UK. These searches are only from visitors via Google adWords for the 12 months in 2006.

Car Manufacturer	Share	Image
1. Mercedes As the song goes .. “My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends. Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends, So Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz” .. Not all my friends drive Porsches but I’d love an SLK 55AMG god if you are listening!	8.84%
2. Ford The trusty “Dagenham Dustbin” is surprisingly topped by the Germans. Possibly down to the fact that they couldn’t shift enough GT 40’s … at £100,000!	8.01%
3. Audi “Vorsprung durch technik” as all the chavs sing when you zoom past them in your TT. Audi have tried to simplify their range by making everything look similar. Next years range will be a single car that just gets bigger.	7.17%
4. Vauxhall The Astra “Ashtray” is the most popular selling model in Europe (mainly under the Opal brand). Our favourite thing about Vauxhall is the two chubby middle aged Meriva & Zafira children on the adverts.	6.23%
5. Toyota Famed for some of the most appalling cars on Britain’s roads in the late 80’s - early 90’s (remember the Whale tail on the Supra), Toyota now lead the way in Green cars and are one of the top marques for customer satisfaction. Top Gear immortalised the Toyota Pick Up by dropping buildings on one and blowing it up. The resulting mess of a truck was still drivable (although highly un-road worthy) … a bit like most Toyota cars on the roads in the late 80’s	6.04%
6. BMW The 320d was the first diesel to be best selling car for the German marque a couple of years ago. The “BM” 3 series is salesman and kids first choice. The X5 & M3 models are first choice for aspiring footballers and rappers. We love the Ferrari busting M5 though.	5.53%
7. Volkswagen The Golf has been around for about 487 years now. Ever reliable the Germans hit a winning formula in the early 80’s with the second generation GTi’s. VW have branched out into the 4×4 and executive luxury markets with the Phaeton and Toureg models but their bread and butter will always be a reassuringly expensive hot hatch.	5.36%
8. Land Rover The original “Chelsea Tractor”. After some teething problems with the original Freelanders falling to bits, Land Rover (and the posh Range Rover) seem to have hit a winning formula. Many people moan about the raising fuel costs and carbon foot prints but when your plodding along in a Rangey Sport, sitting on half a cow skin 3 feet above the rest of the world, who cares!	5.27%
9. Honda An unbreakable engine has catapulted the former low budget marque into the dealer network with the happiest customers. Their adverts are not too shoddy either!	5.24%
10. Volvo Volvo have come a long way since David Blaine drove one over some train tracks off a cliff. No longer boxy and solid, Volvos are now sleek and sexy without losing the solid feel.	4.39%