𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁

As budgeting season continues for many brands, our clients have been asking us for the key digital trends for 2026.

Here’s our latest summary:

1. Chinese brands are continuing to build digital market share, particularly those that are focused on EV. 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝟰% 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲, more than double that of last year. In the UK, it’s an amazing 6%. For EV it is higher still, touching 7% for EU5. Sign up to our Chinese brand webinar to hear more using the link in the comments below

2. AI assisted search is posing the question: 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿? Before the launch of ChatGPT, traffic to car brands in the EU5 was growing year-on-year. It is now declining by more than 7%

3. Campaign measurement has never been more essential in these cash-strapped times. 𝗦𝗼𝗽𝗵𝘂𝘀𝟯 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗜𝗧𝗩 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗞 𝘁𝗼 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗩 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 on the car buying journey, with surprising results. It makes marketing spend go further

4. Our EV Index, which measures the ‘𝗘𝗩 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀’ 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀, has shown encouraging growth since 2023, with the UK and Germany leading the way. Italy and Spain still have a lot of work to do

5. We are used to falling customer engagement i

n digital, but the last numbers from our eDataXchange benchmarkin

g platform are sobering: average 𝗱𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗨𝟱 𝗰𝗮𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 -𝟮𝟭%. Our engagement tools are being used by clients to identify the highest-quality visitors and ensure their experience is optimised at every stage of the funnel.

Sophus3 has a wealth of digital data to 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. Please reach out to hear more.