SÃO PAULO – Ford was the most mentioned automaker in the online news media, according to a survey conducted by MITI Inteligência (www.miti.com.br) -- a Brazilian company specializing in monitoring online news. The survey was based only on spontaneous (earned) media, excluding advertisement (paid media).
 
The consulting company monitored more than 4,000 online communication, media and social networks -- including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Orkut, blogs, forums and claim websites -- from Jan. 1  to Jan. 5, 2011 -- to compare the placement of major automakers.

In the monitoring period, Ford was the automaker most quoted in the online news media: 15 percent of 5,000 items posted. Ford was followed by Fiat, Volkswagen, Honda and GM with a presence ranging between 6.8 percent and 12 percent of postings.

During that period, Ford and GM were the most cited brands among all the monitored posts on the networks. The two brands tied for the lead with about 15 percent of 14, 000 captured interactions. Together they amounted to nearly one third of all posts. The most mentioned automakers, following Ford and GM, were Mercedes, Fiat and Honda respectively.