Justin Graves, the CEO of Infegy, which developed and offers a powerful research application for tracking online buzz, is a big Autoblog fan, particularly of our By the Numbers posts that detail sales figures for the entire U.S. auto industry. Graves makes his own monthly list of the Top 50 Social Brands, which ranks them according to which are talked about the most online. That list includes a few automakers, but after talking with Graves, we thought it'd be interesting to see how all the automakers stack up in terms of online buzz. We've listed the top five below, and you can click here to visit Grave's blog, Buzz Study, to see the whole list.

  1. Ford
  2. BMW
  3. Toyota
  4. Chrysler (+5)
  5. VW (-1)
Are you surprised to see Ford in the top spot? We're not. Ford itself is one of the few automakers that's been truly active online in spreading its corporate message. The Fiesta Movement is one example that, as you know, created a lot of excitement on the internet. Chrysler's presence in the top five isn't surprising either, though for entirely different reasons. Its recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and alliance with Fiat have meant that the Pentastar remains a hot topic online. Online discussion about the death of Pontiac has also moved that brand way up the list, but you'll have to click through to find out where it landed.

[Source: Buzz Study, Photo by Daniel Gebhart | CC2.0]