The Malaysia-based meta-search website, which operates in Vietnam and six other countries across Southeast Asia, said it considered 22 car brands googled between March 1 and May 31 this year to find the most searched brands.

Honda topped the list since it produces both motorbikes and cars, and has an 80 percent share of the motorbike market.

It was also the most googled brand in Thailand and Indonesia. In the Philippines, it was Toyota.

In Singapore and Hong Kong, which prioritize green transportation, American electric vehicle brand Tesla was in first place.

Across the seven markets, Honda was the most googled brand with 550,000 searches, followed by Toyota (368,000) and BMW (301,000). Tesla and Mitsubishi tied with 246,000 to round off the top five.

The study also found that SUVs were the most searched cars in all seven markets, followed by sedans, MPV/WGNs, hatchbacks, and coupes.

According to data from Vietnamese manufacturer Thanh Cong Motor and the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA), Toyota Vios was the most sold model in the first half of this year with 11,244 units.

Sales of VAMA members, who account for more than 95 percent of the market, were down 30 percent year-on-year to 102,720 vehicles.