A recent study by a British automotive marketplace has leveraged artificial intelligence to quantify driver happiness based on social media selfies, revealing which car brands put the biggest smiles on owners’ faces.
The analysis by Autotrader UK examined 47,000 Instagram selfies associated with various car brand hashtags. It aimed to identify which brands elicited the highest levels of driver satisfaction, moving beyond conventional metrics like vehicle speed or visual appeal.
Using Amazon Web Services’ Rekognition software, the study measured facial expressions in the selfies to assign an average happiness score out of 100 for each brand. Only brands with more than 100 relevant selfies were included, with contest-related images filtered out.
Smart cars, known for their compact urban models, topped the happiness index with a score of 88.65 out of 100. This places the small vehicle manufacturer as the front-runner for driver contentment.
Following Smart were Volkswagen, Cadillac, and Audi. Toyota, Subaru, Jeep, Bentley, and Volvo also appeared in the top ten. Tesla ranked 10th, achieving a happiness score of 58.09.
At the other end of the spectrum, among the 25 brands surveyed, Lexus recorded the lowest happiness score at 29.28.
Erin Baker, Editorial Director at Autotrader, highlighted the importance of this emotional connection. She advised consumers to consider more than just fuel efficiency or trunk space when choosing a car.
Instead, Baker suggested focusing on “the car that’s going to make you happy every time you sit in the driver’s seat.” The study implies that factors such as driving quality, brand identity, or how well a car fits a driver’s lifestyle contribute significantly to overall happiness.