The Auto Channel
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
Official Website of the New Car Buyer

Tight Supply and Stronger Demand Continues to Push Prices Higher for New and Used Trucks


PHOTO (select to view enlarged photo)

ATLANTA, Oct. 6 -- Average asking prices for new vehicles on AutoTrader.com showed signs of improvements from last September's lows, with many seeing incremental increases from the year before. In addition, views for luxury cars also saw gains in shopping activity. This trend was led by the BMW 3-series, which saw views on AutoTrader.com increase 51% year-over-year from September 2008.

"While a potential 'hangover effect' from the end of Cash-for-Clunkers remains a concern, the better control of supply and inventory by the OEMs should allow manufacturers to keep prices for new vehicles stable during the fall, even if demand for new vehicles remains tepid due to a lack of consumer confidence or concern about the economy," said AutoTrader.com President and CEO Chip Perry.

Korean brands Hyundai and Kia saw increases in views in line with their significant sales increases in September. Leading the way was Hyundai's midsized crossover, the Santa Fe, which saw an increase in views of 112% over last year to edge out the Chevrolet Equinox and Ford Escape and earn a place on the top 20 Most Viewed Vehicles List. As a brand, Kia saw views increase 283% year-over-year, the largest of any mainstream brand surveyed by AutoTrader.com. Dodge, meanwhile, saw a drop of 44% in views from September 2008, a number likewise reflected in that brand's monthly sales total.

New pickup trucks continue to see double digit increases in prices compared to last year, including the Ford F-150, with an average price up 20% compared to September of 2008, the Chevy Silverado 1500, up 12% compared to last year and the Dodge Ram 1500, up nearly 16% from last year. These price increases reflect increased tightening of supply for these vehicles as more car buyers purchase them and manufacturers make fewer of them.

Used & CPO Car Activity

Used prices continued to climb upwards as the supply of certified pre-owned (CPO) and traditional used vehicles continues to tighten. Heavy-duty full-size pick-ups saw the largest increases in average asking prices, led by the Ford F-250 (up 45% year-over-year), and followed by the Chevrolet Silverado 2500 (up 41%) and the Dodge Ram 2500 (up 34%).

"There is still a great demand for full-size pick-ups, both in regular and heavy duty configurations," said Perry. "What has been changing, however, is that the demand for either new or used full-size crossovers and SUVs appears to have faded somewhat."

Record September Site Traffic

AutoTrader.com continues to hit traffic records as more and more car shoppers respond to AutoTrader.com's value proposition, auto inventory and auto shopping tools. In September, AutoTrader.com logged 14.14 million unique visitors, up 5% from September of 2008 and the first time AutoTrader.com's September traffic exceeded 14 million.

"AutoTrader.com continues to be a dominant brand in auto shopping," said Perry. "We've continued to add tools and functionality that allow shoppers to compare cars side by side, get detailed information, read customer reviews, check dealer specials and pricing and more. Added to our inventory of millions of new, used and CPO vehicles for, AutoTrader.com provides all the information a car shopper needs to find the right car at the right price."

About AutoTrader.com

AutoTrader.com, created in 1997 and headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., is the Internet's leading auto classifieds marketplace and consumer information website. AutoTrader.com aggregates in a single location millions of new cars, used cars and certified pre-owned cars from thousands of auto dealers and private owners. The site attracts about 15 million unique monthly visitors. Through innovative merchandising functionality such as multiple photos, videos, detailed descriptions and comprehensive research and compare tools, AutoTrader.com unites new and used car buyers and sellers online to improving the way people research, locate and advertise vehicles. AutoTrader.com is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. The venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is also an investor. For more information, please visit www.autotrader.com.

                             Rank      Rank      Rank    % Change from
  MAKE            MODEL      09/09     08/09    09/08        09/08
                                    New Cars
  Chevrolet       Camaro       1         1       N/A            N/A
  Ford            Mustang      2         3         5         29.83%
  Honda           Accord       3         4         3         10.98%
  Ford            F-150        4         2        10         75.87%
  Chevrolet       Silverado
                   1500        5         6         2         -6.97%
  Honda           Civic        6         5         6         -4.33%
  BMW             3-Series     7         9        16         50.86%
  Nissan          Altima       8        10         7        -13.66%
  Toyota          Camry        9         8         4        -21.94%
  Jeep            Wrangler    10        14        11         11.23%
  Honda           CR-V        11        11        20         25.77%
  Volkswagen      Jetta       12        12        15         10.35%
  Chevrolet       Corvette    13        29         9        -11.52%
  Dodge           Ram 1500    14        20         8        -20.84%
  Mazda           Mazda3      15        16        29         43.93%
  Toyota          Corolla     16        15        13          0.15%
  Ford            F-250       17        24        34         44.44%
  Hyundai         Santa Fe    18        30        59        112.14%
  Toyota          Tacoma      19        13        14         -0.02%
  Chevrolet       Malibu      20        21        12         -7.88%

                               Avg Price -     Avg Price -  Change from
  MAKE          MODEL            09/09           09/08         09/08
                                       New Cars
  Chevrolet     Camaro         $35,896.07            N/A         N/A
  Ford          Mustang        $33,430.65     $31,152.10       7.31%
  Honda         Accord         $25,636.77     $26,332.22      -2.64%
  Ford          F-150          $36,198.78     $30,215.69      19.80%
  Chevrolet     Silverado 1500 $33,061.90     $29,505.91      12.05%
  Honda         Civic          $20,031.06     $20,453.06      -2.06%
  BMW           3-Series       $53,071.32     $54,774.49      -3.11%
  Nissan        Altima         $24,619.62     $24,567.48       0.21%
  Toyota        Camry          $24,682.38     $24,033.44       2.70%
  Jeep          Wrangler       $28,663.74     $27,811.16       3.07%
  Honda         CR-V           $25,612.94     $25,162.04       1.79%
  Volkswagen    Jetta          $22,334.73     $21,703.88       2.91%
  Chevrolet     Corvette       $61,963.30     $61,033.66       1.52%
  Dodge         Ram 1500       $35,940.13     $31,092.37      15.59%
  Mazda         Mazda3         $20,923.90     $19,226.00       8.83%
  Toyota        Corolla        $18,256.00     $19,040.66      -4.12%
  Ford          F-250          $45,043.94     $42,461.03       6.08%
  Hyundai       Santa Fe       $26,826.08     $26,174.78       2.49%
  Toyota        Tacoma         $26,689.83     $26,152.72       2.05%
  Chevrolet     Malibu         $24,964.38     $24,179.66       3.25%

  MAKE        MODEL                Rank      Rank    Rank % Change from
                                  09/09     08/09   09/08     09/08
                                     Used Cars
  Ford        F-150                 1         1       2       20.21%
  BMW         3-Series              2         2       1       -3.23%
  Chevrolet   Silverado 1500        3         3       4       18.94%
  Ford        Mustang               4         4       3       -0.73%
  Ford        F-250                 5         7      10       45.15%
  Honda       Accord                6         5       5       -2.98%
  Dodge       Ram 1500              7         8       8       10.02%
  Honda       Civic                 8         6       6       -9.48%
  Infiniti    G35/G37               9        10       7      -12.51%
  Chevrolet   Tahoe                10        11      14       14.21%
  Jeep        Wrangler             11         9      13       10.24%
  Chevrolet   Silverado 2500       12        13      22       41.33%
  Dodge       Ram 2500             13        15      21       33.54%
  Nissan      Altima               14        12       9       -6.00%
  BMW         5-Series             15        16      11       -2.52%
  Toyota      Tacoma               16        14      15        6.70%
  Jeep        Grand Cherokee       17        18      12       -9.40%
  Audi        A4                   18        17      16        2.41%
  Ford        Explorer             19        20      17       -4.45%
  Volkswagen  Jetta                20        19      18       -3.35%

  MAKE            MODEL          Avg Price -      Avg Price - Change from
                                   09/09            09/08       09/08
                                         Used Cars
  Ford            F-150          $19,330.77      $16,122.01    19.90%
  BMW             3-Series       $26,862.47      $28,111.59    -4.44%
  Chevrolet       Silverado 1500 $18,837.25      $16,281.07    15.70%
  Ford            Mustang        $17,462.29      $16,977.15     2.86%
  Ford            F-250          $23,084.53      $20,396.97    13.18%
  Honda           Accord         $15,635.94      $16,728.57    -6.53%
  Dodge           Ram 1500       $17,346.17      $14,532.77    19.36%
  Honda           Civic          $13,570.37      $15,210.89   -10.79%
  Infiniti        G35/G37        $22,970.13      $22,541.24     1.90%
  Chevrolet       Tahoe          $24,196.61      $19,375.85    24.88%
  Jeep            Wrangler       $19,278.46      $17,095.55    12.77%
  Chevrolet       Silverado 2500 $22,066.60      $19,543.53    12.91%
  Dodge           Ram 2500       $23,411.63      $20,606.77    13.61%
  Nissan          Altima         $14,522.62      $15,355.78    -5.43%
  BMW             5-Series       $31,968.90      $32,155.97    -0.58%
  Toyota          Tacoma         $19,283.26      $18,572.46     3.83%
  Jeep            Grand Cherokee $15,927.44      $14,396.21    10.64%
  Audi            A4             $20,448.64      $21,940.88    -6.80%
  Ford            Explorer       $15,362.39      $13,553.69    13.34%
  Volkswagen      Jetta          $12,793.13      $14,517.67   -11.88%

  MAKE              MODEL        Rank  Rank   Rank   % Change from
                                 09/09 08/09  09/08      09/08
                              Certified Pre-Owned
  BMW               3-Series       1     1       1      -11.64%
  Honda             Accord         2     2       2      -25.27%
  Chevrolet         Silverado 1500 3     4       3        0.45%
  Ford              F-150          4     3       5       13.23%
  Toyota            Tundra         5     6      19       88.14%
  Chevrolet         Tahoe          6     5       6        6.64%
  Audi              A4             7     8       7      -10.11%
  BMW               5-Series       8    12       8      -12.88%
  Toyota            Camry          9    11       9      -12.29%
  Honda             Civic         10     9       4      -36.72%
  Toyota            Tacoma        11    10      10        1.45%
  Acura             TL            12    14      13        9.89%
  Ford              Mustang       13     7      12        1.77%
  Toyota            Highlander    14    13      17        9.32%
  Mercedes-Benz     C-Class       15    18      24       17.85%
  Mercedes-Benz     E-Class       16    16      14       -8.83%
  Toyota            4Runner       17    15      25       17.56%
  GMC               Sierra        18    25      36       26.65%
  Volkswagen        Jetta         19    19      18      -13.27%
  Acura             MDX           20    23      26        1.78%

  MAKE             MODEL           Avg Price -     Avg Price - Change from
                                     09/09           09/08       09/08
                              Certified Pre-Owned
  BMW              3-Series        $31,721.39     $32,676.76    -2.92%
  Honda            Accord          $18,252.66     $18,849.25    -3.17%
  Chevrolet        Silverado 1500  $23,201.61     $19,558.43    18.63%
  Ford             F-150           $23,810.65     $19,860.29    19.89%
  Toyota           Tundra          $25,110.25     $21,592.98    16.29%
  Chevrolet        Tahoe           $31,187.80     $25,836.18    20.71%
  Audi             A4              $25,681.61     $26,373.95    -2.63%
  BMW              5-Series        $37,030.82     $36,582.69     1.22%
  Toyota           Camry           $19,086.10     $19,435.97    -1.80%
  Honda            Civic           $16,858.28     $17,736.60    -4.95%
  Toyota           Tacoma          $22,961.46     $21,296.41     7.82%
  Acura            TL              $26,131.09     $25,533.74     2.34%
  Ford             Mustang         $20,286.84     $19,421.48     4.46%
  Toyota           Highlander      $23,967.91     $22,157.60     8.17%
  Mercedes-Benz    C-Class         $29,673.12     $27,067.72     9.63%
  Mercedes-Benz    E-Class         $36,849.93     $37,103.09    -0.68%
  Toyota           4Runner         $24,619.79     $21,415.07    14.96%
  GMC              Sierra          $23,985.49     $20,045.24    19.66%
  Volkswagen       Jetta           $16,043.92     $16,688.99    -3.87%
  Acura            MDX             $29,665.35     $25,884.85    14.61%

               Top 10 Most Viewed New Vehicle Manufacturers
                MAKE            Rank    Rank     Change from
                                09/09   09/08       09/08

                Chevrolet         1       1        11.28%
                Ford              2       4        19.76%
                Toyota            3       3         3.99%
                Honda             4       5         5.28%
                Nissan            5       6         9.96%
                Dodge             6       2       -43.56%
                Hyundai           7       9        43.66%
                BMW               8      20        46.88%
                Kia               9      10       282.75%
                GMC              10      16        11.93%