No Woosy Cars For Real Americans- New Muscle Cars Duke it Out at Nos, 1 and 2 on AutoTrader.com in May
 2011 Ford Mustang |
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Appearance of Big Truck in Top 20 New-Car List May Be Another Sign of Economic Recovery
ATLANTA, June 8 -- Americans' love affair with muscle cars continued on AutoTrader.com as the new Ford Mustang claimed the No. 1 spot on AutoTrader.com's most-viewed new vehicles list in May, followed at No. 2 by the new Chevy Camaro. The new Ford F-150 pickup truck slipped to the No. 3 most viewed spot in May from No. 2 in April of this year, but average asking prices for new F-150s listed for sale on AutoTrader.com continued to climb, up more than 8% compared to the average listed prices in May of 2009.
A big surprise came with the appearance of the new Ford F-350 pickup truck on the most-viewed new car list at No. 16. This heavy duty truck was the No. 28 most-viewed new car in April of this year and No. 41 back in May of 2009. The appearance of a heavy duty work truck like the F-350 on AutoTrader.com's top 20 new vehicle list may be another sign that economic recovery is continuing.
"The F-350 is a powerful, versatile vehicle," said Chip Perry. "That people are starting to look at this vehicle more - people who need this kind of size and power in a work truck - may mean that we're seeing signs of a rebound in construction and other industries that have been hurt in the recent recession."
Trucks continue to be popular on AutoTrader.com's Top 20 most-viewed used car list as well. The Ford F-150 and F-250, the Chevy Silverado 1500 and 2500, the Dodge Ram 1500 and 2500, and Toyota Tundra and Tacoma all held steady on the most-viewed used car list in May and all saw average asking price increases of between 6% and 13%.
New Designs Continue to Inspire Interest
New designs and features and strong marketing continue to drive interest in the revamped Hyundai Sonata and Chevy Equinox. The new Sonata held onto the No. 9 spot it enjoyed in April of 2010 on AutoTrader.com's most-viewed new car list, up from No. 75 in May of 2009. The Chevy Equinox moved up three places to No. 15 in May, from No. 18 in April of 2010 and No. 107 in May of 2009.
"These two cars recently have shown that manufacturers can take great cars and with effective marketing really drive interest among consumers for putting those new cars into their consideration set," said Perry. "We've seen repeatedly on our site that cars marketed effectively jump in our rankings as consumers are influenced to take a look."
Price Trends Still Up
Average asking prices for new, used and certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicles listed for sale on AutoTrader.com in May continued the upward trend that began several months ago as auto inventories tightened and the auto market improved. Fifteen of the top 20 most-viewed new vehicles on the site logged price increases compared to May of 2009, 18 of the top 20 most-viewed CPO vehicles saw prices increases compared to May 2009 and all used cars on the most-viewed Top 20 used car list had increased average asking prices.
More Record Traffic to AutoTrader.com
Traffic to AutoTrader.com continued to hit records. In May, AutoTrader.com had its highest traffic month ever, attracting 16.8 million unique monthly visitors, up about 10% compared to May 2009. For the first time ever, AutoTrader.com attracted more than 1 million unique monthly visitors on one day on May 18 when more than 1.02 million unique visitors came to the site. The site attracted more than 1 million unique visitors again on May 19. AutoTrader.com has had several high-profile marketing activities underway in May that exposed the brand to millions, helping drive this traffic record, including the company's "Heart & Mind" advertising campaign, which included broadcast, digital, print and social media elements.
"We're deep into the Spring/Summer car buying season and the continued rise in traffic to our site and recent results announced by automakers indicate that Americans are past just looking and are now ready to buy," said Perry. "After about two years of belt tightening, consumers are ready to make a big purchase like an automobile."
About AutoTrader.com
AutoTrader.com, created in 1997 and headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., is the Internet's leading automotive 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 sellers. AutoTrader.com attracts more than 15 million unique monthly visitors who utilize the site to view vehicles for sale, research and compare vehicles, review pricing and specials, and read auto-related content like buying and selling tips, auto maintenance tips and coverage of major auto shows and automotive trends. 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 improve 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.
NEW CARS
Avg. Avg.
VDP Rank VDP Rank VDP Rank Price Price
MAKE MODEL 5/10 4/10 5/09 5/10 5/09 % Change
Ford Mustang 1 3 2 32,106 33,147 -3.14%
Chevy Camaro 2 1 1 34,028 32,700 4.06%
Ford F-150 3 2 4 37,188 34,355 8.25%
Chevy Silverado 4 4 10 33,863 31,722 6.75%
Ford F-250 5 8 17 45,046 43,447 3.68%
Chevy Corvette 6 7 9 70,384 62,596 12.44%
Jeep Wrangler 7 6 5 29,470 27,861 5.78%
BMW 3-Series 8 5 8 46,689 47,407 -1.51%
Hyundai Sonata 9 9 75 22,888 21,806 4,96%
Honda Accord 10 10 7 25,904 25,590 1.23%
Dodge Challenger 11 15 3 34,733 37,824 -8.17%
Toyota Camry 12 19 16 24,769 24,420 1.43%
Dodge Ram 1500 13 12 11 34,652 34,096 1.63%
Honda Civic 14 17 14 19,962 20,622 -3.20%
Chevy Equinox 15 18 107 28,144 26,492 6.24%
Ford F-350 16 28 41 48,715 46,615 4.50%
Ford Fusion 17 14 6 25,965 23,841 8.91%
Volkswagen Jetta 18 16 21 23,528 22,931 2.60%
Nissan Altima 19 13 22 24,441 24,502 -0.25%
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Nissan 350/370Z 20 26 15 39,272 36,534 7.49%
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USED CARS
VDP Avg. Avg.
Rank VDP Rank VDP Rank Price Price
MAKE MODEL 5/10 4/10 5/09 5/10 5/09 % Change
Ford F-150 1 1 2 20,737 18,462 12.32%
BMW 3-Series 2 2 1 25,396 25,160 0.94%
Silverado
Chevy 1500 3 3 4 19,979 18,170 9.96%
Ford Mustang 4 4 3 18,242 17,385 4.93%
Ford F-250 5 5 8 24,679 21,832 13.04%
Honda Accord 6 6 5 15,779 15,258 3.41%
Jeep Wrangler 7 8 10 20,576 17,509 17.52%
Dodge Ram 1500 8 7 9 18,645 16,624 12.16%
Honda Civic 9 9 6 13,621 13,366 1.91%
Chevy Tahoe 10 11 11 25,536 23,358 9.32%
Infiniti G35/37 11 10 7 23,174 22,266 4.08%
Toyota Tacoma 12 13 15 19,038 17,962 5.99%
Silverado
Chevy 2500 13 12 17 23,317 21,289 9.53%
Dodge Ram 2500 14 15 19 24,974 22,746 9.80%
BMW 5-Series 15 14 14 30,203 30,114 0.30%
Nissan Altima 16 16 13 15,289 14,307 6.86%
Toyota Tundra 17 17 22 22,359 20,887 7.05%
Audi A4 18 18 12 21,665 20,291 6.77%
Grand
Jeep Cherokee 19 19 16 16,831 15,177 10.90%
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Volkswagen Jetta 20 22 18 13,626 12,448 9.46%
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CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED
VDP Avg. Avg.
Rank VDP Rank VDP Rank Price Price
MAKE MODEL 5/10 4/10 5/09 5/10 5/09 % Change
BMW 3-Series 1 1 1 30,608 29,808 2.69%
Honda Accord 2 2 2 18,065 17,761 1.71%
Silverado
Chevy 1500 3 4 3 24,081 21,677 11.09%
Toyota Tundra 4 5 5 25,269 23,137 9.22%
Chevy Tahoe 5 6 4 33,211 29,454 12.76%
Ford F-150 6 3 9 26,693 22,212 20.17%
BMW 5-Series 7 7 8 36,326 34,935 3.98%
Toyota Camry 8 9 11 17,632 18,263 -3.45%
Audi A4 9 12 7 26,743 24,432 9.46%
Honda Civic 10 10 6 16,130 16,238 -0.67%
Toyota Tacoma 11 11 10 21,934 20,904 4.92%
Ford Mustang 12 8 15 21,280 19.092 11.46%
Volkswagen Jetta 13 14 14 16,372 14,840 10.33%
Acura TL 14 13 12 26,124 24,583 6.27%
Toyota Highlander 15 17 13 24,537 22,826 7.49%
Honda Pilot 16 15 20 24,398 21,868 11.57%
Toyota 4Runner 17 21 17 24,601 23,215 5.97%
Chevy Suburban 18 20 23 34,876 30,730 13.49%
GMC Sierra 1500 19 19 33 25,206 22,438 12.34%
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Honda Odyssey 20 24 26 23,888 22.216 7.53%
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TOP BRANDS
MAKE Rank 5/10 Rank 5/09
Ford 1 2
Chevy 2 1
Toyota 3 3
Nissan 4 5
Dodge 5 4
Honda 6 6
BMW 7 8
Hyundai 8 12
GMC 9 10
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Mercedes-Benz 10 7
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