Several New Cars Benefit from Exposure at Recent Auto Shows
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ATLANTA - February 15, 2010: Revamped versions of several popular cars got boosts in new-car searches in January 2010 compared to their rankings in January 2009, likely as a result of high-profile exposure at recent auto shows and resulting publicity in the automotive and consumer media. The biggest jumper: the revamped Mazda 3, which zoom-zoomed from No. 74 on the list of most-searched new cars in January 2009 to No. 14 in January 2010 after being shown off at the Los Angeles International Auto Show in December.
New versions of the Hyundai Sonata, the Ford Focus and Fusion, and the Chevy Cobalt all also made major jumps following unveils and exposure at either the LA show or at the North American International Auto Show held in Detroit in January.
Price Is the Story In Used Cars
The continued rise in used car prices was the big news in January. Of the top 20 used cars searched on AutoTrader.com in January, 12 saw double digit percent increases in their average prices compared to January 2009. In all, 18 of the top 20 most-searched used cars on AutoTrader.com saw increases in their average prices in January 2010 compared to January 2009.
The biggest average price increases in January 2010 were on favorites like the used Chevy Tahoe (up 22% compared to January 2009), the used Ford F-150 (up 21% compared to January 2009), the used Chevy Silverado and Dodge Ram (both up about 20%) and the used Jeep Wrangler (up 18%).
In some cases, as manufacturers and dealers look to jump start new car sales, shoppers may find prices, financing terms or other specials that make a new car cheaper than a similar late-model used car.
Toyota Stays Strong
Across the board, Toyota's recent recall challenges did not impact car shoppers' searches for Toyota vehicles in January when compared to activity in December of 2009 or the previous January.
Compared to December 2009, most new and used Toyota models on maintained their rankings or moved down only one spot. The used Toyota Camry actually saw an increase in searches on AutoTrader.com in January 2010 compared to December 2009, moving the car up from No. 23 in December 2009 to No. 19 in January.
Auto Trader, showed the following figures on their website:
VDP VDP VDP NEW Rank Rank Rank Avg Price Avg Price Change from NEW MAKE MODEL 1/10 12/09 1/09 -1/10 -1/09 1/09 -------- --- ---- ----- ---- --------- --------- ----------- Ford F-150 1 1 1 $35,763.12 $32,549.34 9.87% Chevy Silverado 1500 2 4 2 $34,293.33 $31,612.56 8.48% Honda Accord 3 2 5 $25,879.63 $25,933.89 -0.21% Toyota Camry 4 3 14 $24,343.04 $24,226.01 0.48% Honda Civic 5 6 8 $19,950.47 $20,843.46 -4.28% Toyota Corolla 6 5 30 $18,214.34 $18,750.17 -2.86% Dodge RAM1500 7 7 6 $33,794.70 $33,752.11 0.13% Nissan Altima 8 9 12 $24,739.43 $24,618.71 0.49% Chevy Malibu 9 10 22 $24,472.85 $24,469.77 0.01% Ford Focus 10 13 51 $18,527.47 $18,036.00 2.72% Jeep Wrangler 11 15 10 $28,872.56 $27,468.21 5.11% Toyota Tacoma 12 12 19 $26,294.23 $25,210.87 4.30% Ford Fusion 13 16 45 $25,619.41 $22,691.21 12.90% Mazda Mazda3 14 19 74 $20,292.07 $18,879.54 7.48% Ford F-250 15 11 15 $44,857.99 $42,634.65 5.21% Chevy Cobalt 16 29 35 $17,872.42 $17,613.86 1.47% Hyundai Sonata 17 24 52 $21,196.04 $21,812.43 -2.83% Chevy Camaro 18 14 N/A $33,822.58 N/A #DIV/0! Ford Mustang 19 17 7 $32,412.23 $32,198.01 0.67% Volkswagen Jetta 20 18 28 $23,005.53 $22,527.65 2.12% ---------- ----- --- --- --- ---------- ---------- ---- VDP VDP VDP USED USED Rank Rank Rank Avg Price Avg Price Change from MAKE MODEL 1/10 12/09 1/09 -1/10 -1/09 1/09 -------- ----- ---- ----- ---- --------- --------- ----------- Ford F-150 1 1 1 $19,246.06 $15,853.45 21.40% Chevy Silverado 1500 2 3 3 $18,774.74 $15,563.00 20.64% BMW 3 Series 3 2 2 $25,618.66 $26,463.99 -3.19% Ford Mustang 4 4 4 $16,685.10 $15,820.12 5.47% Ford F-250 5 5 10 $23,054.49 $19,796.72 16.46% Honda Accord 6 7 6 $15,561.01 $15,125.56 2.88% Dodge Ram 1500 7 6 5 $17,430.86 $14,452.98 20.60% Chevy Tahoe 8 8 9 $23,929.57 $19,606.80 22.05% Honda Civic 9 11 8 $13,408.64 $13,686.38 -2.03% Chevy Silverado 2500 10 9 19 $22,758.65 $19,309.25 17.86% Jeep Wrangler 11 10 13 $19,115.66 $16,149.49 18.37% Nissan Altima 12 17 15 $14,095.32 $13,841.24 1.84% Dodge Ram 2500 13 12 20 $24,073.66 $20,452.79 17.70% Infinity G35/37 14 13 7 $22,052.80 $20,149.26 9.45% Toyota Tacoma 15 14 16 $19,044.88 $17,138.61 11.12% BMW 5 Series 16 15 14 $30,019.34 $29,444.39 1.95% Ford Explorer 17 18 12 $15,329.38 $13,629.86 12.47% Jeep Grand Cherokee 18 16 11 $16,128.20 $14,080.76 14.54% Toyota Camry 19 23 21 $15,758.37 $15,780.34 -0.14% Toyota Tundra 20 19 26 $21,830.18 $18,512.55 17.92% ------ ------ --- --- --- ---------- ---------- ----- VDP VDP VDP CPO CPO Rank Rank Rank Avg Price Avg Price Change from MAKE MODEL 1/10 12/09 1/09 -1/10 -1/09 1/09 ---- ----- ---- ----- ---- --------- --------- ----------- BMW 3 Series 1 1 1 $31,684.40 $31,577.02 0.34% Honda Accord 2 3 3 $18,249.73 $17,597.15 3.71% Silverado Chevy 1500 3 2 2 $23,172.27 $19,094.24 21.36% Chevy Tahoe 4 4 5 $31,198.22 $26,731.20 16.71% Ford F-150 5 5 4 $23,569.10 $20,336.80 15.89% BMW 5 Series 6 6 6 $37,335.98 $35,561.12 4.99% Toyota Tundra 7 7 8 $24,775.10 $20,978.78 18.10% Toyota Camry 8 8 11 $18,223.23 $18,291.62 -0.37% Honda Civic 9 10 7 $16,276.75 $16,408.33 -0.80% Toyota Tacoma 10 9 10 $22,002.24 $20,112.78 9.39% Audi A4 11 11 9 $26,453.99 $24,870.91 6.37% Acura TL 12 12 18 $26,977.34 $24,369.39 10.70% Ford Mustang 13 18 15 $19,756.31 $17,955.35 10.03% Mercedes- Benz E Class 14 13 12 $38,010.36 $33,439.36 13.67% Toyota Highlander 15 14 22 $24,064.97 $21,715.52 10.82% Honda Pilot 16 22 32 $24,387.16 $20,356.32 19.80% Toyota 4 Runner 17 16 27 $24,241.79 $21,499.64 12.75% Chevy Impala 18 25 13 $16,129.93 $15,180.57 6.25% Mercedes- Benz C Class 19 19 19 $29,667.12 $25,840.44 14.81% GMC Sierra 1500 20 15 30 $24,183.52 $19,481.03 24.14% --- ----------- --- --- --- ---------- ---------- ----- TOP 10 NEW BRANDS Rank Rank VIEWED 1/10 1/09 ------ ---- ---- FORD 1 2 CHEVY 2 1 TOYOTA 3 3 HONDA 4 4 NISSAN 5 6 DODGE 6 5 BMW 7 9 GMC 8 7 HYUNDAI 9 11 MB 10 10