Recovery Likely to Continue In Larger Cars, SUVs and Trucks According to July Site Data From AutoTrader.com
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ATLANTA, August 12, 2010: Larger vehicles helped lead the recovery at many auto makers in the last quarter as many new-car buyers continued shifting back to trucks and SUVs in the face of stabilizing gas prices. That trend looks to continue as the in-market car shoppers on AutoTrader.com increasingly looked at trucks, SUVs and larger vehicles while shopping on the site. Twelve of the top 20 most-searched new vehicles on AutoTrader.com in July were trucks or SUVs, with muscle/sports cars and sedans making up the balance of the top 20 new-vehicle list.
The trend was less pronounced on AutoTrader.com's used and certified pre-owned (CPO) lists, with SUVs or trucks nabbing 11 out of 20 spots on AutoTrader.com's list of most-searched used vehicles and SUVs or trucks grabbing nine out of 20 spots on the site's list of most-searched CPO vehicles.
"With smaller and more fuel efficient cars still making our Top 20 used and CPO lists, you're seeing the impact value has on used-car shoppers," said AutoTrader.com President and CEO Chip Perry. "Even with gas prices moderating, the used-car shopper is still researching vehicles with a little more intensity, reviewing every angle to make the best purchase decision - price, cost of ownership, gas mileage and reliability. New-car buyers also want to make sure they make the right choice, but it appears many new-car shoppers and buyers have accepted gas prices in the high twos and low threes per gallon and are considering things like utility and style ahead of gas mileage."
Among new SUVs on the top 20 list in July, the redesigned Jeep Grand Cherokee caught many shoppers' interest, jumping from the No. 63rd most-searched new vehicle in June of 2010 to the No. 9 most-searched new vehicle in July of this year. The Grand Cherokee held the No. 50 most-searched new-vehicle spot in July of 2009.
The redesigned BMW 5-Series also continued to gain interest among new-car shoppers on AutoTrader.com. The luxury sedan held the No. 18 most-searched spot on AutoTrader.com's Top 20 new-car list in July of this year, compared to the No. 24 spot in June of this year and the No. 59 spot in July of 2009. The new Nissan 370Z also made a jump, landing at No. 20 among new cars searched on AutoTrader.com in July, compared to No. 38 in June of 2010 and No. 49 in July of 2009.
Prices Continue to Rise
Month-over-month increases in average asking prices continued to be big
news across AutoTrader.com's Top 20 new, used and CPO lists. All but three
of the Top 20 most-searched new vehicles on AutoTrader.com saw average
asking price increases and all but two vehicles on both the most-searched
used and CPO Top 20 lists saw increased average asking prices.
On the new car list, the biggest gainer was the BMW 5-series, which saw average asking price increase by 10.2%, from $55,510 in June to $61,190 in July. In second place in price gains was the new Chevrolet Corvette, which saw an average asking price increase of 9.5%, from $64,166 in June to $70,287 last month.
On the used-car list, the Ford F-250 was a big price winner, with average asking price up just over 10%, from $22,435 in June to $24,694 in July. The used Jeep Wrangler saw a nearly double-digit increase in average asking price, up 9.7% from $18,525 in June to $20,318 in July of this year.
Six of the Top 20 most-searched CPO vehicles on AutoTrader.com saw average asking price increases of between 10% and 16% in July compared to June of this year. They were the Chevrolet Tahoe, the Ford F-150, the Ford Mustang, the Honda Pilot, the Acura MDX and the Chevrolet Suburban.
"Increased average asking prices are a good indication of the confidence manufacturers and dealers are having in the recovery of the auto market," said Perry. "Even though economic recovery has been slow, more people are starting to shop and buy. Couple that trend with scarcity of some popular models in both new and used vehicles and the result is car sellers who are feeling more confident they can get the prices they're asking."
Ford Tops Brand Lists
Ford nabbed the No. 1 spots on AutoTrader.com's list of most-searched
new and used brands in July of this year. Ford and Chevy frequently battle
for the top spot on AutoTrader.com's top-searched brand lists, with Chevy
holding the No. 1 most-searched new-car brand spot in July of 2009 and
currently holding the No. 2 spots on both the new and used-car brand lists.
Toyota held firm in July at No. 3 on both the most-searched new- and
used-vehicle brand lists, positions it also held in July of last year.
"Ford has benefitted on AutoTrader.com from development and delivery of some great new models and execution of some very effective marketing," said Perry. "With a lot of new, quality product coming from other manufacturers, it will be interesting to see how auto makers, their associations and their dealers use traditional and online marketing in the coming months to influence shoppers to consider their vehicles and what those efforts do to our top vehicle and brand lists."
During July, AutoTrader.com's traffic continued its upward trajectory, hitting 15.7 million unique monthly visitors, up 2% from July 2009.
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 and the private equity firm Providence Equity Partners are
also investors. For more information, please visit www.autotrader.com.
TOP 10 NEW VEHICLE BRANDS SEARCHED MAKE Rank 7/10 Rank 7/09 Ford 1 2 Chevy 2 1 Toyota 3 3 Dodge 4 6 Nissan 5 5 BMW 6 8 GMC 7 13 Jeep 8 12 Honda 9 4 Hyundai 10 7 ------- --- --- TOP 10 USED VEHICLE BRANDS SEARCHED MAKE Rank 7/10 Rank 7/09 Ford 1 1 Chevrolet 2 2 Toyota 3 3 Dodge 4 4 BMW 5 5 Nissan 6 6 Honda 7 7 Mercedes-Benz 8 8 Jeep 9 9 GMC 10 11 --- --- --- NEW CARS MAKE MODEL VDP VDP VDP Avg. Avg. % Rank Rank Rank Price Price Change 7/10 6/10 7/09 7/10 7/09 Ford Mustang 1 1 3 33,317 34,215 -2.62% Chevrolet Camaro 2 2 1 34,099 36,505 -6.59% Ford F-150 3 6 2 37,352 34,649 7.80% Silverado Chevrolet 1500 4 8 6 33,751 31,413 7.44% Ford F-250 5 12 20 45,884 43,790 4.78% BMW 3 Series 6 7 4 47,393 46,609 1.68% Jeep Wrangler 7 10 14 29,564 28,589 3.41% Chevrolet Corvette 8 13 24 70,287 64,166 9.54% Grand Jeep Cherokee 9 63 50 37,293 34,083 9.42% Dodge Ram 1500 10 18 11 34,686 34,655 0.09% Silverado Chevrolet 2500 11 23 41 40,208 39,118 2.79% Dodge Challenger 12 16 31 33,722 38,256 -11.85% Sierra GMC 1500 13 15 27 36,008 34,022 5.84% Ford F-350 14 21 54 49,317 47,528 3.76% Chevrolet Equinox 15 17 18 27,895 26,897 3.71% Hyundai Sonata 16 25 26 23,360 22,191 5.27% Chevrolet Tahoe 17 19 39 50,628 48,842 3.66% BMW 5-Series 18 24 59 61,190 55,510 10.23% Dodge Ram 2500 19 28 57 46,523 43,440 7.10% Nissan 350/370Z 20 38 49 39,138 36,542 7.10% ------ -------- --- --- --- ------ ------ ---- USED CARS MAKE MODEL VDP VDP VDP Avg. Avg. % Rank Rank Rank Price Price Change 7/10 6/10 7/09 7/10 7/09 Ford F-150 1 1 1 20,366 19,242 5.84% BMW 3-Series 2 2 2 25,597 25,453 0.57% Silverado Chevrolet 1500 3 3 3 19,732 18,274 7.98% Ford Mustang 4 4 4 18,364 18,132 1.28% Ford F-250 5 5 7 24,694 22,435 10.07% Honda Accord 6 6 5 15,766 15,199 3.73% Jeep Wrangler 7 7 9 20,318 18,525 9.68% Dodge Ram 1500 8 8 8 18,371 17,124 7.28% Honda Civic 9 9 6 13,580 13,382 1.48% Chevrolet Tahoe 10 10 10 25,424 23,601 7.72% Infiniti G35/37 11 11 11 23,145 22,333 3.64% Silverado Chevrolet 2500 12 12 13 23,006 21,483 7.09% Dodge Ram 2500 13 14 18 25,106 23,073 8.81% Toyota Tacoma 14 13 15 19,057 18,645 2.21% Nissan Altima 15 15 12 15,007 14,181 5.82% Grand Jeep Cherokee 16 17 17 16,388 15,369 6.63% BMW 5-Series 17 16 16 30,755 31,382 -2.00% Toyota Tundra 18 19 22 22,469 21,836 2.90% Audi A4 19 18 14 21,307 20,116 5.92% Toyota Camry 20 20 21 15,191 15,811 -3.92% ------ ----- --- --- --- ------ ------ ----- CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED MAKE MODEL VDP VDP VDP Avg. Avg. % Rank Rank Rank Price Price Change 7/10 6/10 7/09 7/10 7/09 BMW 3-Series 1 1 1 30,504 29,944 1.87% Honda Accord 2 2 2 18,174 17,565 3.74% Silverado Chevy 1500 3 3 3 24,233 22,312 8.61% Toyota Tundra 4 4 5 25,567 24,130 5.96% Chevrolet Tahoe 5 6 4 33,633 30,373 10.73% Ford F-150 6 5 7 25,266 22,283 10.70% Toyota Camry 7 7 10 17,352 18,472 -6.06% Honda Civic 8 8 8 16,074 16,302 -1.40% Audi A4 9 9 6 26,550 24,578 8.02% Toyota Tacoma 10 10 11 22,284 21,708 2.65% BMW 5-Series 11 11 9 37,442 36,313 3.11% Acura TL 12 13 12 25,970 25,401 2.24% Volkswagen Jetta 13 14 18 16,205 15,202 6.60% Ford Mustang 14 12 14 21,602 19,579 10.33% Toyota Highlander 15 16 13 24,791 23,059 7.51% Honda Pilot 16 15 16 24,838 22,136 12.21% Toyota 4Runner 17 17 15 24,850 23,640 5.12% Acura MDX 18 20 17 32,540 28,193 15.42% Chevrolet Suburban 19 18 20 36,112 32,092 12.53% Chevrolet Corvette 20 22 19 40,529 40,016 1.28% --------- -------- --- --- --- ------ ------ ----