Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro and Chevrolet Corvette Getting Wide Attraction From New Car Shoppers
New-car shoppers are searching heavily for the super stylish Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro and Chevrolet Corvette jostling with large trucks, SUVs and sedans according to the AutoTrader.com web information. The reappearance of popular family cars such as the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry signaled wider interest in these vehicles from in-market shoppers compared to the previous month.
Overall, trucks and SUVs continued to show strong signs of recovery, no doubt supported by relatively stable gas prices, the continued economic recovery and American consumers’ propensity toward larger vehicles. On the list of the most-searched new vehicles, trucks and SUVs took 12 of the top 20 spots, and they faired equally as well on the lists of most-searched used and CPO vehicles with 11 of the top 20 spots on each list.
The recently redesigned Jeep Grand Cherokee continued to hold shoppers’ interest this month, coming in at No. 8 on the top 20 most-searched new vehicles list–moving up from No. 9 in July 2010 and No. 69 in August 2009.
The Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Honda Civic–all perennial favorites which were surprisingly absent from the top 20 new-car list in July of 2010–returned to the new-car top 20 list in August. Coming in at No. 11, the Honda Accord leapt from No. 23 in July 2010. Similarly, the Toyota Camry and Honda Civic made even bigger leaps from July 2010, with each moving up 16 places to land at No. 12 and No. 14, respectively.
These popular cars’ return to the top 20 reflects several trends. First: aggressive marketing and incentive programs by both automakers helped influence car shoppers to research these cars. Both brands’ marketing efforts included mass/traditional media advertising and targeted on-line advertising on sites like AutoTrader.com. Second: these vehicles’ return to the AutoTrader.com top 20 new-car lists show a renewed desire among car shoppers for practical but stylish vehicles.
“There is a healthy balance of style, utility and practicality across new, used and CPO vehicles, which bodes well for the industry as well as the economy,” said AutoTrader.com’s President and CEO, Chip Perry. “When gas prices are high, car shoppers turn to smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles. When gas prices are low, like they are now, shoppers widen their options and lean toward traditional favorites, which is what we’re seeing with the still-strong showing of large trucks and SUVs and the return of the family car.”
Used and CPO Prices Rise; New Car Prices Decline
Average asking prices for used and CPO cars continued to reflect rising demand and tight inventories, while new cars faced a challenging month. Average asking prices across AutoTrader.com’s lists of the top 20 most-searched used and CPO vehicles rose for another consecutive month, with all but two cars on each list posting year-over-year increases.
Used and CPO SUVs were the biggest winners in the price game, accounting for all of the double-digit increases on both lists year-over-year. The used Jeep Wrangler posted an increase of 11.7%, moving from $18,854 in August 2009 to $21,060 in August 2010. On the CPO list, the average asking price for the Acura MDX went up 14.83% from $28,564 in August 2009 to $32,800 in August 2010; the Honda Pilot moved from $22,560 in August 2009 to $25,138 in August 2010, a jump of 11.43%; and the Chevrolet Tahoe’s price increased 10.80% from $30,712 in August 2009 to $34,029.
The price story for the most-searched new vehicles in August is a little less rosy, with average asking prices down for 14 of the top 20.
“This is the first month in the last two quarters where we’ve seen the majority of new-car asking prices decrease,” Perry continued. “If this trend continues, the price gap between new cars and late-model used or CPO cars will continue to shrink, perhaps making September the best time for car shoppers to more seriously consider purchasing a new car.”
In brighter news on the new car front, American muscle cars accounted for three of the six cars that showed increases in average asking prices. The Dodge Challenger rose 12.98% from $33,733 in August 2009 to $38,112 in August 2010–becoming the only new car to show a double-digit percent increase year-over-year. In the same time period, the Chevrolet Camaro gained 7.39%, moving from $33,771 to $36,265, and the Ford Mustang posted a modest gain of 0.98%, moving from $33,614 to $33,942.
Record Site Traffic
AutoTrader.com reached record traffic in August, with over 16.6 million unique monthly visitors, up more than 7% from August 2009. This continued the upward trajectory and record monthly site traffic AutoTrader.com has experienced throughout the year.
Additionally, AutoTrader.com reached an important milestone in its quest to become the ultimate mobile automotive marketplace, with more than one million unique visitors coming to AutoTrader.com via mobile devices in August. The mobile platform provides an exciting, streamlined experience, giving shoppers access to the popular “Find a Car” and “Find a Dealer” features and to AutoTrader.com’s “My AutoTrader” function, which allows users to store, quickly retrieve and reference past vehicle searches. Shoppers accessing AutoTrader.com from a mobile device are automatically redirected to the mobile platform, which optimizes the experience for each mobile device.
“The mobile car shopping continues to be something that many consumers want,” said Perry. “We did a lot of research to make sure our mobile experience matched what consumers were asking for and the pace at which we’ve surpassed this important milestone is proof we got it right.”
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 8/10 Rank 8/09
Ford 1 2
Chevrolet 2 1
Toyota 3 3
Dodge 4 6
Nissan 5 5
Honda 6 4
BMW 7 10
GMC 8 13
Jeep 9 15
—- — —
Hyundai 10 7
——- — —
TOP 10 USED VEHICLE BRANDS SEARCHED
MAKE Rank 8/10 Rank 8/09
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
VDP VDP VDP Avg. Avg.
Rank Rank Rank Price Price
MAKE MODEL 8/10 7/10 8/09 8/10 8/09 % Change
Ford Mustang 1 1 2 33,942 33,614 0.98%
Ford F-150 2 3 3 35,238 37,105 -5.03%
Chevrolet Camaro 3 2 1 36,265 33,771 7.39%
BMW 3 Series 4 6 9 46,138 47,418 -2.70%
Silverado
Chevrolet 1500 5 4 6 32,047 33,740 -5.02%
Chevrolet Corvette 6 8 28 64,676 69,011 -6.28%
Ford F-250 7 5 22 44,299 45,950 -3.59%
Grand
Jeep Cherokee 8 9 69 34,405 37,445 -8.12%
Dodge Ram 1500 9 10 20 34,994 34,990 0.01%
Jeep Wrangler 10 7 14 28,169 29,706 -5.17%
Honda Accord 11 23 4 25,399 25,800 -1.55%
Toyota Camry 12 28 8 24,629 24,680 -0.21%
Silverado
Chevrolet 2500 13 11 38 38,837 41,857 -7.22%
Honda Civic 14 30 5 20,142 19,904 1.20%
Dodge Challenger 15 12 31 38,112 33,733 12.98%
Chevrolet Equinox 16 15 7 27,510 27,258 0.92%
Chevrolet Tahoe 17 17 43 49,079 49,557 -0.96%
Dodge Ram 2500 18 19 61 43,727 47,121 -7.20%
Ford F-350 19 14 52 46,997 49,705 -5.45%
—- —– — — — —— —— —–
GMC Sierra 1500 20 13 29 34,228 36,042 -5.03%
— ———– — — — —— —— —–
USED CARS
VDP VDP VDP Avg. Avg.
Rank Rank Rank Price Price
MAKE MODEL 8/10 7/10 8/09 8/10 8/09 % Change
Ford F-150 1 1 1 20,397 19,257 5.92%
BMW 3-Series 2 2 2 25,626 25,799 -0.67%
Silverado
Chevrolet 1500 3 3 3 19,883 18,530 7.30%
Ford Mustang 4 4 4 18,264 17,362 5.20%
Ford F-250 5 5 7 24,870 22,789 9.13%
Honda Accord 6 6 5 15,778 15,420 2.32%
Dodge Ram 1500 7 8 8 18,337 17,134 7.02%
Jeep Wrangler 8 7 10 21,060 18,854 11.70%
Honda Civic 9 9 6 13,567 13,383 1.37%
Chevrolet Tahoe 10 10 11 25,240 23,823 5.95%
Infiniti G35/37 11 11 9 23,121 22,564 2.47%
Silverado
Chevrolet 2500 12 12 13 23,302 21,648 7.64%
Dodge Ram 2500 13 13 15 24,957 23,254 7.32%
Toyota Tacoma 14 14 14 19,321 18,955 1.93%
Nissan Altima 15 15 12 14,978 14,290 4.81%
Grand
Jeep Cherokee 16 16 18 16,393 15,619 4.96%
BMW 5-Series 17 17 16 30,647 31,380 -2.34%
Audi A4 18 19 17 20,985 20,275 3.50%
Toyota Tundra 19 18 22 22,626 22,184 1.99%
—— —— — — — —— —— —-
Volkswagen Jetta 20 21 19 13,484 12,698 6.19%
———- —– — — — —— —— —-
CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED
VDP VDP VDP Avg. Avg.
Rank Rank Rank Price Price
MAKE MODEL 8/10 7/10 8/09 8/10 8/09 % Change
BMW 3-Series 1 1 1 30,504 30,200 1.01%
Honda Accord 2 2 2 18,167 17,742 2.40%
Silverado
Chevrolet 1500 3 3 4 24,332 22,673 7.32%
Toyota Tundra 4 4 6 25,937 24,789 4.63%
Ford F-150 5 6 3 25,368 23,367 8.56%
Toyota Camry 6 7 12 17,390 18,826 -7.36%
Chevrolet Tahoe 7 5 5 34,029 30,712 10.80%
Audi A4 8 9 7 26,631 25,049 6.32%
Honda Civic 9 8 10 16,051 16,554 -3.04%
Toyota Tacoma 10 10 11 22,580 22,304 1.24%
BMW 5-Series 11 11 9 37,642 36,149 3.63%
Acura TL 12 12 14 26,424 25,684 2.88%
Ford Mustang 13 14 8 21,719 19,985 8.68%
Volkswagen Jetta 14 13 17 16,259 15,496 4.92%
Toyota Highlander 15 15 13 25,089 23,537 6.59%
Honda Pilot 16 16 19 25,138 22,560 11.43%
Toyota 4Runner 17 17 15 25,139 24,256 3.64%
Acura MDX 18 18 21 32,800 28,564 14.83%
Chevrolet Suburban 19 19 30 35,972 33,046 8.85%
——— ——– — — — —— —— —-
GMC Sierra 1500 20 22 23 25,459 23,393 8.83%
— ———– — — — —— —— —-
