ATLANTA, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- September proved to be a brutal market for car sales, with buyers holding off on purchasing a vehicle due to the turmoil on Wall Street. Instead, many turned to fantasy shopping, choosing to research exciting niche vehicles as the Dodge Challenger, Chevrolet Corvette and Jeep Wrangler, according to AutoTrader.com's Trend Engine report highlighting new and used vehicle viewing activity on the site for September. Taken together, these three vehicles make up a very small part of the automotive sales pie, combined representing about 1% of the U.S. market in September 2008. However, they proved to be very popular among AutoTrader.com visitors, with the new Challenger being the most-viewed new vehicle on the site for the month.
"The automotive market is following other segments with a slowdown that will likely last through the end of 2008," said AutoTrader.com President and CEO Chip Perry. "Those in the industry should remember that consumers cannot push off purchasing a vehicle forever, and we should see an increase in sales once confidence in the economy begins to improve."
Half of the 20 most viewed new vehicles on AutoTrader.com for September were either compact or midsize sedans; these cars were joined by 5 pickup trucks. Of note is the Dodge Ram, which saw a 10.6% increase in views as dealerships cleared out the remaining 2008 models and began stocking the all-new 2009 edition. Only one crossover, the Honda CR-V, made the top 20 list, and there were no SUVs.
The newest of the 10 cars on list is the Ford Fusion, which recorded a 25.27% jump in views that moved it from 42nd place last year to 19th this year. All but two of the 10 sedans -- the Toyota Camry and Volkswagen Jetta -- saw average asking prices rise from September 2007, with the Chevrolet Malibu seeing a 20.71% jump and the Toyota Corolla enjoying a 10.5% increase.
"General consumers who do not need a truck seem to be returning to traditional compact and midsize sedans," continued Perry. "Trucks -- especially pickup trucks -- will always have a market, but that market will be more limited to the farmers, contractors and trades people who need them, versus those who have been buying such vehicles purely for personal transportation."
Used Vehicle Sales Also See the Effects of the Economy
Used vehicles continued to see views slide as many of September's car buyers shifting towards new vehicles to take advantage of the generous incentives available on remaining 2008 model year inventory. Asking prices for used cars generally stayed steady, while prices for used trucks and SUVs recorded drops ranging from 3.89% for the Toyota Tacomapickup to 17.56% for the Dodge Ram pickup. Used Ram pickups were particularly affected by the sizable incentives of upwards of $6,000 per vehicle offered by the Chrysler Corporation on remaining new 2008 models.
"While gas prices have decreased, consumers should remember that the long-term expectation is that they will soon not only pass $4 per gallon again, but may even rise well beyond that," said Perry. "Buyers taking advantage of good deals available on SUVs and trucks now should be sure they can afford to fuel up their vehicle regardless of the price of gas at the pump."
AutoTrader.com is the ultimate automotive marketplace with over 3.5 million vehicle listings. Using research gathered by studying the shopping habits of over 14 million unique monthly visitors to the site, many of whom are in-market shoppers looking to complete a vehicle purchase within the next 90 days, AutoTrader.com regularly compiles this data to offer insight into current and emerging sales trends in the automobile industry.
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 more than 3.5 million new, used and certified pre-owned vehicle listings from 40,000 dealers and 250,000 private owners and the site attracts more than 14 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 .
MAKE MODEL Rank 09/08 Rank 09/07 Change from 09/07
DodgeChallenger 1 N/A N/A
ChevroletSilverado 2 1 -30.81%
HondaAccord 3 4 3.00%
ToyotaCamry 4 11 28.45%
FordMustang 5 2 -19.74%
Honda Civic 6 8 9.93%
NissanAltima 7 6 -4.51%
Dodge Ram 1500 8 12 10.60%
Chevrolet Corvette 9 10 -5.43%
Ford F-150 10 3 -41.80%
JeepWrangler 11 5 -35.97%
Chevrolet Malibu 12 117 226.87%
Toyota Corolla 13 21 19.90%
Toyota Tacoma 14 15 -6.93%
Volkswagen Jetta 15 35 38.71%
Ford Focus 16 65 89.84%
Chevrolet Cobalt 17 19 -1.59%
GMCSierra 18 14 -13.96%
Honda CR-V 19 22 10.74%
Ford Fusion 20 42 25.27%
MAKE MODEL Avg Price - Avg Price - Change from 09/07
09/08 09/07
Dodge Challenger $35,152.69 N/A N/A
Chevrolet Silverado $29,505.91 $30,035.58 -1.76%
Honda Accord $26,332.22 $25,738.66 2.31%
Toyota Camry $24,033.44 $24,783.03 -3.02%
Ford Mustang $31,152.10 $29,499.73 5.60%
Honda Civic $20,453.06 $19,860.25 2.98%
Nissan Altima $24,567.48 $24,225.29 1.41%
Dodge Ram 1500 $31,092.37 $32,636.96 -4.73%
Chevrolet Corvette $61,033.66 $59,543.22 2.50%
Ford F-150 $30,215.69 $31,646.21 -4.52%
Jeep Wrangler $27,811.16 $26,523.75 4.85%
Chevrolet Malibu $24,179.66 $20,031.28 20.71%
Toyota Corolla $19,040.66$17,230.85 10.50%
ToyotaTacoma $26,152.72 $25,336.80 3.22%
Volkswagen Jetta $21,703.88 $22,070.75 -1.66%
FordFocus $18,150.80 $16,796.02 8.07%
ChevroletCobalt $17,404.79 $15,915.05 9.36%
GMCSierra $31,708.95 $32,021.81 -0.98%
HondaCR-V $25,162.04 $24,916.82 0.98%
Ford Fusion $22,519.22 $22,074.56 2.01%
Used Cars
MAKE MODEL Rank 09/08 Rank 09/07 Change from 09/07
Ford F-150 1 1 -31.63%
Ford Mustang 2 2 -29.54%
Chevrolet Silverado 3 3 -29.53%
Honda Accord 4 4 -35.03%
Honda Civic 5 5 -33.07%
InfinitiG35 6 10 -16.93%
DodgeRam 1500 7 6 -28.38%
NissanAltima 8 8 -29.84%
Ford F-250 9 7 -36.69%
Jeep Grand Che{{{Cherokee 10 9 -31.80%
Jeep Wrangler 11 16 -19.41%
Chevrolet Tahoe 12 11 -30.77%
Toyota Tacoma 13 12 -36.38%
AudiA4 14 18 -22.10%
Ford Explorer 15 13 -37.93%
Volkswagen Jetta 16 14 -34.11%
Toyota Camry 17 15 -33.10%
Chevrolet Corvette 18 20 -23.70%
Dodge Ram 2500 19 19 -28.80%
Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD 20 17 -36.72%
MAKE MODEL Avg Price - Avg Price - Change from 09/07
09/08 09/07
Ford F-150 $16,122.01 $19,470.15 -17.20%
Ford Mustang $16,977.15 $18,474.35 -8.10%
Chevrolet Silverado $16,281.07 $19,627.97 -17.05%Honda Accord $16,728.57 $16,635.87 0.56%
HondaCivic $15,210.89 $14,354.12 5.97%
InfinitiG35 $21,845.66 $24,762.33 -11.78%
DodgeRam 1500 $14,532.77 $17,627.35 -17.56%
NissanAltima $15,355.78 $15,461.18 -0.68%
FordF-250 $20,396.97 $24,781.92 -17.69%
Jeep Grand Che{{{Cherokee $14,396.21 $16,838.36 -14.50%
Jeep Wrangler $17,095.55 $18,683.23 -8.50%
ChevroletTahoe $19,375.85 $23,311.45 -16.88%
ToyotaTacoma $18,572.46 $19,325.01 -3.89%
AudiA4 $21,940.88 $22,483.31 -2.41%
Ford Explorer $13,553.69 $16,097.13 -15.80%
Volkswagen Jetta $14,517.67 $14,380.87 0.95%
Toyota Camry $17,286.49 $17,020.79 1.56%
Chevrolet Corvette $37,257.66 $39,834.82 -6.47%
Dodge Ram 2500 $20,606.77 $24,335.10 -15.32%
Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD $19,543.53 $23,212.13 -15.80%
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