ATLANTA, Dec. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- While Detroit's Big Three wrestle with challenges brought on by this summer's high gas prices and the current economic turmoil, visitors to AutoTrader.com continue to show interest in domestic brands. In the latest AutoTrader.com monthly Trend Engine report, released today and highlighting research and compare activity on the site for November 2008, 11 of the top 20 new cars viewed on the site and 12 of the top 20 used cars viewed on the site were U.S. brands.
"Since we launched the monthly Trend Engine report five months ago, U.S. auto manufacturers have consistently captured a little more than half of the spots on our list of the top 20 new and used cars viewed on our site," said AutoTrader.com President and CEO Chip Perry. "The Big Three's current situation hasn't yet appeared to impacted consumers' general level of interest in their cars."
The Ford Fusion, benefiting from exposure for its new design at the recent Los Angeles Auto Show, made a leap onto the top 20 list of new cars viewed on the site, ranking No. 19 in November, compared with a ranking of No 37 in November of 2007.
The No. 1 viewed new vehicle on AutoTrader.com in November was the Honda Accord, followed by the Toyota Camry at No. 2 and the Ford F-150pickup truck at No. 3. These new models held these same rankings in the October 2008 Trend Engine report and have been perennial top 10 new vehicles on AutoTrader.com.
On the Trend Engine used car top 20 list, falling average list prices were the big news. Of the top 20 used cars viewed on AutoTrader.com in November 2008, all but one (the Honda Civic) saw average list prices drop compared to November of 2007.
Used Ford F-250 trucks saw the biggest decline in average list prices, down to $19,797.36 in November of this year from $24,663.21 in November 2007, or a drop of 19.73% year over year. All trucks and SUVs on AutoTrader.com's top 20 used car list saw double digit percentage drops in average list prices in November 2008 compared to November 2007.
"We believe there continues to be a market for larger vehicles like trucks and SUVs and search and viewing activity for these larger used models on our site, spurred no doubt by falling gas prices, indicate people might be ready to start buying more of these vehicles again," said Perry. "The good news for people looking for used trucks and SUVs is that prices are lower than they've been in a long time and there are a lot of them to choose from, so it's a great time to buy."
Used Honda Civics continues to benefit from the tight supply the car experienced as a result of gas prices hitting four dollars a gallon in the summer. The average list price for used Civics increased 5.42% year over year, from $13,931.95 in November 2007 to $14,686.92 in November 2008. The Honda Civic ranked No. 7 on AutoTrader.com's top 20 used car list, down from No. 5 in November of last year.
Fuel efficient cars, which are still in limited supply due to the summer gas price spike, saw small drops in prices. For instance, the used Honda Accord, ranked No. 5 in November of 2008, saw its average list price drop only 0.18% year over year, to $16,018 in November 2008 compared to $16,046.39 last November. Similarly, the used Toyota Camry, ranked No. 18 this November, saw its average list price drop only 1.18% year over year, to $16,679.92 in November 2008 compared to $16,879.30 in November 2007.
The top three viewed used vehicles on AutoTrader.com in November 2008 were the Ford F-150 at No 1, the Chevy Silverado 1500 at No. 2 and the Ford Mustang at No. 3. These cars held the same positions in November of last year as well.
AutoTrader.com is the ultimate automotive marketplace with over 3.5 million vehicles listed for sale. 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 in its monthly Trend Engine report to offer insight into current and emerging sales, price and supply and demand trends in the automobile industry. Past Trend Engine reports are archived at http://autotrader.mediaroom.com/.
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 Rank Avg Price- Avg Price- Change from
11/08 11/07 11/08 11/07 11/07
NEW
HondaAccord 1 3 $26,225.49 $25,617.77 2.37%
ToyotaCamry 2 5 $24,149.79 $24,850.09 -2.82%
FordF-150 3 2 $30,807.06 $32,722.73 -5.85%
Honda Civic 4 4 $20,601.59 $19,996.85 3.02%
NissanAltima 5 6 $24,722.14 $24,767.37 -0.18%
Toyota Corolla 6 16 $18,883.93 $17,163.31 10.03%
DodgeRam 1500 7 10 $33,666.98 $31,919.92 5.47%
Chevy Silverado
1500 8 1 $29,983.28 $29,889.00 0.31%
Dodge Challenger 9 N/A $36,910.50 N/A N/A
Honda Pilot 10 61 $35,310.09 $32,675.65 8.06%
Honda CRV 11 23 $25,371.52 $24,203.63 4.83%
Toyota Tacoma 12 20 $25,603.94 $25,072.04 2.12%
Chevy Malibu 13 17 $24,335.69 $21,643.39 12.44%
Ford Focus 14 15 $18,043.73 $16,992.05 6.19%
Chevy Cobalt 15 18 $17,611.36 $16,074.66 9.56%
Ford Mustang 16 7 $31,541.73 $30,058.05 4.94%
Honda Odyssey 17 40 $33,753.53 $32,797.00 2.92%
JeepWrangler 18 12 $27,764.51 $26,748.93 3.80%
Ford Fusion 19 37 $22,678.61 $21,910.21 3.51%
Chevy Impala20 14 $25,627.11 $24,355.31 5.22%
USED
FordF-150 1 1 $15,809.21 $19,114.72 -17.29%
Chevy Silverado
1500 2 2 $15,838.64 $19,254.62 -17.74%
Ford Mustang 3 3 $16,480.36 $18,011.95 -8.50%
DodgeRam 1500 4 6 $14,255.98 $17,318.91 -17.69%
HondaAccord 5 4 $16,018.26 $16,046.39 -0.18%
InfinitiG35 6 9 $20,529.03 $23,847.72 -13.92%
Honda Civic 7 5 $14,686.92 $13,931.95 5.42%
Chevy Tahoe 8 12 $19,128.89 $22,784.23 -16.04%
Ford F-250 9 11 $19,797.36 $24,663.21 -19.73%
Jeep Grand
Cherokee 10 8 $14,128.55 $16,518.38 -14.47%
Ford Explorer 11 7 $13,668.16 $16,152.09 -15.38%
Jeep Wrangler 12 20 $16,583.97 $18,569.56 -10.69%
NissanAltima 13 10 $14,618.40 $15,175.72 -3.67%
ToyotaTacoma 14 14 $17,876.40 $19,077.85 -6.30%
Chevy Silverado
2500 15 19 $19,287.41 $22,993.34 -16.12%
AudiA4 16 17 $21,354.29 $22,559.65 -5.34%
Dodge Ram 2500 17 23 $20,246.75 $24,435.01 -17.14%
Toyota Camry 18 15 $16,679.92 $16,879.30 -1.18%
Chevy Corvette 19 24 $36,296.14 $39,296.57 -7.64%
Volkswagen Jetta 20 16 $13,627.76 $14,203.72 -4.06%
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