Table of Contents
Scopes and Themes
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- What you need to know
- Definition
- Data sources
- Sales data
- Consumer survey data
- Abbreviations and terms
Executive Summary
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- Economic concerns drag down the market
- Detroit 3 continue to cede share to imports
- Rising gas prices drive focus on fuel economy
- Internet reshaping interaction between dealers and buyers
- Dealers learn how to acquire and handle sales leads
- Dealers use Internet to adjust pricing daily
- Empty-nester Boomers represent outsized share of car spending
- Household income determines receptivity to marketing
- Advertising stays green and shifts to the Internet
Insights and Opportunities
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- Dealer margin under pressure but dealership network protected by law
- Why some hybrids will fail
- Marketers should remember to push as well as pull
Fast Forward Trends
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- Brand Tribe
- What's it about?
- What we’ve seen
- Implications
- Brand Cooperation
- What's it about?
- What we’ve seen
- Implications
Market Size and Forecast
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- Figure 1: Total U.S. sales and forecast of new and used vehicles to individuals, 2002-12
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- Figure 2: Total U.S. sales and forecast of new and used vehicles to companies and individuals, 2003-07
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Competitive Context
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- Big 3 spend on incentives to slow declining share
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- Figure 3: Average incentive paid per vehicle by leading car and truck manufacturers, 2005-07
- Financing charges on decline once again
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- Figure 4: Total U.S. finance charges for new and used vehicles to individuals, 2002-06
- Symbolic Prius dominates hybrids
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- Figure 5: Unit sales of hybrid cars and trucks, 2006-07
- Crossovers are the future of SUVs
Segment Performance
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- Rising fuel costs put focus back on cars in 2005
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- Figure 6: U.S. sales of new and used vehicles to individuals, by segment, 2002-07
- Figure 7: U.S. indexed sales of new and used vehicles to individuals, by segment, 2002-07
Segment Performance—New Trucks
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- Drop in new truck spending stemmed by CUVs
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- Figure 8: U.S. sales of new trucks to individuals, by segment, 2002-07
Segment Performance—Used Trucks
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- Used truck spending grows as new trucks abandoned
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- Figure 9: U.S. sales of used trucks to individuals, by segment, 2002-07
Segment Performance—New Cars
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- New car spending rebounds but snagged by recession
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- Figure 10: U.S. sales of new cars to individuals, by segment, 2002-07
Segment Performance—Used Cars
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- Used car spending much lower than used trucks
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- Figure 11: U.S. sales of used cars to individuals, by segment, 2002-07
Retailing Trends
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- Key points
- Top dealerships stay strong
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- Figure 12: Top ten dealership groups in the U.S., 2007
- Import dealerships grow as total dealerships shrink
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- Figure 13: Number of American brand and foreign brand dealerships, 2007-08
- No-haggle pricing works
- Internet sales groups are commonplace
- Sales leads from third-party sites on decline
Market Drivers
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- Older boomers hold outsized share of car spend
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- Figure 14: U.S. population and projections and spending on vehicles, by age, 2002-12
- Consumers pull back in poor economic climate
- Elevated gas prices to continue
Leading Companies
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- Key points
- Domestic nameplates continue share erosion
- Japanese imports rise even higher
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- Figure 15: Market share by new vehicle volume of leading car and truck manufacturers, 2003-07
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- Figure 16: New vehicle unit sales of leading car and truck manufacturers, 2005 and 2007
Brand Qualities
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- Toyota: the ascendant American brand
- Hyundai aims higher with thoughtful campaign
- Lower luxury brands set sights on younger buyers
Innovation and Innovators
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- Honda and Mazda go hydrogen
- Scion successfully positioned for Gen Y buyers
- Third-party sales leads are scored and bought
- Used dealers use web-based intelligence to price to sell
Advertising and Promotion
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- Manufacturer advertising
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- Figure 17: Media expenditures of selected automobile brands, 2005-06
- Saving gas and saving lives
- Internet advertising continues to evolve
- Dealer advertising
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- Figure 18: Estimated advertising expenditures of dealerships, by number of new units sold, 2006
- Figure 19: Graph: Estimated advertising expenditures by dealerships, by media type, 2006
- Dealers jump on board the Internet
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- Figure 20: Internet adspend of dealer associations, 2007
- Television ads
- CarMax
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- Figure 21: CarMax Internet seminar, December 2007
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- Figure 22: CarMax ancient Rome, February 2008
- Autotrader
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- Figure 23: AutoTrader, September 2007
Consumers—Owned and Leased Vehicles
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- Demographics responsible for purchase or lease
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- Figure 24: Purchase incidence of car or truck in the past five years, March 2008
Consumers—Who Buys New, Used, or Leases
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- Figure 25: Incidence of buying new, used or leasing, by age, March 2008
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- Figure 26: Incidence of buying new, used or leasing, by income, March 2008
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Consumers – Vehicle Types Owned or Leased
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- Figure 27: Types of vehicles owned or leased, March 2008
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Consumers—Price Paid
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- Figure 28: Price of most recent vehicle bought or leased, March 2008
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- Figure 29: Price of most recent vehicle bought or leased, by age, March 2008
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- Figure 30: Composition of price tier buyers, by age, March 2008
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- Figure 31: Price of most recent vehicle bought or leased, by income, March 2008
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Consumers—Circumstances Prompting Purchase of Vehicle
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- Figure 32: Circumstances prompting purchase of vehicle, March 2008
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- Figure 33: Circumstances prompting purchase of vehicle, by income, March 2008
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Consumers—Types of Vehicles and Benefits that Determined Purchase
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- Figure 34: Types of vehicles and benefits that determined purchase, March 2008
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- Figure 35: Types of vehicles and benefits that determined purchase, by age, March 2008
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- Figure 36: Types of vehicles and benefits that determined purchase, by income, March 2008
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Consumers—Time Spent Researching Purchase
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- Figure 37: Time spent researching purchase, March 2008
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- Figure 38: Time spent researching purchase, by income, March 2008
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Consumers—Information Sources
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- Figure 39: Information sources, March 2008
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- Figure 40: Information sources, by gender, March 2008
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- Figure 41: Information sources, by age, March 2008
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- Figure 42: Information sources, by income, March 2008
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Consumers—Types of Websites Visited prior to Purchase
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- Figure 43: Types of websites visited prior to purchase, March 2008
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- Figure 44: Types of websites visited prior to purchase, by age, March 2008
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- Figure 45: Types of websites visited prior to purchase, by income, March 2008
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Consumers—How Internet Helped in Purchase
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- Figure 46: How Internet helped in purchase, March 2008
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Consumers—Views on Dealerships and Salespeople
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- Figure 47: Views on dealerships and salespeople, March 2008
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Consumers—Race and Ethnicity
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- Figure 48: Incidence of buying new, used or leasing, by race/ethnicity, March 2008
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- Figure 49: Price of most recent vehicle bought or leased, by race/ethnicity, March 2008
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- Figure 50: Types of vehicles and benefits that determined purchase, by race/ethnicity, March 2008
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- Figure 51: Information sources, by race/ethnicity, March 2008
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- Figure 52: Views on dealerships and salespeople, by race/ethnicity, March 2008
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Consumers—Method of Financing
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- Trended
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- Figure 53: Method of financing for most recently acquired vehicle, 2002-07
- Financing by methods by age and income
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- Figure 54: Method of financing for most recently acquired vehicle, by age, May 2006-June 2007
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- Figure 55: Method of financing for most recently acquired vehicle, by income, May 2006-June 2007
Cluster Analysis—Internet Savvy Shop-arounds, the High Roller Brand Loyalists, and Low-Income Recyclers
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- Key points
- Internet savvy, shop-arounds
- Low-income, low-priced, recyclers
- High rolling, new car, brand-loyalists
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- Figure 56: Automobile purchaser clusters, March 2008
- Figure 57: Incidence of buying new, used or leasing, by automobile purchaser clusters, March 2008
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- Figure 58: Types of vehicles owned or leased, by automobile purchaser clusters, March 2008
- Figure 59: Price of most recent vehicle bought or leased, by automobile purchaser clusters, March 2008
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- Figure 60: Circumstances prompting purchase of vehicle, by automobile purchaser clusters, March 2008
- Figure 61: Types of vehicles and benefits that determined purchase, by automobile purchaser clusters, March 2008
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- Figure 62: Time spent researching purchase, by automobile purchaser clusters, March 2008
- Figure 63: Information sources, by automobile purchaser clusters, March 2008
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- Figure 64: Views on dealerships and salespeople, by automobile purchaser clusters, March 2008
- Figure 65: Automobile purchaser clusters, by gender, March 2008
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- Figure 66: Automobile purchaser clusters, by age group, March 2008
- Figure 67: Automobile purchaser clusters, by income group, March 2008
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- Figure 68: Automobile purchaser clusters by Hispanic origin, March 2008
- Methodology
Custom Consumer Groups
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- By type of car purchased
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- Figure 69: Price of most recent vehicle bought or leased, by type of car purchased, March 2008
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- Figure 70: Circumstances prompting purchase of vehicle, by type of car purchased, March 2008
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- Figure 71: Types of vehicles and benefits that determined purchase, by type of car purchased, March 2008
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- Figure 72: Time spent researching purchase, by type of car purchased, March 2008
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- Figure 73: Information sources, by gender, by type of car purchased, March 2008
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- Figure 74: Types of websites visited prior to purchase, by type of car purchased, March 2008
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- Figure 75: How Internet helped in purchase, by type of car purchased, March 2008
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- Figure 76: Views on dealerships and salespeople, by age and income, March 2008
- By age and income
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- Figure 77: Incidence of buying new, used or leasing, by age and income, March 2008
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- Figure 78: Price of most recent vehicle bought or leased, by age and income, March 2008
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- Figure 79: Circumstances prompting purchase of vehicle, by age and income, March 2008
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- Figure 80: Types of vehicles and benefits that determined purchase, by age and income, March 2008
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- Figure 81: Time Spent Researching Purchase, by age and income, March 2008
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- Figure 82: Information sources, by gender, by age and income, March 2008
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- Figure 83: Types of websites visited prior to purchase, by age and income, March 2008
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- Figure 84: How Internet helped in purchase, by age and income, March 2008
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- Figure 85: Views on dealerships and salespeople, by age and income, March 2008
Appendix: Other Useful Consumer Tables
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- Figure 86: Circumstances prompting purchase of vehicle, by age, March 2008
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- Figure 87: Types of vehicles and benefits that determined purchase, by gender, March 2008
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- Figure 88: Views on dealerships and salespeople, by age, March 2008
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- Figure 89: Make and model, most recently owned or leased vehicle, May 2006-June 2007
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- Figure 90: Features in most popular makes, most recently owned or leased vehicle, May 2006-June 2007
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- Figure 91: Features in most widely owned luxury makes, most recently owned or leased vehicle, May 2006-June 2007
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Appendix: Trade Associations
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