This report examines the car-purchasing process, and how today’s consumers are going about their new-vehicle purchases.

Buying a new vehicle has always been an interesting process – after all, a household’s car or cars usually represents the second-largest purchase after their house (in the case of renters, a vehicle may be the largest purchase). It’s also been a difficult process, as consumers must navigate a market of over 300 models, deal with multiple dealerships (often representing the same brand) competing for their business, all while finding the best car for themselves at the right price. There are a variety of options – new or used or certified pre-owned, buy or lease – to consider, as well. On top of that, today’s technology is changing the way consumers research their next purchase – and in some cases, how they conduct the purchase itself.

This report builds on the analysis presented in Mintel’s Car Purchasing—US, March 2014 and Mintel’s Car Buying – US, February 2013, and Car Buying – US, January 2011. Mintel defines car purchasing as the act or the intended act of buying a new, used, or certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicle.

Types of vehicles referenced in Car Purchasing Process include the following types: all cars, station wagons, sedans, pickup trucks, vans, minivans, crossover utility vehicles, and sport utility vehicles (SUVs).

Market Size and Forecast and Segment Performance – Total unit sales based on Morgan and Company, Inc. West Olive, MI; Edmunds.com, “2014 Used Vehicle Market Report.” Forecast developed by Mintel.

For the purposes of this report, Mintel commissioned exclusive consumer research through GMI to explore consumer attitudes and behaviors toward Car Purchasing. Mintel was responsible for the survey design, data analysis and reporting. Fieldwork was conducted December 11-24, 2014 among a sample of 2,000 adults aged 18+ with access to the internet.

Mintel selects survey respondents so that they are proportionally balanced to the entire U.S. adult population based on the key demographics of gender, age, household income, and region. Mintel also slightly oversamples, relative to the population, respondents that are Hispanic or black to ensure an adequate representation of these groups in the survey results. Please note that Mintel surveys are conducted online and in English only. Hispanics who are not online and/or do not speak English are not included in the survey results.

While race and Hispanic origin are separate demographic characteristics, Mintel often compares them to each other. Please note that the responses for race (White, Black, Asian, Native American, or other race) will overlap those that also are Hispanic, because Hispanics can be of any race.

In addition to quantitative consumer research, Mintel also conducted an online discussion group among a demographically mixed group of 21 adults aged 18+. This discussion group was asynchronous (ie, not run in real time), functioning like a blog or bulletin board, with questions remaining posted for a predetermined period of time. This method allows participants to respond reflectively, at their leisure, or to log off to think about any issues raised, and return later to respond. Participants were recruited from GMI’s online consumer panel. All quotes are included verbatim, and as such, include typos and other grammatical errors as they originally appeared.

The following abbreviations are used in this report:

Generations, if discussed within this report, are defined as:

* also known as Generation Y or Echo Boomers