J.D.
Power and Associates Reports: More Than One-Half of Buyers Now Use the Internet
to Shop Online for a Used Vehicle
Internet
use among used-vehicle buyers has jumped significantly, with 54 percent of late-model
used-vehicle buyers using the Internet during their shopping process-up from 47
percent in 2003, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2004 Used Autoshopper.com
StudySM released today. "This
is the most explosive growth in the used-vehicle automotive Internet user rate
we have seen in three years," said Dennis Galbraith, senior director of research
for J.D. Power and Associates. "Not only are shoppers using the Internet
in greater numbers, but also far more of them are finding their purchase decisions
are impacted by information found online." Among
all used-vehicle buyers, 36 percent say their make and model decisions were impacted
by information found online-up from 29 percent in 2003-while 22 percent were impacted
in their selection of sellers-up from 16 percent. Among automotive Internet users,
85 percent say the Internet impacted the price they paid for their vehicle, and
66 percent say it impacted which make or model to purchase. The
study also finds, for the first time, that online sources have outpaced traditional
newspaper advertising as the method that led buyers to the used vehicles they
actually purchased. While 9 percent of buyers say they found their used vehicle
through a newspaper advertisement, 11 percent attribute the Internet as the source
of their purchase. "Critical
buying decisions increasingly are happening online," said Galbraith. "This
should serve as a wake-up call to used-vehicle dealers not yet using the Internet
to promote their inventories. The more comfortable consumers become with the Internet,
the more used-vehicle shoppers we will see going deep into the purchase funnel
while online." Kelley
Blue Book (kbb.com) remains the most visited automotive site among used-vehicle
buyers. AutoTrader.com continues to be the site that leads the most used-vehicle
buyers to the vehicles they purchase. Online auction sites are growing in impact,
with eBay Motors now following AutoTrader.com closely as a popular source of online
sales.
The
2004 Used Autoshopper.com Study is based on responses from more than 12,000 owners
of used vehicles that purchased pre-owned 1999-2004 model-year vehicles.Headquartered
in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is an ISO 9001-registered
global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including
market research, forecasting, consulting, training and customer satisfaction.
No advertising
or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release without
the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and Associates. www.jdpower.com | 
