As gas prices soar, reaching over $4.00 per gallon in the U.S., consumers are shifting their focus towards more fuel-efficient cars. According to Autotrader.com’s monthly Trend Engine report, fuel-efficient vehicles like the Ford Focus and Hyundai Sonata made big gains to jump onto the top 20 most-searched vehicle list.
A recent survey conducted by Autotrader.com shows that, for March and April, 62% of new car shoppers are considering purchasing a more fuel-efficient vehicle than they already drive.
New vehicle trends
The majority of trucks and SUV’s slipped one to two spots on the list in April, while fuel efficient cars held their ground or made big gains. The new Ford Focus leapt 21 spots in the same month, going from number #33 to being one away from the top ten.
Similarly, the new Hyundai Sonata was searched more in April, and slid from #23 to #19 on the most-searched new vehicle list. As well, the new Chevrolet Cruze cracked the top ten, moving from #11 to #8 on the list.
For year-over-year gains, analysts noted two other fuel-efficient cars making big gains. The new Hyundai Elantra vaulted 37 spots, moving from #51 to #14. Similarly, the Kia Optima leapt a massive 87 spots, from #104 to #17.
Used Vehicle Trends
The clamor for more fuel-efficient vehicles also proved true for vehicles on used car lots. For example, the Ford F-150, frequently one of the best selling vehicles in the U.S. and the most- searched used vehicle on autotrader.com for 2011, was recently dethroned by the BMW 3-series for the most-searched used title.
Similarly, two big Chevy’s lost used ground as well: the Tahoe and Silverado 2500 both dropped two or more places between March and April 2011.
On the other side of the pendulum, the #5 spot Honda Civic, the #6 spot Accord, and the #12 spot Nissan Altima, all held their ground month-over-month in used-searches. On the upswing, the Volkswagen Jetta jumped two spots from March to April to sit at #13, while the Camry slid one spot from #20 to #19.
Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles
The march toward fuel-efficient vehicles continued into the certified pre-owned segment with the #5 spot Honda Civic, the #9 spot Volkswagen Jetta, and the #19 Nissan Altima, all moving up one spot month-over-month. Moving into the certified pre-owned truck and SUV segment, we see the same trends as new and used vehicles, with the #5 Toyota Tundra and #12 Chevrolet Tahoe moving down two spots respectively. Similarly, the #9 Ford F-150 slipped three spots, while the #16 Acura MDX and #19 Toyota 4-Runner both slipped one spot from March to April.
Continuing from the used vehicle trend the certified pre-owned BMW 3-series captured the #1 spot, where it has sat since the beginning of 2011.
Gas Goes up, Prices Go up; Supply and Demand
Average asking prices for vehicles across all three segments have seemingly been affected by the rising gas prices. For new vehicle searches year-over-year, prices were up on 12 vehicles and down on six of them (two vehicles weren’t on sale last year and don’t have year-over-year data). For used vehicles, prices were up on 13 and down on seven. Certified pre-owned vehicles saw the biggest skew, with 17 vehicles seeing price bumps and only three seeing price decreases.
AutoTrader.com analysts noted that supply and demand is a key factor in determining the asking price of a vehicle, so seeing increases on the majority of vehicles across the new, used and CPO lists shows that consumers are certainly making a return to the automotive market. Analysts also noted that fuel-efficient cars made significant gains across all three lists, as the demand for these cars has increased with the rise in gas prices.
In terms of most-searched new vehicles, the Kia Optima had the biggest bump in price year-over-year, going from $20,772 to $24,099. The Hyundai Elantra saw the second-biggest price hike, going from $17,474 to $19,702. Average asking price for the new Ford focus and new Hyundai Sonata rose 6.92% and 5.52% repectively.
Fuel-efficient cars on the most-searched used car list also saw price hikes, with the used Honda Accord seeing a whooping 9.8% increase going from $15,787 to $17,394.
On the certified pre-owned list, the Honda Accord saw the biggest price hike at 11%. Vehicles made by manufacturers affected by the natural disasters in Japan, like Toyota and Honda, both experienced an increase in asking price. Analysts believe these increases may be propelled by anticipated shortages for new models and hence, are leading consumers to late-model certified pre-owned vehicles.
Big Moves
Autotrader.com is now taking a look at the 10 biggest movers on the site, vehicles that have made significant increases month-over-month.
For new vehicles, the new Fiat 500 jumped 137 spots between February and March, and an additional 122 spots from March to April. The Chrysler 300 leapt 44 spots to #41, while Nissan’s electric LEAF sparked some interest, moving 40 spots month-over-month.
For used vehicles, the large commercial Dodge Sprinter bucked trends and moved up 20 places month-over-month. Certified-pre owned lists included the Mazda 2 moving up 39 spots and the Mini Cooper Clubman moving up 38 spots month-over-month.
Most-Searched Brands
Ford continued its stronghold of new and used vehicles searches, while Dodge tucked behind in second in the same categories. Volkswagen returned to the top-ten list coming in at #9, while both Dodge and Jeep made year-over-year improvements to land them in at #3 and #8 respectively.
