ATLANTA, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- September proved to be a brutal market for car sales, with buyers holding off on purchasing a vehicle due to the turmoil on Wall Street. Instead, many turned to fantasy shopping, choosing to research exciting niche vehicles as the Dodge Challenger, Chevrolet Corvette and Jeep Wrangler, according to AutoTrader.com's Trend Engine report highlighting new and used vehicle viewing activity on the site for September. Taken together, these three vehicles make up a very small part of the automotive sales pie, combined representing about 1% of the U.S. market in September 2008. However, they proved to be very popular among AutoTrader.com visitors, with the new Challenger being the most-viewed new vehicle on the site for the month.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080205/CLTU088LOGO )

"The automotive market is following other segments with a slowdown that will likely last through the end of 2008," said AutoTrader.com President and CEO Chip Perry. "Those in the industry should remember that consumers cannot push off purchasing a vehicle forever, and we should see an increase in sales once confidence in the economy begins to improve."

Half of the 20 most viewed new vehicles on AutoTrader.com for September were either compact or midsize sedans; these cars were joined by 5 pickup trucks. Of note is the Dodge Ram, which saw a 10.6% increase in views as dealerships cleared out the remaining 2008 models and began stocking the all-new 2009 edition. Only one crossover, the Honda CR-V, made the top 20 list, and there were no SUVs.

The newest of the 10 cars on list is the Ford Fusion, which recorded a 25.27% jump in views that moved it from 42nd place last year to 19th this year. All but two of the 10 sedans -- the Toyota Camry and Volkswagen Jetta -- saw average asking prices rise from September 2007, with the Chevrolet Malibu seeing a 20.71% jump and the Toyota Corolla enjoying a 10.5% increase.

"General consumers who do not need a truck seem to be returning to traditional compact and midsize sedans," continued Perry. "Trucks -- especially pickup trucks -- will always have a market, but that market will be more limited to the farmers, contractors and trades people who need them, versus those who have been buying such vehicles purely for personal transportation."

Used Vehicle Sales Also See the Effects of the Economy

Used vehicles continued to see views slide as many of September's car buyers shifting towards new vehicles to take advantage of the generous incentives available on remaining 2008 model year inventory. Asking prices for used cars generally stayed steady, while prices for used trucks and SUVs recorded drops ranging from 3.89% for the Toyota Tacoma pickup to 17.56% for the Dodge Ram pickup. Used Ram pickups were particularly affected by the sizable incentives of upwards of $6,000 per vehicle offered by the Chrysler Corporation on remaining new 2008 models.

"While gas prices have decreased, consumers should remember that the long-term expectation is that they will soon not only pass $4 per gallon again, but may even rise well beyond that," said Perry. "Buyers taking advantage of good deals available on SUVs and trucks now should be sure they can afford to fuel up their vehicle regardless of the price of gas at the pump."

AutoTrader.com is the ultimate automotive marketplace with over 3.5 million vehicle listings. 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 to offer insight into current and emerging sales trends in the automobile industry.

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 http://www.autotrader.com/ .

  MAKE       MODEL       Rank 09/08     Rank 09/07     Change from 09/07
  Dodge      Challenger      1              N/A                N/A
  Chevrolet  Silverado       2               1              -30.81%
  Honda      Accord          3               4                3.00%
  Toyota     Camry           4              11               28.45%
  Ford       Mustang         5               2              -19.74%
  Honda      Civic           6               8                9.93%
  Nissan     Altima          7               6               -4.51%
  Dodge      Ram 1500        8              12               10.60%
  Chevrolet  Corvette        9              10               -5.43%
  Ford       F-150          10               3              -41.80%
  Jeep       Wrangler       11               5              -35.97%
  Chevrolet  Malibu         12             117              226.87%
  Toyota     Corolla        13              21               19.90%
  Toyota     Tacoma         14              15               -6.93%
  Volkswagen Jetta          15              35               38.71%
  Ford       Focus          16              65               89.84%
  Chevrolet  Cobalt         17              19               -1.59%
  GMC        Sierra         18              14              -13.96%
  Honda      CR-V           19              22               10.74%
  Ford       Fusion         20              42               25.27%


  MAKE       MODEL         Avg Price -   Avg Price -   Change from 09/07
                             09/08          09/07
  Dodge      Challenger   $35,152.69         N/A             N/A
  Chevrolet  Silverado    $29,505.91     $30,035.58        -1.76%
  Honda      Accord       $26,332.22     $25,738.66         2.31%
  Toyota     Camry        $24,033.44     $24,783.03        -3.02%
  Ford       Mustang      $31,152.10     $29,499.73         5.60%
  Honda      Civic        $20,453.06     $19,860.25         2.98%
  Nissan     Altima       $24,567.48     $24,225.29         1.41%
  Dodge      Ram 1500     $31,092.37     $32,636.96        -4.73%
  Chevrolet  Corvette     $61,033.66     $59,543.22         2.50%
  Ford       F-150        $30,215.69     $31,646.21        -4.52%
  Jeep       Wrangler     $27,811.16     $26,523.75         4.85%
  Chevrolet  Malibu       $24,179.66     $20,031.28        20.71%
  Toyota     Corolla      $19,040.66     $17,230.85        10.50%
  Toyota     Tacoma       $26,152.72     $25,336.80         3.22%
  Volkswagen Jetta        $21,703.88     $22,070.75        -1.66%
  Ford       Focus        $18,150.80     $16,796.02         8.07%
  Chevrolet  Cobalt       $17,404.79     $15,915.05         9.36%
  GMC        Sierra       $31,708.95     $32,021.81        -0.98%
  Honda      CR-V         $25,162.04     $24,916.82         0.98%
  Ford       Fusion       $22,519.22     $22,074.56         2.01%


                                Used Cars

  MAKE       MODEL          Rank 09/08     Rank 09/07     Change from 09/07
  Ford       F-150              1               1              -31.63%
  Ford       Mustang            2               2              -29.54%
  Chevrolet  Silverado          3               3              -29.53%
  Honda      Accord             4               4              -35.03%
  Honda      Civic              5               5              -33.07%
  Infiniti   G35                6              10              -16.93%
  Dodge      Ram 1500           7               6              -28.38%
  Nissan     Altima             8               8              -29.84%
  Ford       F-250              9               7              -36.69%
  Jeep       Grand Cherokee    10               9              -31.80%
  Jeep       Wrangler          11              16              -19.41%
  Chevrolet  Tahoe             12              11              -30.77%
  Toyota     Tacoma            13              12              -36.38%
  Audi       A4                14              18              -22.10%
  Ford       Explorer          15              13              -37.93%
  Volkswagen Jetta             16              14              -34.11%
  Toyota     Camry             17              15              -33.10%
  Chevrolet  Corvette          18              20              -23.70%
  Dodge      Ram 2500          19              19              -28.80%
  Chevrolet  Silverado 2500HD  20              17              -36.72%


  MAKE       MODEL             Avg Price -   Avg Price -   Change from 09/07
                                 09/08          09/07
  Ford       F-150             $16,122.01    $19,470.15         -17.20%
  Ford       Mustang           $16,977.15    $18,474.35          -8.10%
  Chevrolet  Silverado         $16,281.07    $19,627.97         -17.05%
  Honda      Accord            $16,728.57    $16,635.87           0.56%
  Honda      Civic             $15,210.89    $14,354.12           5.97%
  Infiniti   G35               $21,845.66    $24,762.33         -11.78%
  Dodge      Ram 1500          $14,532.77    $17,627.35         -17.56%
  Nissan     Altima            $15,355.78    $15,461.18          -0.68%
  Ford       F-250             $20,396.97    $24,781.92         -17.69%
  Jeep       Grand Cherokee    $14,396.21    $16,838.36         -14.50%
  Jeep       Wrangler          $17,095.55    $18,683.23          -8.50%
  Chevrolet  Tahoe             $19,375.85    $23,311.45         -16.88%
  Toyota     Tacoma            $18,572.46    $19,325.01          -3.89%
  Audi       A4                $21,940.88    $22,483.31          -2.41%
  Ford       Explorer          $13,553.69    $16,097.13         -15.80%
  Volkswagen Jetta             $14,517.67    $14,380.87           0.95%
  Toyota     Camry             $17,286.49    $17,020.79           1.56%
  Chevrolet  Corvette          $37,257.66    $39,834.82          -6.47%
  Dodge      Ram 2500          $20,606.77    $24,335.10         -15.32%
  Chevrolet  Silverado 2500HD  $19,543.53    $23,212.13         -15.80%

SOURCE: AutoTrader.com

CONTACT: Brian Gluckman, AutoTrader.com, +1-404-568-7914,
Cell: +1-404-580-4020, brian.gluckman@autotrader.com

Web site: http://www.autotrader.com/