ATLANTA, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Interest in new four-door sedans increased on AutoTrader.com in September as four-door models from Toyota, Ford, Honda and Nissan saw increases in their rankings on AutoTrader.com's list of top 20 most-viewed vehicles compared to August 2010.  The top 20 new-car list also saw a wider variety in the types of new vehicles searched, with more family cars and stylish sedans emerging as major players in the top 20 list of most-searched new cars.  

On September's new car top 20 list, the big winner was the Toyota Corolla, jumping from the No. 41 most-viewed spot in August 2010 to the No. 7 most-viewed spot in September. Toyota also had another big jump with the Camry going from No. 12 to No. 2.  The other four-door vehicles making jumps on the top 20 most-viewed new-car list were the Ford Fusion, up from No. 23 in August to No. 17 in September; the Nissan Altima, up from No. 21 to No. 11; the Honda Accord, up from No. 11 to No. 8; and the Honda Civic up from No. 14 to No. 12;

Interest in the new 2011 Ford Escape, which has gotten many positive reviews, helped push views of that compact SUV up from No. 39 in September 2010 to No. 16 on the August 2010 top 20 most-viewed new cars list.

New Car Prices Rebound; CPO Prices Decline

Average asking prices for new vehicles rebounded after a notable decline in August, pointing to more stability in the new car market. Prices rose for nearly three-fourths of the top 20 most-viewed new cars, with three vehicles achieving more than a five percent increase year-over-year.  The Jeep Grand Cherokee gained 6.8% from $35,315 in September 2009 to $37,728 last month; the price for the Dodge Ram 2500 increased 7.5%, moving from $43,348 to $46,602; and the Chevrolet Corvette was the big price winner, going from $64,293 to $69,690, an increase of 8.4%.  

In the list of most-viewed used cars, average asking prices rose for 15 of the top 20. Of those, six vehicles—all trucks and SUVs—posted an increase greater than five percent, with double-digit percentage increases for the used Jeep Wrangler and used Dodge Ram 2500.  The price for the Wrangler went up 12.1% from $19,446 in September 2009 to $21,809 in September 2010.  The Ram 2500 saw an increase of 12.6%, moving from $23,464 to $26,425 in the same time period.

"Deciding between a new or used car hinges largely on price for most people, and there's been somewhat of a perfect storm brewing in favor of new cars lately," said AutoTrader.com President and CEO Chip Perry.  "The steady uptick in prices on used cars in 2010 combined with the availability of new-car incentives such as cash back and zero-percent financing have narrowed the price gap considerably on many popular models, giving consumers more reasons than ever to consider purchasing a new car vs. a late-model used car.  Even with new-car asking prices starting to stabilize, incentives can impact the total cost of the new-car purchase.  For some buyers, that can make a new car a more financially appealing decision than a used car."

Trends in the top 20 most-viewed Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) vehicles landed on the opposite side of the spectrum from those on the top 20 used car list.  For the first time in 2010, average asking prices for the majority of CPO vehicles (15 out of 20) declined.  Trucks and SUVs accounted for most of the price decreases over five percent, with the price of the Acura MDX falling the most, at 9% from $32,648 to $29,701 year-over-year.

Four of the five CPO vehicles that saw average asking prices increase from September 2009 to September 2010 were the ever-popular family cars and sedans: the price of the CPO Honda Accord gained a modest 0.18%, going from $18,228 to $18,260; the CPO BMW 3-Series price increased 1.7% from $29,878 to $30,406; the CPO Honda Civic almost 5%, from $16,061 to $16,862; and the CPO Toyota Camry claimed the biggest price increase of 9.6%, going from $17,401 to $19,077.  Rounding out the list was the CPO Toyota Tacoma, with an increase of 1.9%, moving from $22,543 to $22,973.

"Fluctuations in average asking prices can be caused by numerous factors, so it's likely too early to attribute the sudden drop in CPO asking prices to a single event," said Perry.  "However, there were sharp declines in leasing activity – where most CPO inventory comes from – in 2008 and 2009 as economic conditions constrained the car leasing business.  This helped create a sharp decline in CPO inventory and the spike in CPO pricing we saw over the past year.  The rebound in leasing activity as the economy has recovered may have created more supply of CPO inventory, partly explaining the drop in asking prices we're seeing."

During September, AutoTrader.com continued to hit record year-over-year traffic. The site attracted 15.7 million unique monthly visitors, which is a 12% lift over September 2009.

About AutoTrader.com

AutoTrader.com, created in 1997 and headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., is the Internet's leading automotive marketplace and consumer information website.  AutoTrader.com aggregates in a single location millions of new cars, used cars and certified pre-owned cars from thousands of auto dealers and private sellers.  AutoTrader.com attracts more than 15 million unique monthly visitors who utilize the site to view vehicles for sale, research and compare vehicles, review pricing and specials, and read auto-related content like buying and selling tips, auto maintenance tips and coverage of major auto shows and automotive trends.  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 improve 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 and the private equity firm Providence Equity Partners are also investors.  For more information, please visit www.autotrader.com.

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SOURCE AutoTrader.com