ATLANTA, Feb. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- In its first month on the market, the newly-introduced Nissan 370Z joined the AutoTrader.com Top 20 Most Viewed vehicles for the first time, showing a 209.91% increase in views over the previous-generation 350Z that it replaces. As consumers' fears surrounding the economy continue to keep many from purchasing a new car or SUV, niche sports cars such as the 370Z, Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Corvette continued strong showings on the list. While many consumers performing searches for these niche vehicles might not purchase one, these cars' status as brand icons serves to attract consumers to their respective manufacturers' more mainstream offerings.

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Among more mass-market new vehicles, the largest gain overall was with the Honda Pilot, which nearly doubled its views from the previous year, moving it up from 64th position in January 2008 to 16th this January. Another strong performer was the redesigned Dodge Ram 1500, which saw a nearly 50% increase in views year-over-year. Other vehicles with increased searches included the Ford F-150, fresh from its win as the North American Truck of the Year, awarded at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, which saw a modest increase of 15.01%. The Honda Odyssey minivan increased views 35.40% from January 2008.

Among sedans, the Honda Accord, Honda Civic, Nissan Altima and Toyota Camry all saw a decrease in views ranging from 23.19% to 35.80% year over year. And while General Motors larger trucks and SUVs, including the Chevrolet Tahoe SUV, Chevrolet Silverado pick-up and the GMC Sierra pick-up, all saw slight drops, ranging from 1.93% for the Tahoe to 16.67% for the Silverado 1500, the drops were modest compared to other, smaller vehicles.

"Sales of new vehicles continue to slow, though when consumers were shopping in January, they're shopping full-size trucks and SUVs due to average price of gas prices having remained low nationwide," said AutoTrader.com President and CEO Chip Perry. "This points to the difficulties automakers and dealers have in producing and stocking vehicles, as decisions made now can be rendered moot by the time a car or truck actually reaches the lot due to large fluctuations in gas prices and the resulting changes in consumer interest in certain types of cars."

Used Vehicle Market Finally Show Signs of Stabilizing

If the new vehicle market continued to see challenges in January, the market for used vehicles showed the beginnings of stabilization. Many used vehicles recorded only modest decreases in views, such as the Toyota Camry, which was down 7.97% from January 2008. While asking prices among the Top 20 used vehicles continued to fall, with drops ranging from 3.84% for the Honda Civic to 18.74% for the Ford F-250, several trucks actually saw an increase in views year over year, including the Jeep Grand Cherokee (up 2.29%), the Ford F-150 (up 11.73%), and the Dodge Ram 1500 (up 19.48%). This indicates that interest in these larger used models may be returning, which could result in increased sales and eventual stabilization of prices in this segment.

"Most people still need a vehicle, and many shoppers who only considered themselves new-car buyers are considering purchasing used, which offers buyers less depreciation and easier financing options, a still significant concern as access to credit remains restricted," said Perry. "With economic conditions expected to remain tough for at least the next few months, dealers can benefit by making sure they promote both new and used inventory. More and more, consumers looking for a new car but unable to get financing or concerned about higher new-car prices may be convinced to look at used vehicles as another option to meet their transportation needs."

AutoTrader.com Site Traffic Continues to Spike

AutoTrader.com launched the company's 2009 marketing campaign in January with exposure in BCS National Championship Game and the National Football League NFC playoffs on Fox. The launch of the campaign, combined with pent up demand among potential auto shoppers and continued adoption of the web as consumers' primary auto shopping tool, resulted in a jump in site traffic to 15.25 million unique monthly visitors in January compared to 14.3 million unique monthly visitors in January 2008. This represents AutoTrader.com's highest traffic numbers since May of 2008 and is the first time AutoTrader.com has attracted more than 15 million unique visitors in the month of January.

"Our primary message -- that by researching and comparing cars online consumers can get the right car at the right price -- is resonating with more and more shoppers as they seek to make the best use of every dollar in this economy," said Perry. "People are increasingly turning to the web to see inventory, check prices and options, learn about dealer specials and get information about dealerships. I do believe at some point the increased shopping will result in increased buying, and that car buying will serve as a key element to helping the economy get back on a solid footing."

AutoTrader.com is the ultimate automotive marketplace with over 3 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 about 3.5 million new cars, used cars and certified pre-owned cars from 40,000 dealers and 250,000 private owners and the site attracts about 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 www.autotrader.com .

    MAKE      MODEL
    Rank   Rank    Change  Avg         Avg          Change
                        01/09  01/08   from    Price -     Price -      from
                                       01/08   01/09       01/08        01/08

    Ford      F-150       1      4     15.01%  $32,549.34  $32,651.94   -0.31%
    Chevrolet Silverado   2      1    -16.67%  $31,612.56  $29,802.31    6.07%
              1500
    Dodge     Challenger  3     N/A     N/A    $37,689.75     N/A         N/A
    Honda     Accord      4      2    -26.55%  $25,933.89  $25,488.71    1.75%
    Dodge     Ram 1500    5     18     49.18%  $33,752.11  $31,768.86    6.24%
    Ford      Mustang     6      3    -28.82%  $32,198.01  $30,372.42    6.01%
    Honda     Civic       7      5    -23.19%  $20,843.46  $20,045.80    3.98%
    Nissan    370Z/350Z   8     52    209.91%  $34,673.47  $35,113.28   -1.25%
    Chevrolet Corvette    9     11      1.51%  $60,980.48  $60,450.00    0.88%
    Jeep      Wrangler   10      9     -2.36%  $27,468.21  $27,051.70    1.54%
    Chevrolet Tahoe      11     12     -1.93%  $47,509.75  $44,219.68    7.44%
    Nissan    Altima     12      7     -32.28% $24,618.71  $24,660.47   -0.17%
    Chevrolet Silverado  13     14     -4.47%  $38,141.05  $38,743.68   -1.56%
              2500
    Toyota    Camry      14      6     -35.80% $24,226.01  $24,921.77   -2.79%
    Ford      F-250      15     27      29.93% $42,634.65  $42,686.01   -0.12%
    Honda     Pilot      16     64      96.85% $35,357.15  $32,641.84    8.32%
    Honda     Odyssey    17     32      35.40% $34,030.29  $33,177.06    2.57%
    GMC       Sierra     18     16      -7.82% $33,774.52  $32,146.79    5.06%
              1500
    Toyota    Tacoma     19     13     -16.98% $25,210.87  $25,009.23    0.81%
    Toyota    Tundra     20      8     -33.79% $34,142.01  $34,671.75   -1.53%


                                     Used Cars
    Ford      F-150       1      1      11.73% $15,853.45  $18,516.10  -14.38%
    Chevrolet Silverado   2      2      -3.89% $15,563.00  $18,684.66  -16.71%
              1500
    Ford      Mustang     3      3      -7.97% $15,820.12  $17,480.02   -9.50%
    Dodge     Ram 1500    4      6      19.48% $14,452.98  $16,912.23  -14.54%
    Honda     Accord      5      4     -11.37% $15,125.56  $16,324.01   -7.34%
    Honda     Civic       6      5     -19.38% $13,686.38  $14,233.01   -3.84%
    Chevrolet Tahoe       7     12      14.06% $19,606.80  $22,123.79  -11.38%
    Infiniti  G35         8     11       6.50% $19,293.71  $22,820.39  -15.45%
    Ford      F-250       9      8       2.58% $19,796.72  $24,361.47  -18.74%
    Jeep      Grand      10      7       2.29% $14,080.76  $16,417.58  -14.23%
              Cherokee
    Ford      Explorer   11      9      -8.97% $13,629.86  $15,810.82  -13.79%
    Jeep      Wrangler   12     19      21.82% $16,149.49  $18,368.32  -12.08%
    Nissan    Altima     13     10     -14.99% $13,841.24  $14,837.74   -6.72%
    Toyota    Tacoma     14     13      -6.75% $17,138.61  $18,873.98   -9.19%
    Chevrolet Corvette   15     22      27.44% $35,472.42  $38,871.43   -8.74%
    Audi      A4         16     14      -5.82% $20,476.51  $22,222.03   -7.85%
    Chevrolet Silverado  17     16      -4.77% $19,309.25  $23,108.71  -16.44%
              2500
    Dodge     Ram 2500   18     20       0.18% $20,452.79  $24,190.78  -15.45%
    Toyota    Camry      19     18      -7.97% $15,780.34  $16,679.66   -5.39%
    Chevrolet Impala     20     15     -16.36% $12,946.82  $14,511.49  -10.78%

SOURCE: AutoTrader.com

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