ATLANTA, Aug. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chevrolet Camaro claimed the No. 1 spot on AutoTrader.com's most viewed new vehicles list for the third month in a row, topping off what has become one of the first positive months for new car sales in over a year. Cash-for-Clunkers brought consumers on-line and into showrooms in July to look for cars, reflected in AutoTrader.com site traffic of 15.3 million unique visitors to the site during the month of July. July marked the seventh month in a row that AutoTrader.com has seen its unique monthly visitor count top 15 million.

"We have been waiting for the pent-up demand for new vehicles to uncork all year, and Cash-for-Clunkers has provided the jolt the industry needed," said AutoTrader.com President and CEO Chip Perry. "Consumers have been turning primarily to the Internet to research information about cars and prices, and that research is finally being put into action as these shoppers turn into buyers at dealerships across the country."

Among new vehicles, the all-new Chevrolet Equinox saw an impressive 197% increase in views, moving it from 99th to 18th year-over-year. Similarly, the recently redesigned Ford Fusion saw an increase in views of 28%, enough to move the midsize sedan from 35th to 16th overall. Ford also saw an increase in asking prices for the new Fusion of 12%, with the average price of vehicles listed on AutoTrader.com being $24,798. This compares well the Fusion's chief competitors, the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, which had average listing prices of $25,217 and $24,487, respectively.

Continuing to look at Ford vehicles, the new F-250 full-size pick-up, which saw a severe drop in sales last July due to record-high $4 per gallon gas, also saw a significant year-over-year increase in consumer activity, with views increasing 87%. Finally, Kia saw one of the largest increases in views among brands as a whole, as consumer activity around vehicles such as the newly-introduced Soul crossover and the new Forte compact sedan helped move the brand to its first-ever appearance on the top 10 Most Viewed Manufacturers list.

"With demand for many cars high now, supplies of vehicles at many dealerships have run short," said Perry. "For consumers looking to now take advantage of the CARS legislation by purchasing a popular model such as one of these, turning to AutoTrader.com to locate a dealer with the exact new vehicle of their choice is certainly the smart way to go."

Used & CPO Car Activity

Among used and CPO vehicles, the Ford F-150 saw a 31% gain to become the most viewed used vehicle, while the BMW 3-series once again topped the list of most viewed among CPO vehicles. More notably, prices for used vehicles across a variety of segments rose, with trucks seeing the largest jumps from last year's lows. The biggest gainer was the Chevrolet Tahoe, which saw an increase in average asking price of 20% compared to July of 2008.

"Excepting last summer's unusual selling situation brought about by record high gas prices, the consumer demand for larger vehicles such as SUVs has generally continued unabated," said Perry. "Though we are beginning to see a gradual shift in consumer tastes to smaller vehicles, it will be a while before we see many Americans ready to abandon their bigger vehicles entirely."

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 million new cars, used cars and certified pre-owned cars from thousands of auto dealers and private owners. The site attracts about 15 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 Rank  %Change  Avg Price   Avg Price   Change
                     07/09 06/09 07/08  from     - 07/09    - 07/08     from
                                        07/08                           07/08

                                      New Cars

    Chevrolet  Camaro   1    1   N/A    N/A    $34,990.65               N/A
    Ford       F-150    2    2    6    14.82%  $34,608.51  $30,576.03  13.19%
    Ford       Mustang  3    3    8    36.96%  $33,914.18  $30,871.04   9.86%
    Honda      Accord   4    9    1   -21.88%  $25,217.41  $25,651.50  -1.69%
    Chevrolet  Silverado
               1500     5    6    4   -18.56%  $31,379.35  $30,205.17   3.89%
    Honda      Civic    6   18    3   -24.49%  $20,290.76  $20,095.37   0.97%
    Toyota     Camry    7   10    2   -33.96%  $24,486.51  $23,990.36   2.07%
    Nissan     Altima   8   16    5   -28.74%  $24,641.00  $24,239.90   1.65%
    BMW        3-Series 9   13   12    13.54%  $45,804.29  $43,322.39   5.73%
    Volkswagen Jetta   10   11   24    36.76%  $22,777.44  $21,498.59   5.95%
    Dodge      Ram
               1500    11   14   16    12.45%  $34,511.48  $31,350.05  10.08%
    Ford       Escape  12    5   36    44.17%  $26,326.52  $24,981.44   5.38%
    Toyota     Corolla 13   21    7   -27.51%  $18,129.39  $18,553.98  -2.29%
    Jeep       Wrang-
               ler     14    7   19   -0.34%   $27,934.11  $27,818.45   0.42%
    Honda      CR-V    15   28   13   -6.93%   $25,112.97  $24,937.76   0.70%
    Ford       Fusion  16    8   35   27.68%   $24,797.54  $22,175.62  11.82%
    Toyota     Tacoma  17   19    9  -22.38%   $26,130.42  $26,018.25   0.43%
    Chevrolet  Equinox 18   62   99  196.92%   $26,835.00  $25,650.07   4.62%
    Nissan     Versa   19   45   28    9.88%   $15,473.13  $16,177.04  -4.35%
    Ford       F-250   20   15   64   86.88%   $43,755.43  $42,915.14   1.96%

                                     Used Cars

    Ford       F-150    1    2    2   30.73%   $18,646.94  $16,297.68  14.41%
    Chevrolet  Silverado
               1500     2    6    6   36.97%   $18,231.27  $16,607.18   9.78%
    Ford       Mustang  3    3    3    3.96%   $17,150.88  $17,317.24  -0.96%
    BMW        3-Series 4   13    1   -2.25%   $24,993.93  $26,305.59  -4.99%
    Honda      Accord   5    9    5   -5.66%   $15,157.30  $16,793.50  -9.74%
    Honda      Civic    6   18    4  -17.84%   $13,230.06  $15,060.64 -12.15%
    Ford       F-250    7   15   16   60.08%   $22,390.24  $21,478.09   4.25%
    Dodge      Ram
               1500     8   14    9   26.13%   $16,623.69  $14,736.03  12.81%
    Jeep       Wrangler 9    7   12   31.61%   $18,382.44  $17,412.18   5.57%
    Chevrolet  Tahoe   10   24   18   42.36%   $23,593.97  $19,651.63  20.06%

    Infiniti   G35/G37 11   93    8   -3.24%   $22,792.59  $22,773.20   0.09%
    Nissan     Altima  12   16    7   -9.38%   $14,123.64  $15,185.81  -6.99%
    Chevrolet  Silverado
               2500    13   29   27   65.01%   $21,472.73  $20,555.09   4.46%
    Audi       A4      14   30   14    8.14%   $20,077.62  $21,757.11  -7.72%
    Toyota     Tacoma  15   19   13    6.82%   $18,554.87  $18,803.30  -1.32%
    Jeep       Grand
               Chero-
               kee     16   39   15   10.13%   $15,330.84  $14,658.37   4.59%
    Dodge      Ram
               2500    17   48   28   52.67%   $22,745.43  $21,675.83   4.93%
    Volkswagen Jetta   18   11   10   -6.91%   $12,377.47  $14,297.47 -13.43%
    Ford       Explor-
               er      19   82   19    1.20%   $15,170.01  $13,591.21  11.62%
    BMW        5-
               Series  20   68   17   -2.85%   $28,344.25  $29,608.19  -4.27%

    MAKE      MODEL    Rank Rank Rank  %Change  Avg Price  Avg Price  Change
                     07/09 06/09 07/08  from    - 07/09    - 07/08    from
                                        07/08                         07/08

                                Certified Pre-Owned

    BMW       3-Series   1    1    1  -17.41%  $31,221.66 $32,914.43   -5.14%
    Honda     Accord     2    2    2  -16.96%  $17,547.06 $18,819.15   -6.76%
    Chevrolet Silverado
              1500       3    3    4   24.37%  $22,312.19 $19,981.92   11.66%
    Chevrolet Tahoe      4    4    8   34.49%  $30,373.14 $26,435.81   14.89%
    Toyota    Tundra     5    6   24   87.04%  $24,099.60 $22,060.00    9.25%
    Audi      A4         6    5    6   -0.07%  $24,578.49 $26,243.02   -6.34%
    Ford      F-150      7   11   10   13.96%  $22,823.28 $20,137.70   13.34%
    Honda     Civic      8    7    3  -40.81%  $16,301.76 $17,425.26   -6.45%
    Toyota    Camry      9    8    5  -21.21%  $18,472.16 $19,031.10   -2.94%
    Toyota    Tacoma    10    9   11    4.51%  $21,708.41 $21,457.81    1.17%
    BMW       5-Series  11   10    7  -13.66%  $37,007.85 $37,313.86   -0.82%
    Acura     TL        12   12   12    2.40%  $25,401.16 $25,946.46   -2.10%
    Toyota    High-
              lander    13   13   26   38.18%  $23,058.62 $22,006.98    4.78%
    Ford      Mustang   14   17   16    6.35%  $19,578.89 $19,739.23   -0.81%
    Toyota    4Runner   15   15   39   60.43%  $23,639.68 $22,028.13    7.32%
    Mercedes- E-Class   16   23   19   -1.21%  $36,647.46 $36,556.11    0.25%
    Benz
    Chevrolet Impala    17   16    9  -27.72%  $16,178.41 $16,647.06   -2.82%
    Honda     Pilot     18   18   28   14.89%  $22,135.74 $20,953.93    5.64%
    Mercedes- C-Class   19   19   17   -6.58%  $27,901.32 $26,630.80    4.77%
    Benz
    Acura     MDX       20   20   29   14.40%  $28,193.43 $27,625.75    2.05%

    Top 10 Most Viewed New Vehicle Manufacturers

    MAKE          Rank    Rank     Change from
                 07/09   06/08        07/08
    Chevrolet        1       2        23.17%
    Ford             2       3        24.06%
    Toyota           3       1       -25.92%
    Honda            4       4       -19.39%
    Nissan           5       5        -8.31%
    Dodge            6       6       -16.46%
    Hyundai          7       8         4.90%
    BMW              8       7         3.18%
    Kia              9      18        86.51%
    Jeep            10       9       -11.65%

SOURCE AutoTrader.com

SOURCE: AutoTrader.com

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