CHICAGO, Jan. 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Cars.com, the
leading online resource for buying and selling new and used cars,
conducted a study to evaluate the car buying preferences of the
cities home to the teams playing in the Big Game, the Seattle
Seahawks and the Denver Broncos. The study reviewed the new
car purchasing preferences of more than 300,000 car buyers over the
past year in Seattle and
Denver, as well as an analysis of
most searched models by the shoppers in both cities at Cars.com in
the fourth quarter of 2013.
Some of the key findings of the Cars.com study
include:
Sales ranking highlights (based on 2013 sales):
- The most popular selling vehicle in America, the Ford F-150 is
also the top selling model in both Seattle and Denver
- Subaru was the most popular brand in the list of top 10 cars in
Denver, and also held the number
two and three spots in Seattle's
top 10
- Denver car shoppers split
their loyalties between domestic and import brands, while
Seattle shoppers prefer import
brands, with eight of the top 10 purchases coming from outside of
the Detroit Three
- Denver shoppers prefer the
utility of SUVs/trucks with eight of the top 10 sales leaders in
those categories, while in Seattle
the top ten is split evenly between truck/SUVs and cars
- Denver and Seattle have relatively younger car buyers.
The industry average age of car buyers is 52 and Denver is the younger of the two cities at 50
and Seattle at 51
- The model most often bought by women in Seattle was the Honda CR-V, while men there
preferred the Ford F-150. Denver
shoppers must think alike: The Mile High City shoppers mirrored
Seattle in gender rankings
Cars.com search data ranking highlights (based on the numbers
of visitors that searched dealer inventory in Q4 2013):
- Jeep Grand Cherokee was the top searched vehicle in both
cities
- Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class was the only luxury model to rank in
the top 10 in each city
- Of the top 10 most searched models, eight were SUVs/trucks in
Denver and six in Seattle
"Even though they are more than one thousand miles apart,
Seattle and Denver are similar in their demographic
composition, which is reflected directly in how close the car
buying preferences are in each city," said Jesse Toprak, Chief Analyst at Cars.com.
"Adverse climate is also clearly influencing buyer preferences,
with SUVs and trucks dominating the rankings.
Top Purchased
Vehicles
|
Rank
|
Denver
|
Seattle
|
Nationwide
|
1
|
Ford F-150
|
Ford F-150
|
Ford F-150
|
2
|
Subaru
Outback
|
Subaru
Forester
|
Chevrolet
Silverado
|
3
|
Honda CR-V
|
Subaru
Outback
|
Toyota
Camry
|
4
|
Subaru
Forester
|
Honda CR-V
|
Honda
Accord
|
5
|
Jeep Grand
Cherokee
|
Honda
Civic
|
Honda
Civic
|
6
|
Jeep
Wrangler
|
Toyota
Camry
|
Nissan
Altima
|
7
|
Chevrolet
Silverado
|
Honda
Accord
|
Honda CR-V
|
8
|
Ram 1500
|
Toyota
RAV4
|
Toyota
Corolla
|
9
|
Subaru
Impreza
|
Chevrolet
Silverado
|
Ford
Escape
|
10
|
Toyota
RAV4
|
Toyota
Prius
|
Ford
Fusion
|
Top Searched
Models at Cars.com (Q4 2013)
|
Rank
|
Denver
|
Seattle
|
1
|
Jeep Grand
Cherokee
|
Jeep Grand
Cherokee
|
2
|
Ford F-150
|
Ford F-150
|
3
|
Toyota
4Runner
|
Mercedes-Benz
CLA-Class
|
4
|
Toyota
Tundra
|
Ford
Mustang
|
5
|
Mercedes-Benz
CLA-Class
|
Chevrolet
Camaro
|
6
|
Jeep
Cherokee
|
Honda
Accord
|
7
|
Toyota
Tacoma
|
Subaru
Forester
|
8
|
Jeep Wrangler
Unlimited
|
Toyota
Tacoma
|
9
|
Chevrolet Silverado
1500
|
Jeep
Cherokee
|
10
|
Chevrolet Corvette
Stingray
|
Toyota
Tacoma
|
More detailed analysis and interview opportunities are
available.
Cars.com shares industry news, insights and dealership best
practices to help dealers and manufacturers better understand the
automotive landscape, automotive shopping trends and new consumer
behavior. For more information, visit
http://dealeradvantage.cars.com/.
ABOUT CARS.COM
Cars.com is an award-winning online
destination for car shoppers that offers information from consumers
and experts to help buyers formulate opinions on what to buy, where
to buy and how much to pay for a car. Cars.com offers thousands of
new and used vehicle listings, consumer reviews, side-by-side
comparison tools, photo galleries, videos, unbiased editorial
content and many other tools. Cars.com puts millions of car buyers
in control of their shopping process with the information they need
to make confident buying decisions. Launched in June 1998, Cars.com is a division of Classified
Ventures LLC, which is owned by leading media companies, including
A.H. Belo (NYSE: AHC), Gannett Co.,
Inc. (NYSE: GCI), The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI), Tribune
Company and The Washington Post Company.
SOURCE Cars.com