ATLANTA — A new report by AutoTrader.com revealed that consumer interest in luxury vehicles spiked on the company’s Website during the month of October. The Website’s Used/CPO Car Insights Report indicated that the increased interest in luxury vehicles was seen in the list of certified pre-owned (CPO) "Big Movers," at the segment level, and in the list of the Top 20 most-viewed vehicles.
Big Movers are vehicles that have gained a significant increase in consumer interest on a month-over-month basis. With a majority of consumers considering both new and used vehicles, it is likely that the increase in interest in both new and CPO luxury vehicles was fueled by these cross shoppers, according to AutoTrader.com.
"The majority of consumers consider both new and pre-owned choices when they are searching for their next vehicle, so it is no surprise that we saw a spike in activity around luxury cars on the CPO front in the same month that we saw an increase in new luxury car shopper activity," said Rick Wainschel, vice president of automotive insights at AutoTrader.com. "There are strong signs of pent-up demand for luxury vehicles among car shoppers, indicating that despite continuing economic headwinds, there are more consumers willing and able to consider higher end choices."
In October, luxury vehicles took 11 of the Top 20 spots on the list of CPO Big Movers, with seven luxury cars and four luxury SUVs. The CPO Land Rover Range Rover Sport made the biggest move month over month in October, moving up 237 spots to No. 65.
This interest was likely a result of consumers cross-shopping the new and CPO Land Rover SUVs, as Land Rover had three Big Movers on the new-car front, according to AutoTrader.com. Other CPO luxury SUVs to make big moves in October were the Mercedes-Benz GLK Class (up 20 spots), the Audi Q5 (up 16 spots) and the Infiniti FX Series (up 10 spots).
For CPO luxury cars, Jaguar had the most models to make big moves in October, with the XJ Series moving up 34 spots to No. 174, the XF moving up 30 spots to No. 143 and the XK Series moving up 28 spots to No. 177. Other luxury cars to make big moves in October were the Lincoln MKS (up 15), the Volvo C30 (up 14), Hyundai Genesis (up 12) and the Acura TSX (up 10).
On the segment level, luxury cars came in as the No. 1 CPO segment on AutoTrader.com in October. Out of all the CPO segments in October, luxury cars and SUVs were the only ones to see month-over-month increases in consumer interest. The luxury car segment increased 0.4 share points from September to October, and the luxury SUV segment increased 0.7 share points during the same time.
In looking at the most-viewed CPO vehicles, luxury cars claimed six of the Top 20 spots on the list of most-viewed CPO cars in October, more than any other segment represented. The BMW 3 Series took the No. 1 spot again in October and, although it dropped one spot in its ranking month over month, the Audi A4 moved up four spots year over year to No. 7.
Other luxury cars included in the Top 20 most-viewed list are the BMW 5 Series at No. 12, the Mercedes-Benz E Class at No. 15, the Acura TL at No. 16 and the Mercedes-Benz C Class at No. 20. The BMW 3 Series and 5 Series were also on the top 20 most-viewed lists for used (non-CPO) vehicles in addition to being on the top 20 CPO list.
To view the full Used/CPO Car Insights Report, click here.
