CarGurus Consumer Research Shows There’s Still Life Left For Sedans

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., November 30, 2018 – CarGurus, a leading automotive shopping marketplace, today announced consumer research findings around the perception of sedan popularity and sentiment. The findings show that while SUVs and crossovers remain increasingly popular, sedan interest does not lag that far behind.

The research uncovered that SUVs (26 percent) and sedans (25 percent) were the top body styles that vehicle owners would likely purchase as their next car, and crossovers were the third most likely with 12 percent. The survey also showed positive results for sedans based on respondents' top three picks for body styles most likely to rise in popularity over the next five years. The results were as follows:

• Crossover: 69 percent
• SUV: 61 percent
• Sedan: 55 percent
• Hatchback: 40 percent
• Pickup Truck: 32 percent
• Coupe: 28 percent
• Minivan: 16 percent

A combination of younger Millennials and older members of Generation Z stood out as the group behind the interest in sedans. For these drivers ages 18-29, the survey findings include:

• 65 percent chose sedans to grow most in popularity over the next five years, compared to 54 percent for ages 30-44 and 43 percent for ages 45-60.
• Sedans were the top choice for their next car with 32 percent likely to purchase this body style, compared to SUVs (22 percent) and crossovers (10 percent).
• 34 percent thought recent headlines declaring the downfall of the sedan were overblown.

“This survey showed that consumer interest in buying sedans is not waning as much as recent automotive industry changes have indicated,” said Madison Gross, Senior Manager of Customer Insights at CarGurus. “The positive response from younger drivers expressing their intent to buy sedans is a sign of confidence that this traditional body style could remain relevant for years to come.”

Methodology

These findings are based on an online survey of more than 1,600 vehicle owners in the U.S., ages 18-65. The survey was conducted by CarGurus through Survey Monkey in November 2018 and more information is available by contacting pr@cargurus.com.

About CarGurus

Founded in 2006, CarGurus, Inc. (NASDAQ: CARG) is a global, online automotive marketplace connecting buyers and sellers of new and used cars. The company uses proprietary technology, search algorithms and data analytics to bring trust and transparency to the automotive search experience and help users find great deals from top-rated dealers. CarGurus is the largest automotive shopping site in the U.S. by unique monthly visitors (source: Comscore Media Metrix® Multi-Platform, Automotive – Information/Resources, Total Audience, Q3 2018, U.S. (Competitive set includes: CarGurus.com, Autotrader.com, Cars.com, TrueCar.com)). In addition to the United States, CarGurus operates online marketplaces in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain.

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