Weekly dealer leads generated by customers searching for cars across eBay Motors Group’s platforms increased by 16 per cent year-on-year during the second week of England’s national lockdown.
That’s the findings from the company’s latest ‘Market View’ report, which also showed that the growth in leads dropped during the week the prime minister announced England’s second lockdown, down from +23 per cent to +19 per cent year-on-year.
Leads fell further to +2 per cent during the first full week of restrictions and showroom closures beginning November 2.
However, leads rallied during the second week of the lockdown, ending +16 per cent compared to the same week last year.
eBay Motors Group has also seen emails leads overtaking phone calls to account for 52 per cent of all in-bound customer enquiries, mirroring a trend seen in the first lockdown in March.
Dermot Kelleher, head of marketing and research at eBay Motors Group, said: ‘We are highly encouraged by the resilience in dealer enquiries from across our platforms during the first two weeks of England’s second lockdown.
‘The consistency of this demand is welcome news for dealers and perhaps reflects increased consumer understanding that, thanks to options such as click & collect and home delivery, for automotive retail, lockdown doesn’t mean shutdown.’
The research across eBay Motors Group’s platforms also identified a shift in interest in vehicles by price with those costing over £10,000 attracting a greater share of vehicle views, up four per cent year-on-year, compared with a drop of one per cent share of vehicle views in the £5,000-£10,000 bracket and down three per cent for cars under £5,000.
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