1:21 pm, June 11, 2020
Nearly a fifth of consumers intend buying a car in the next two weeks.
That’s according to a survey of thousands of people carried out by Auto Trader on its website.
The poll of 6,388 visitors to the site between June 1 and 7 highlighted the pent-up demand caused by the lockdown, with 19 per cent saying they intended to buy within the next fortnight.
It also found that more than a third (35 per cent) were planning to buy a car in the next three months and just over half (51 per cent) during the next year.
In a separate UserZoom survey of 300 people carried out on June 2 and 3, more than a third (38 per cent) said they’d be likely to visit a dealership in person, while 15 per cent said they’d be very likely to.
On the flip side, 24 per cent were unlikely and 13 per cent very unlikely to visit.
Meanwhile, when it came to completing transactions via phone or online, the UserZoom survey found that 36 per cent would feel more comfortable buying a vehicle if there was home delivery, while nearly a fifth (19 per cent) said home test drives would make them more at ease with the buying experience.
Fourteen per cent identified good safety measures at the dealership, and video test drives got the thumbs-up from five per cent. However, eight per cent said they wouldn’t be comfy with any of the measures.
The UserZoom survey also revealed that 42 per cent of consumers were looking to replace an existing car, while almost as many (41.5 per cent) were buying because they didn’t have one or needed an extra vehicle. It also highlighted people wanting to avoid public transport, with 16.5 per cent saying that was their reason for buying a new car.
Auto Trader said it was now seeing an average of 2.1 million visits to its marketplace each day, and commercial product director Karolina Edwards-Smajda, pictured, commented: ‘Whilst it may not remain at the record levels we’re currently observing on our marketplace, it is extremely reassuring to see that a high level of consumer demand is set to continue.
‘The key outtake for us is that whilst demand is high, retailers can’t lose sight of the fact that today’s retail landscape is not the same as it was pre-lockdown – showrooms may have reopened, but that doesn’t mean car buyers want to visit them.
‘There’s been a seismic rebalance of the retail model over the last 11 weeks and the digital forecourt has never been more influential in the car buying journey.’
Record audience levels for Auto Trader during first week of showrooms reopening
Auto Trader reduces advertising prices for dealers by 25 per cent in June
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