12:35 pm, October 12, 2020
Used car searches are at their highest level for nearly a decade as Google search trends reveal soaring interest in used cars.
As the used car industry continues to enjoy record sales in used cars which are pushing prices up, traffic volumes on the world’s biggest search engine are echoing demand on the forecourts.
Analysis by Exchange & Mart has found that in July, August and September this year, searches are up nearly a third on the same period last year.
The last time volumes were higher was back in 2011.
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This search growth is translating into record traffic for car dealers too with visitors to dealer websites up nearly 50 per cent on last year.
The search volume data follows our special Investigation which found that some experts believe used car prices could fall marginally in the last quarter of this year.
The feedback we received from used car pricing experts was mixed – with some predicting prices will remain stable at their current record highs, while others believed they may drop slightly.
Exchange and Mart’s Dawn Sweeney said: ‘Typically searches for used cars peak late February ahead of the first new plate release of the year with an overall gradual decline to year end, with a further uplift around the second plate release in September.
‘Much like everything else in 2020, those trends have gone out of the window as used car searches have reached the highest levels in almost a decade and have remained consistently high for Q3.’
Ford and Vauxhall remain the most popular cars on the firm’s website with both showing around 35 per cent increase in traffic on 2019.
Hyundai has shown the biggest growth in enquiries compared to 2019, with response up 89 per cent, closely followed by Audi (+86 per cent) and Volvo (+85 per cent).
- Car Dealer Mag issue 151 out now – Read it here
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