ATLANTA, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cox Automotive
today released its 11th annual Car Buyer Journey Study.
The extensive study is based on a survey of consumers who bought or
leased a new or used vehicle and is designed to offer a detailed
look at the vehicle buying process in America, from start to
finish.
The Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey Study suggests the auto buying
process improved during the prolonged downturn.
While the global COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted
nearly every measure of life, the Car Buyer Journey (CBJ) Study
suggests the automobile buying process improved during the
prolonged downturn. Both new- and used-vehicle buyers in 2020
report the process took less time and was more efficient than
before. Overall, buyer satisfaction reached an all-time high in
2020.
The Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey Study: Pandemic Edition
involved a survey of 3,016 shoppers who bought a vehicle between
mid-March and September 2020 and used
the internet during the buying process.
Identifying the consumers who were buying cars in 2020 is key to
understanding the latest Car Buyer Journey Study findings. The
average vehicle buyer last year was 50 years old and had a reported
income above $75,000. The
above-average income was particularly true with new-vehicle buyers:
70% of new-car buyers in 2020 had incomes above $75,000. Conversely, the number of new-vehicle
buyers with reported incomes below $75,000, at 30% in 2020, was down 3% from 2019,
indicating that many lower-income buyers stayed out of the new-car
market last year.
In 2020, 30% of vehicle buyers were identified by the Cox
Automotive research team to be "Straight Shooters," a cohort of
buyers more likely to be Gen X or Baby Boomer suburbanites who are
experienced at car buying and careful with finances. For
comparison, in 2018, only 15% of vehicle buyers were in the
Straight Shooter cohort. Less experienced, budget-conscious buyers
tended to stay out of the market in 2020.
In 2020, Purchase Motivation Shifted
Vehicles buyers
in 2020 were more likely to be motivated by "want," as opposed to
"need," according to the CBJ Study. Many buyers in 2020 were
motivated by attractive deals – whether they searched for them on
their own or a dealer reached out with special offers. Importantly,
35% of buyers knew exactly what vehicle they wanted at the start of
the car buying process, up from 29% in 2018. Nearly 60% of buyers
considered both new and used vehicles in 2020, up from 53% in
2019.
With a high level of buyer certainty, the amount of time spent
actively shopping and buying dropped significantly in 2020,
according to the study. Buyers reported spending an average of just
over 13 hours in the entire process, from start to finish, down
from nearly 15 hours in 2019. New-car buyers spent just over 11
hours on the necessary steps, everything from shopping and
negotiating the deal to taking delivery of the new vehicle. The
biggest time savings in 2020 was in the online shopping
phase.
The Pandemic Revolutionized the Purchase Process
As
dealers adapted their business due to COVID-19, consumers took
advantage of a new digital experience. The overall vehicle-buying
process was streamlined by proactive dealer outreach to in-market
consumers and new digital retailing tools designed to drive
efficiency. As a result, the number of dealerships visited and the
amount of time spent in dealerships dropped in 2020. One of the top
steps added due to COVID-19 was test drive home delivery. Notably,
an estimated 22% of vehicle buyers said they did not test drive a
vehicle at the dealership; however, of the buyers who took a test
drive, approximately 81% were satisfied with the process, the
highest satisfaction rating for any step.
According to the CBJ Study, as the vehicle buying process
becomes more efficient, satisfaction levels increase. "Heavy
Digital" buyers in the survey – those buyers who performed more
than half the steps online – were more satisfied with the process
than "Light Digital" buyers, who performed less than 20% of the
vehicle-buying steps online. The Heavy Digital buyers reduced their
time at the dealership by more than 40 minutes compared to Light
Digital buyers, with the biggest time savings delivered in
negotiating price and signing paperwork, the two steps that have
historically had the lowest satisfaction ratings. The study shows
that Heavy Digital buyers were also more likely than Light Digital
buyers to trust the deal they received.
2020 saw a sharp rise in the usage of what Cox Automotive
researchers call "New Form Online Retailers," used-vehicle-only
sales sites that include Carvana and Vroom. According to the study,
approximately 17% of car buyers visited a New Form Online Retailer
during their buying process, a significant increase from 11% in
2019 and only 7% in 2018.
The CBJ Study demonstrates that online shopping continues to be
a central activity in the car buyer's journey, although decisive
shoppers spent less time in this phase in 2020. Third-party
websites are still the No. 1 destination for vehicle shoppers as
they enter the process, with up to 79% of buyers noting they used a
third-party site in 2020, generally unchanged from recent years.
Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book are
among the most popular third-party sites, with 61% of new-vehicle
buyers and 68% of used-vehicle buyers using one of these Cox
Automotive sites.
Visits to automakers' websites and traditional dealership-run
websites declined slightly in 2020 but remained important, with 24%
and 52% of vehicle buyers visiting at some point, respectively.
For More Information
Cox Automotive released last
month the Digitization of End-to-End Retailing (DoEER) Study, which
clearly illustrated that satisfaction with the purchase process
increases as the steps necessary move online. The Car Buyer Journey
Study echoes that research and shows how satisfaction with the
overall process, from shopping to delivery, improved in 2020 as
well.
"The Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey Study: Pandemic Edition
shows that vehicle buyers in 2020 were more decisive about their
purchase, spent less time on the process, and were more satisfied
than ever," adds Vanessa Ton, senior
manager of Industry Intelligence at Cox Automotive.
Download a summary of the Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey
Study: Pandemic Edition from the Cox Automotive Newsroom.
About Cox Automotive
Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying,
selling, owning and using vehicles easier for everyone.
The global company's more than 27,000 team members and family of
brands, including Autotrader®, Clutch
Technologies, Dealer.com®, Dealertrack®,
Kelley Blue Book®,
Manheim®, NextGear Capital®,
VinSolutions®, vAuto® and
Xtime®, are passionate about helping
millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across five
continents and many others throughout the automotive industry
thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of
Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with annual revenues
of nearly $20 billion. www.coxautoinc.com
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SOURCE Cox Automotive