The rise of pandemic fatigue – and foot traffic.

Generational comfort with visiting a car dealership within the next month or sooner

A surprise for big cities

And the winner is… used cars!

Although most future vehicle intenders say they will acquire a new vehicle, more than half of adults (55%) say it is smarter to purchase/lease a used vehicle instead of new at this time.

For adults planning to purchase/lease within the next year, the independent dealership — your local mom & pop shop — jumps to first place (41%), followed by manufacturer dealerships (31%) and national used car retailers (21%).

What is the most important consideration for used vehicle intenders when they’re deciding where to buy? 71% say it’s price, by far.

Top considerations when choosing a dealership to buy a used vehicle from

TRUE OR FALSE:
Consumers Want to Buy a Car Exclusively Online?

False. While some aspects are preferred to be completed online, most adults say that in-person at a dealership is the most helpful to ensure a positive experience, especially when it comes to:

The gap between in-person and online starts to shrink for:

There is one step in the car buying process that adults strongly prefer to conduct online – research. 6 in 10 adults report preferring to conduct their research through a car dealership’s website was preferred over in-person (33%) and over-the-phone (7%) options.

Consumers want flexibility from dealers through providing them with purchase and service options that meet their needs and are respectful of their time. They want to physically interact with the brand and test drive the vehicle but want greater efficiencies during the purchase process. A parallel, near-seamless digital and physical ‘swim lane’ strategy would provide the ultimate convenience and further help selling efforts, letting consumers jump from one to the other as desired. Time-consuming activities such as contracts and paperwork are performed online, with brand experience and test drives at locations well placed for convenience.