Automotive Market Research Articles

General discussion on automotive market research and automotive aftermarket research

Auto Parts Customer Behavior in Google Analytics (or, Where the Heck Do My Customers Come From??)

April 26, 2013

You can improve your search engine optimization (SEO) and Google AdWords paid search results by understanding how automotive parts and accessory customers originally find your website, and how they return to make a purchase. You can discover a lot of information hidden in the Multi-Channel Funnels reporting section of Google Analytics (menu shown at left) so as an automotive aftermarket digital marketing agency we thought we’d pass this along in our blog. As Google puts it, “…these days, the customer journey has grown more complex.” Amen. Customers can come to your site from many marketing channels: social media, email,...

November 2012: Monthly Vehicle Sales vs Consumer Confidence

December 14, 2012

After a somewhat slow October, the auto industry saw an increase in light vehicle sales for November 2012. October brought somewhat sluggish auto sales, yielding a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of 14.23M, November came in strong with 1.14 million units sold, raising the SAAR to 15.48M. Experts are observing that the sales are partly driven by the devastation left behind by Hurricane Sandy. Edmunds.com noted that about 30,000 sales of automobiles were lost or deferred in October due to the superstorm. Also, between 200,000 and 250,000 vehicles were damaged or destroyed by Sandy, which fuels a demand for...

September Slowdown for Auto Parts Retail Sales

November 14, 2012

Retail sales through auto parts stores were down again compared to one year ago. September sales were down 4% from September 2011, following a 1% decline in August. Auto parts retail sales for the first half of 2012 posted better than a 5% increase from 2011, aided in part by unseasonably warm weather in January and February; the second half of this year tells a different story, however. The third quarter ended with about a 1% decrease from the third quarter of 2011. Total October retail sales as reported by the government were down 0.3% from September, a sign...

Trend 1: Why New Car Auto Sales Are Rising

October 29, 2012

Today we’re going to wrap up our “66 Trends in 66 Days” series with Trend 1: reasons for the continuing increase in automobile and light truck sales in the face of a weak economy. The auto industry tracks monthly unit sales as a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) figure, which has been steadily rising since the summer of 2009. Monthly auto sales in September 2012 hit 14.9 million units, the highest level in over four years. And it could have been even higher because September was soft for fleet sales, meaning the September surge was primarily based on consumer...

Trend 2: Purchase Frequency by Vehicle Owned

October 28, 2012

Have you ever wondered how often enthusiasts tend to buy parts and accessories? We surveyed more than 2,500 enthusiasts to find out how often they make a purchase and arranged the information by what type of vehicle they bought for. We surveyed enthusiasts and asked the question, “How often do you buy parts or accessories for your vehicle?” We also asked what vehicle they purchased parts for in order to better understand any trends within certain segments. We found that, on average, 50% of all different types of vehicle owners buy once a month or more. Owners of street...

Trend 4: Enthusiasts: Time Between Decision and Actual Purchase

October 26, 2012

Today, we are going to look at some of our own research to better understand how long it takes an enthusiast to actually purchase a product after they have made the decision to buy. As a part of our own syndicated Hedges & Company research, we sought to find out how long it took enthusiasts to make the actual purchase after deciding to buy. We surveyed more than 2,500 enthusiasts, and asked them what the average length of time was from when they decide to buy a part or accessory to when they actually buy. The data shows that,...

Trend 5: The Top 5 Most Sold Vehicles of 2012

October 25, 2012

The automotive industry has been on the path to recovery with vehicle sales up from last year’s numbers and holding strong. A variety of different makes and models of trucks are leading the pack in sales; here is a look at the stats of the top 5. The top 5 most sold vehicles as of September, 2012 are: 1). Ford F-Series – Ford’s popular truck series is the top selling vehicle so far with 463,733 units sold as of September 2012. At this time last year, Ford had sold 416,388 F-Series trucks, marking a rise of 11% in 2012....

Trend 9: 3 Things You Didn’t Know About 2007-2013 Jeep Wrangler Owners

October 21, 2012

The countdown has brought us to only nine trends left, so here it is: Market Research Trend 9: 3 Things You Didn’t Know About 2007-2013 Jeep Wrangler Owners. The 2007-2013 Jeep Wrangler, designated the “JK,” received a facelift from its previous “TJ” version. The “JK” is a larger model in terms of both wheelbase and width, and is available in a new 4-door model as well as the traditional 2-door model. The “JK” is available in a convertible soft top as well as a 3-piece hardtop, and the doors are removable as with previous models. Here are a few...

Trend 10: Engine Block Buyers: Amount Spent Annually on Parts and Accessories

October 20, 2012

Have you ever wondered exactly how much the automotive enthusiast spends on parts & accessories throughout the year? We surveyed enthusiasts who had recently bought or shopped for engine blocks to find out how much money they spend on an annual basis. Enthusiasts were given the following choices in regards to how much money they spend annually on parts & accessories: less than $500 $500 to $1,000 $1,001 to $2,500 $2,501 to $5,000 $5,001 to $7,500 $7,501 to $10,000 $10,000 and up Enthusiasts revealed that the top two ranges in which their annual spending fell into were $1,001 to...

Trend 11: How Enthusiasts Decide Where to Buy

October 19, 2012

Welcome back to our blog, today we’ll take a look at how enthusiasts decide where to buy their engine components. We surveyed thousands of automotive enthusiasts about their shopping habits to find out things like where they go to find information, what magazines they read and websites they visit, how much they spend on parts annually, etc. Today, we’ll give you a look at our findings of what enthusiasts considered most important when deciding where to buy. The choices enthusiasts were given were: product knowledge, return policy, business reputation, ability to install, bought from them before, lowest price, product...

Trend 12: 2 Things to Know About How Consumers Perceive Price

October 18, 2012

Welcome back to our countdown of 66 trends in 66 days! Today we’ll give you a look at how consumers perceive prices when shopping. How you present a price greatly affects if a consumer perceives the product as “expensive” or “cheap.” Research shows that typeface, size of the price or dollar symbol and other characteristics have an effect on of price impression and consumer buying behavior. How you present the price can also influence whether consumers will believe it to be “too high” or “fair.” 1). How far apart you space a “regular” price and a “sale” price can have...

Trend 13: 3 Things You Didn’t Know about 1994-2004 Mustang Owners

October 17, 2012

The fourth generation Ford Mustang, also known as “SN-95,” included styling from previous Mustangs and came with a 3.8 liter overhead valve V6 engine or a 4.6 liter single overhead camshaft V8. This generation included three alternate models: the 2001 Bullitt, the 2003 and 2004 Mach 1, and the 2003 and 2004 Cobra. Here are three things to know about fourth generation Mustang owners: 1). 53% of 1994-2004 Mustang owners are homeowners. 2). The average household income of a 1994-2004 Ford Mustang owner is $61,741; for comparison, the average US household income is around $51,000. 3). 62% of 1994-2004...

Trend 15: How to Grow Sales With New Products From the SEMA Show

October 15, 2012

Welcome back to the Hedges & Company blog, here is Trend 15, how to grow your sales with new products. We’re introducing a new term for some of our readers, the New Product Ratio (NPR). The specialty auto parts industry thrives on new products and innovation. For retailers, warehouse distributors (WDs), manufacturers, and automobile dealers selling aftermarket products, new products are one of the best opportunities to grow sales in 2013. They create excitement among consumers and for brick and mortar retailers they help drive store traffic. For online marketers, new products increase organic search web traffic and bring...

Trend 16: 3 Things You Didn’t Know About 2008-2012 Honda Accord Owners

October 14, 2012

The Honda Accord became the first car from a Japanese manufacturer to be produced in the U.S. in 1982. Since then, it has been one of the best selling foreign models and is rated as one of the world’s most reliable vehicles. The eighth generation of the Accord (2008-2012) is classified as a full-size car and offers a 4-cylinder model as well as a V6 version. 1). 66% of 2008-2012 Honda Accord owners are homeowners. 2). The average household income of a 2008-2012 Honda Accord owner is $79,632; for comparison the average U.S. household income is around $51,000. 3)....

Trend 17: 3 Things You Didn’t Know About Audi Owners

October 13, 2012

Today, we continue our trends with a look at Audi owners. Below are some interesting facts and demographic information about people who own any model Audi. Audi is a German luxury car company with a large presence in the United States; in fact, in recent years Audi has been breaking its own records in U.S. sales. Audi is owned by Volkswagen and has been around since 1909. The manufacturer specializes in compact, mid-size and full size cars as well as crossover vehicles. Here are a few things you probably didn’t know about the owners of Audi vehicles: 1). 52%...

Trend 18: Where Consumers Find Information on Engine Parts, by Age Group

October 12, 2012

Today we are going to look at some of our own research to give you an idea of where enthusiasts go to find information about engine parts. We will also look at how certain age groups tend to visit different outlets to find their answers. As a part of our own syndicated Hedges & Company research, we sought to find out where enthusiasts find information about engine components. We surveyed 2,768 enthusiasts and asked them where they tend to look for information. Their choices were the following: mail order catalog, social media sites, garage, independent shop, blogs, chain parts...

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