Trend 29: SEMA CDI, Consumer Confidence And a September Rebound

Today’s market research trend: Consumer Demand and Confidence improved in September 2012.

The SEMA Consumer Demand Index (CDI) and Consumer Confidence rebounded in September. The SEMA CDI jumped to 45, the highest level since it hit 57 back in October, 2010. Consumer Confidence made a 9-point jump from August, the highest it has been since February.

We like to track CDI (blue line, left scale) against Consumer Confidence (red line, right scale) since they track closely to each other. It’s also a unique combination of intent to buy (the SEMA CDI) and how consumers feel. This is important because Consumer Confidence doesn’t necessarily mirror retail sales so the combination with the CDI gives a better view on economic conditions.

We’ll continue to track these important indices in the coming months to see if this is a long-term trend or a short blip.

The index is set to an initial value of 100 in January 2007, when our chart begins.The SEMA CDI has been improving from 2011 through most of 2012. It hit the lowest point of 2012 in May when it was at 26. Nationwide, consumer confidence has been moving up since June.

The Consumer Demand Index (CDI) is a measure of purchase intentions for automotive consumers over the next three months. Note: If you’re looking this up online, consumer confidence is sometimes mixed up with the Consumer Sentiment Index compiled by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research. They’re actually two different indices but both provide good feedback on how consumers view the future.

Tomorrow: Trend 28 and four predictions about Google and the automotive aftermarket.