Situation
Buyers finding used vehicles through newspaper classifieds fell from 15% in 2002 to 7% in 2006, says Autoshopper.com study from JD Power
Study also says buyers who found used cars online doubled from 8% in 2002 to 16% in 2006
Preference for finding used vehicles online will only grow as today's younger buyers become larger market force
So far, newspapers seeing much bigger drop-off of dealer classified ads than of OEM ads
Many dealers advertising more online because can track better, gauge effects of their advertising
Significant Points
Franchised dealers spent $7.75B on advertising in 2005, says NADA chief economist Paul Taylor
Average dealer allocations for TV, direct mail up 22%, 31% respectively in past decade, says Taylor
Also says newspaper advertising allocations fell 39% in same time period
Average dealer allocated 9.9% of ad budget online in 2005, up 6.7% from 2004, says Taylor
Newspaper Association of America says auto classified advertising down 14.5% to $940M in 1st Q of 2006 compared w/ same time year ago
Automotive Digest
