Audience and engagement for carsales Editorial surged in December, with Unique Audience (UA) and Sessions up a remarkable +108% and +82% year-on-year respectively¹, as measured by Nielsen’s Digital Content Ratings Monthly report.
The result ensured that carsales Editorial comfortably exceeded the automotive editorial category’s UA growth of +34% over the same period, and also outpaced that of CarsGuide Editorial (+37%) and CarAdvice (+3%).¹
The increase in carsales Editorial engagement in December spells further good news for Australian car dealers and brands heading into an active first quarter of 2021.
“Australians are increasingly visiting information sources they know and trust to conduct car research. Over 80% of Aussies know carsales editorial as a trusted source of information when buying a car²,” stated Agostino Giramondo, General Manager, New Car and Industry Relations at carsales.
“With the proximity of independent and trustworthy carsales Editorial to brand new cars for sale, the uplift in carsales Editorial audience and engagement is a big advantage for our partner OEMs and dealers,” added Giramondo.
With just one click across carsales mobile, desktop and app destinations, car buyers can transition from researching a car via carsales editorial content, to enquiring on brand new cars listed for sale by Australian dealers or the carsales New Car Showroom.
Macro trends stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic such as rising car usage and ownership, a boost in new licence holders and greater appetite for domestic and auto-based travel continue to fuel demand for cars Down Under. Indeed, market leader Toyota attributed part of its recent new car sales surge to Australians treating themselves in lieu of international travel opportunities.
With strong used car prices expected to persist into 2021, brand new cars offer solid value-for-money choice. At relatively low price increments and with comprehensive manufacturer warranty and the latest equipment and safety features included in the purchase price, new cars are attracting attention from a wider audience.
VFACTS sales numbers, reported by the FCAI, reflect the changing dynamics of the new versus used sales landscape. Indeed, the final quarter of 2020 produced an unexpectedly strong rebound with an 8.2 per increase in sales over the corresponding pre-pandemic period in 2019, plus the first monthly growth recorded for more than two-and-a-half years.
Internal carsales data reveals that views and enquiries for brand new mainstream vehicles increased 28% and 25% year-on-year respectively in December 2020, while prestige vehicles increased 19% and 27%.³
“Using recent carsales innovations such a video, ‘buy from home’ and dealer reviews, dealers have been able to upgrade their virtual showrooms to take advantage of the increased online views and enquiries for new cars on carsales,” adds Giramondo.
The top-performing segment for new car views was Small SUV <$40K, up 69% in December 2020 compared to the same month in 2019.³
And backed by prominent above the line activity, views of the highly-regarded new Kia Sorento SUV increased a remarkable 442% year-on-year in December, while enquiries for the new Isuzu D-Max ute shot up 152% over the same time period.³
Sitewide, carsales’s UA grew 32% year-on-year to 4.35M in December 2020, nearly triple that of the auto category’s 11% growth over the same period, according to Nielsen.¹
The result means that carsales’s Unique Audience is now more than double that of CarsGuide.
Furthermore, Australian car shoppers are also spending more than twice as long browsing, researching and enquiring on carsales compared to any other automotive website.
Source:
1. Nielsen Digital Content Ratings, December 2020
2. Nature Brand Health September 2020
3. carsales internal data, December 2020
