Toyota’s Recalls Cause Decline in New-Car Leads
Toyota's recalls continue to have a negative impact on sales activity, according to a recent Cars.com consumer lead index. Leads for Toyota vehicles declined nearly five percent year over year on Cars.com, and interest in the brand's vehicles continues to slip month over month.
CHICAGO — Toyota's recalls continue to have a negative impact on sales activity, according to a recent Cars.com consumer lead index. Leads for Toyota vehicles declined nearly five percent year over year on Cars.com, and interest in the brand's vehicles continues to slip month over month. The Toyota RAV4 topped the list of vehicles experiencing the largest month over month decline in leads, followed closely by the Camry.
"While the Toyota trend is somewhat expected, what's more interesting is the fact that Honda has seen a significant decline as well," said Cars.com Editor in Chief Patrick Olsen. "Honda execs mentioned that they felt there might be some consumer backlash towards Japanese manufacturers as a result of the Toyota recalls and that certainly could be at play here."
Honda as a brand saw Cars.com leads decline by close to 11 percent year over year. The Honda Fit, Pilot and Accord also joined the list of the cars experiencing the largest decline in activity month over month.
Hyundai continues to gain momentum, fueled by the new Hyundai Sonata. The Hyundai brand saw leads on Cars.com increase by more than 149 percent in May compared to last year, and leads for the Sonata were up more than 30 percent over April.
Cars Experiencing the Largest Increase in New Car Leads to Dealers: | |
May Movers | % Increase New Car Leads to Dealers |
Ford Mustang | 59.90% |
Chevrolet Silverado 1500 | 38.93% |
Hyundai Sonata | 30.23% |
Dodge Ram | 23.42% |
GMC Terrain | 9.41% |
Chevrolet Tahoe | 9.08% |
Chevrolet Camaro | 8.71% |
Chevrolet Corvette | 5.47% |
Hyundai Santa Fe | 2.24% |
Cars Experiencing the Largest Decrease in New Car Leads to Dealers: | |
May Losers | % Decrease in New Car Leads to Dealers |
Toyota RAV4 | -31.41% |
Toyota Camry | -29.61% |
Ford Fusion | -28.65% |
Toyota Highlander | -26.14% |
Honda Fit | -24.97% |
Toyota Venza | -22.26% |
Honda Pilot | -20.47% |
Toyota Tacoma | -20.10% |
Toyota Corolla | -18.78% |
Mazda Mazda3 | -18.44% |
Year over Year Change in New-Car Leads by Brand | % Increase/Decrease in Consumer Contacts to Dealers |
Land Rover | 162.75% |
Hyundai | 149.00% |
Buick | 93.28% |
Kia | 84.27% |
GMC | 81.27% |
Porsche | 74.98% |
Audi | 65.59% |
Smart | 65.47% |
Subaru | 64.15% |
Volkswagen | 55.06% |
BMW | 53.39% |
Mercedes-Benz | 49.59% |
Jaguar | 46.92% |
Mini | 36.12% |
Volvo | 32.12% |
Ford | 16.70% |
Mitsubishi | 15.22% |
Cadillac | 14.05% |
Infiniti | 11.96% |
Suzuki | 6.59% |
Chevrolet | 2.26% |
Lincoln | -1.59% |
Toyota | -4.78% |
Nissan | -5.28% |
Acura | -6.17% |
Lexus | -8.92% |
Honda | -10.76% |
Scion | -12.30% |
Mazda | -28.87% |
Saab | -31.50% |
Jeep | -33.57% |
Mercury | -34.03% |
Dodge | -49.28% |
Chrysler | -71.19% |
Isuzu | -100.00% |
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