NADAguides.com Q3 Consumer Market Interest Report Indicates Korean and American Manufacturers Top-of-Mind

COSTA MESA, Calif., Dec. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

News Highlights

• NADAguides.com, the most comprehensive new and used vehicle information provider on the Internet today, announces its Consumer Market Interest Report for the third quarter of 2011 – indicating a continued trend of interest gain for Korean and American models, including the 2012 Kia Sorento, which showed an increase of 215 percent in consumer interest in Q3 relative to Q2, placing it in the top spot.
• The top 5 consumer interest leaders on NADAguides.com for Q3  were the 2012 Kia Sorento, 2012 Chevrolet Equinox, 2012 Hyundai Sonata, 2012 Hyundai Elantra and the 2012 Ford Mustang.
• From Q1 to Q2 there was a clear trend toward Korean models, as the 2011 Hyundai Sonata and 2011 Kia Sorento consistently were among the top five consumer interest vehicles.  Korean models proved dominant with the new 2012 models debuting during the third quarter of 2011, as well as, the addition of the 2012 Hyundai Elantra which gained consumer interest by 157%.  
• Data shows consumers' interest focused on small cars and mid-size sedans over SUVs and trucks, with seven out of the top ten residing in these categories during the quarter.  Other top consumer interest vehicles include the 2012 Ford Focus, 2012 Honda Civic, 2012 Nissan Altima, 2012 Chevrolet Silverado and the 2012 Hyundai Accent.
• Although no European brands were reflected in the top ten, the 2012 Fiat 500 earned a spot in the top twenty indicating that consumer interest in that vehicle continues to be prevalent.  
• Previously dominant models such as the Ford F-150 and Ford Explorer were not among the top ten consumer interest vehicles during the third quarter due to the model year switch from 2011 to 2012.  However, Ford was able to maintain a position in the top ten with the 2012 Ford Focus and 2012 Ford Mustang.  Chevrolet earned its first top five spot of the year with the 2012 Chevrolet Equinox. 

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Key Quotes

• Troy Snyder, director of product development, NADAguides.com:  "It is clear that the Korean makes are becoming more top-of-mind with consumers as their product offerings in different segments continue to breakthrough in terms of quality, price point, awareness and acceptance.  It's also interesting to note an uptick in interest in the number of smaller, more fuel-efficient cars and crossover vehicles.  Our analysts see this as an ongoing trend as automakers competitively content and price these vehicles to meet consumer demand."
• Michael Sprague, vice president of marketing and communications, Kia Motors America:  "Kia is the fastest-growing car company in the U.S., and as our best-selling vehicle over the last two years, the Sorento has been the cornerstone of Kia Motors America's unprecedented sales and market share gains this year.  The Sorento, which is built at Kia's U.S. manufacturing plant in West Point, Georgia, is a tremendous success story as evidenced by the fact it was the most researched vehicle on the NADAguides.com web site in Q3."

About the NADAguides.com Consumer Market Interest Report

The NADAguides.com Consumer Market Interest Report is a collection of data points from hundreds of thousands of research behaviors on NADAguides.com each quarter. NADAguides.com Consumer Market Interest Report is an ongoing study tracking and trending consumer research patterns, purchase intents, and market and data interests within new vehicles.

About NADAguides.com

NADAguides.com (http://www.nadaguides.com) is the largest publisher of vehicle pricing and information for new and used cars, classic cars, motorcycles, boats, RVs, and manufactured homes.  NADAguides.com offers in-depth shopping and research tools in addition to the most market-reflective pricing available. The company also produces software, raw data, web services, web-syndicated products and print guidebooks.

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• Automotive

SOURCE NADAguides