TrueCar.com Identifies 10 Most Popular Cars for People Who Enjoy Racing/NASCAR

Eight Out of 10 Are Domestic Vehicles; Five Out of 10 Are Fords

News provided by

May 25, 2012, 01:52 ET

SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Just in time for the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600, TrueCar.com, the authoritative voice in new car pricing and industry trend information, has identified the 10 Most Popular Cars for People Who Enjoy Racing/NASCAR. Based on 2011 data received from more than 165,000 men and women who listed "Rallying," "Auto Racing," or "NASCAR" among their hobbies, the findings place the Ford F-150 at the top of the list, followed by two more pickup trucks: the Chevrolet Silverado and Ram 1500.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110118/LA31413LOGO)

Americans have been enjoying racing -- whether it is NASCAR, IndyCar, or some other variant -- for more than a hundred years. Their preference for domestic vehicles was made clear in this survey, with eight of the 10 top choices being domestic vehicles, and five of the top-10 choices being Ford models. Chevrolet was the only other brand to have more than one model on the overall list.

"The data shows that American racing fans prefer domestic vehicles," said Kristen Andersson, Senior Analyst at TrueCar.com. "Racing fans' need for speed doesn't translate into vehicles purchased as shown by the segments favored including trucks and midsize cars."

Some of the key findings of the overall data include:

Ford has five vehicles in the top 10 most popular cars for racing enthusiasts, including the F-150, Mustang, Fusion, Escape, and Edge.
Chevrolet has two vehicles in the top 10 most popular cars for racing enthusiasts, the Silverado 1500 and Malibu.
Two imports made the list: the Hyundai Sonata and the Toyota Tacoma

10 Most Popular Vehicles for both Male and Female Racing Fans
Rank^††	Make Model Trim	Segment	MSRP	Average Paid^*	$ Discount off MSRP	% Discount off MSRP^**
1	Ford F-150 2WD SuperCab 145" STX	Large Truck	$29,335	$25,750	$3,585	12.2%
2	Chevrolet Silverado 1500 2WD Ext Cab 143.5" LS	Large Truck	$30,920	$27,416	$3,504	11.3%
3	Ram 1500 2WD Reg Cab 120.5" ST	Large Truck	$23,415	$20,157	$3,258	13.9%
4	Ford Mustang 2dr Coupe GT	Sport Car	$30,505	$27,076	$3,429	11.2%
5	Ford Fusion 4dr Sedan SE FWD	Midsize Car	$23,770	$21,292	$2,478	10.4%
6	Ford Escape FWD 4dr XLT	Small SUV	$25,695	$22,218	$3,477	13.5%
7	Ford Edge 4dr SEL FWD	Midsize SUV	$31,905	$29,156	$2,749	8.6%
8	Hyundai Sonata 4dr Sedan 2.0T Auto Limited	Midsize Car	$28,970	$28,017	$953	3.3%
9	Chevrolet Malibu 4dr Sedan LS w/1LS	Midsize Car	$22,870	$19,630	$3,240	14.2%
10	Toyota Tacoma 2WD Reg Cab I4 MT	Small Truck	$17,935	$17,102	$833	4.6%
^Average price paid is estimated based on the national average of recent vehicle transactions, including destination and delivery charges after incentives that are subject to change, but does not include tax, title, licensing, documentation or processing fees, other state and governmental charges and/or fees, or any other charges or fees allowed by law. ^Percent Discount is rounded to the nearest tenth. ^††Rankings Data is from Strategic Vision's 2011 New Vehicle Experience Survey.*

When broken down to identify the most popular vehicles for women who enjoy racing/NASCAR, the list expands to include one more import brand, and the preference for body type moves towards more family friendly cars and sport/utility vehicles. The preference toward specific brands is more evenly split among female fans, with three each for Chevrolet and Ford. More women may be tuning in to watch the Indy 500 this weekend, in support of TrueCar's "Women Empowered" racer Katherine Legge, who is only the ninth woman to earn a spot in the Indy 500.

10 Most Popular Vehicles for Female Racing Fans
Rank^††	Make Model Trim	Segment	MSRP	Average Paid^*	$ Discount off MSRP	% Discount off MSRP^**
1	Chevrolet Cruze Sedan LT w/1LT	Small Car	$19,350	$19,296	$54	0.3%
2	Ford Fusion Sedan SE FWD	Midsize Car	$23,770	$21,292	$2,478	10.4%
3	Chevrolet Malibu Sedan LS w/1LS	Midsize Car	$22,870	$19,630	$3,240	14.2%
4	Toyota Corolla Sedan Auto LE	Small Car	$18,670	$17,588	$1,082	5.8%
5	Chevrolet Tahoe 2WD 4dr 1500 LS	Large SUV	$39,750	$36,448	$3,302	8.3%
6	GMC Acadia FWD 4dr SL	Large SUV	$33,510	$31,057	$2,453	7.3%
7	Ford Focus 5dr HB SE	Small Car	$19,095	$17,395	$1,700	8.9%
8	Toyota RAV4 FWD 4dr I4	Midsize SUV	$23,460	$22,185	$1,275	5.4%
9	Hyundai Elantra Sedan Auto Limited (Alabama Plant)	Small Car	$21,370	$21,214	$156	0.7%
10	Ford Mustang 2dr Coupe GT	Sport Car	$30,505	$27,076	$3,429	11.2%
^Average price paid is estimated based on the national average of recent vehicle transactions, including destination and delivery charges after incentives that are subject to change, but does not include tax, title, licensing, documentation or processing fees, other state and governmental charges and/or fees, or any other charges or fees allowed by law. ^Percent Discount is rounded to the nearest tenth. ^††Rankings Data is from Strategic Vision's 2011 New Vehicle Experience Survey.*

"Female fans of racing prefer to own domestic vehicles," said Andersson. "Women who enjoy racing are practical and value oriented as evidenced by the selection of vehicles, which with the exception of three, can all be purchased for under $25,000."

For more information about the vehicles in this chart, visit the TrueCar Blog.

About TrueCar, Inc.

TrueCar, Inc. is an online automotive information and communications platform focused on creating a better car buying experience for dealers and consumers. Consumers want a hassle-free car buying experience and dealers want high-quality sales velocity. TrueCar helps achieve these goals by providing unbiased market information on new car transactions and by supplying an online communications platform through which dealers and consumers can communicate with each other. TrueCar's market-based information provides both consumers and dealers with an accurate and comprehensive understanding of what others actually paid recently for similar vehicles, both locally and nationally. TrueCar's communications platform then allows informed, ready-to-buy consumers to communicate directly with participating dealers. Some of the nation's largest and most well respected membership and service organizations rely on websites powered by TrueCar to help educate their members and customers who are in the automotive market. TrueCar is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA, and has offices in San Francisco, CA, and Austin, TX. After experiencing dramatic growth since 2006, TrueCar is developing a suite of products and services centered on radical clarity through the comprehensive analysis of market data and information. TrueCar's participating dealer partners have sold over 500,000 new vehicles to TrueCar users nationwide.

You can follow TrueCar on Twitter (@TrueCar) and become a fan of TrueCar on Facebook and Google+.

Disclaimer

This press release and the information contained herein is for noncommercial use on "as-is, as available" basis and may be used for informational purposes only. TrueCar makes no representations or warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information contained in this press release and the results of the use of such information, including but not limited to implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. The information contained in this press release may include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Neither TrueCar nor any of its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates or respective partners, officers, or directors, employees or agents shall be held liable for any damages, whether direct, incidental, indirect, special or consequential, including without limitation lost revenues or lost profits, arising from or in connection with your use or reliance on the information presented in this press release.

SOURCE TrueCar.com