2014 AUTOMOTIVE BUYER INFLUENCE STUDY

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1 ABIS AUTOMOTIVE BUYER INFLUENCE STUDY SOURCES THAT INFLUENCE PURCHASE

2 INTERNET IS MOST-USED AND MOST-INFLUENTIAL SOURCE AMONG CAR BUYERS YEAR-OVER-YEAR USAGE FOR ALL BUYERS 71 % 75 % 79 % % of all car buyers (New and Used) use the Internet to shop, up from 71% in 2011 and 75% in USAGE BY GENERATION 79 % 89 % 95% Baby Boomers Gen X Millennials The Millennial generation (born after 1980) is leading the way in this growth, with nearly all 95% of Millennial car buyers using the Internet during the shopping process, compared to 89% of Gen X car shoppers and 79% of Baby Boomers.

3 WALKING IN REMAINS MOST-COMMON INITIAL POINT OF CONTACT WITH DEALERS While approximately 2 out of 3 car buyers do not contact the dealership prior to their first visit, Millennials more often make contact prior to walking in than Gen X and Baby Boomer car buyers do. As a result, it s crucial for dealers to have effective sourcing and CRM processes in place to help them understand initial contacts and walk-in traffic. Knowing what influenced a shopper to contact the dealership, regardless of method, can help dealers determine the true value of their advertising spend, as well as how and where they can most successfully invest their marketing dollars. ALL BUYERS IN 2014 Other 3% Chat 1% Text 1% 12% Phone 24% Walk-in 59% MILLENNIALS IN 2014 Chat 1% Text 2% Other 1% 15% Phone 30% Walk-in 51%

4 MOST INFLUENTIAL SOURCES LEADING TO THE DEALER Regardless of generation, car buyers cited the Internet as the most influential source leading them to the dealership more than 20 times that of any other media source cited in the study. These results point to the continued importance of effective online automotive advertising for influencing car shopper decisions about what make/model to buy as well as which dealer to buy from. Nevertheless, it is also important to note that a good customer experience at the dealership is a key component in attracting repeat and referral business from car buyers. 20x more influential* MOST INFLUENTIAL SOURCES LEADING TO THE DEALER 65 % 64 % 46 % Non-media 16 % 12 % 11 % 11 % 12% 10 % 11% Internet Referral Walk-in Prior experience 5 % 4 % 4 % 3 % 0 % 1 % 2 % % % 1 % 2 0 % 0 % 0 % % % 1 % 1% 1 % 0 % 1% 0 % 0 % 0 % 0 % Newspaper TV Direct mail Online News site Outdoor ads Radio Magazine Millennials Gen X Baby Boomers * For Millennials and Gen X

5 TIME SPENT SHOPPING ONLINE HAS INCREASED TO 75% Car buyers continue to allocate more of their total shopping time to online shopping activities, with time online increasing from 62% in 2011 to 75% in The 2014 results are fairly consistent among all generations: Millennials spend 82% of their total shopping time online, Gen X spends 80% and Baby Boomers clock in at 73%. At the same time, 70% of car buyers, regardless of generation, start off knowing very little about the vehicle they want to purchase. But by the time they reach the dealership, car buyers are significantly less likely to switch the make/model they have decided on: 66% end up purchasing the same make/model they had in mind when they first visited the dealership. As a result, the opportunity for dealers and OEMs to influence purchase decisions is online, where car buyers spend the majority of their shopping time and are making decisions about what to buy and who to buy from HOURS TOTAL SHOPPING IN hours offline hours online 3.5 hours offline 12 hours online 17.5 total hours in total hours in 2014 While overall shopping time has decreased since 2011, actual time spent shopping online has increased.

6 THIRD-PARTY SITES ARE MOST-USED FOR SHOPPING While car buyers use a variety of sites to shop, more of them use third-party sites than any other site. This is true across all three generations in the 2014 study, with Millennials and Gen X buyers using third-party sites slightly more than Baby Boomers. Third-party sites also have a strong impact on driving Millennial and Gen X buyers to the dealership they ultimately purchase from, with 41% of both age groups saying a third-party site led them to a dealer. Third-party sites, manufacturer sites, dealer sites and search engines complement each other during the shopping process. Therefore, automotive marketers need to have a broad yet integrated marketing strategy, including a strong presence in the online inventory marketplace, to effectively reach and influence shoppers wherever they are shopping online. OEM 53% Third-party 59% Dealer 50% Search 44% NEW CAR BUYERS ONLINE SHOPPING SOURCES 65% 60% 60% 51% 67% 61% 60% 52% Third-party 71% Dealer 48% Search 45% OEM 31% USED CAR BUYERS ONLINE SHOPPING SOURCES 79% 59% 49% 36% 82% 57% 45% 39%

7 MOBILE DEVICE USAGE CONTINUES TO INCREASE Car buyers are increasingly using a variety of devices to shop, including desktop and laptop computers, smartphones and tablets, leading to a multi-screen experience. According to the study, nearly one-third of car buyers today use multiple devices when shopping for a car. Among Millennials, that number is even higher, with 44% using two or more devices. Furthermore, multi-device usage is projected to increase to 80% by the year 2020 among all buyers. As a result, automotive marketers should make it a priority to focus on an integrated marketing strategy that provides a seamless shopper experience across devices. Car dealers and manufacturers alike must ensure brand and message consistency across devices, in addition to robust merchandising, to create better car-shopping experiences that effectively influence shoppers. DEVICE USED TO VEHICLE-SHOP 32 % 88 % 28 % 28 % Used two or more devices Used desktop/laptop to shop Used tablet to shop Used smartphone to shop WHAT INFORMATION DO CAR BUYERS WANT ONLINE? The primary reasons New and Used car buyers use the Internet when shopping for a car are to compare makes and models, look at photos and videos, check availability and research prices. Additionally, New car buyers search for special offers, while Used car buyers want to find out what their current car is worth. In order to effectively target marketing messages as well as ad spend, it is important that automotive marketers understand how and why consumers use the Internet during the car-shopping process. These insights can help ensure that dealers and manufacturers deliver the right marketing message and content to the right shoppers at the right time in order to effectively influence their decisions about what to buy and who to buy from.

8 ABOUT THE STUDY The 2014 Automotive Buyer Influence Study, commissioned by Autotrader through IHS Automotive, was conducted to understand what media sources influence New and Used vehicle buyers prior to purchase. A total of 1,900 car buyers (1,000 New and 900 Used) who purchased a vehicle within the past 12 months were interviewed between December 2013 and February Quotas were set to ensure a representative sample based on the vehicle make purchased and state of residence Autotrader Inc. All Rights Reserved. Autotrader, Autotrader Classics, Autotraderclassics.com, and the Autotrader Classics logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of TPI Holdings Inc., all used under exclusive license. 14Q2077