Report: Oz Car Buyers’ Online Research Peaks Early

Half of Australian new-vehicle buyers who plan to visit dealerships within two years already have gone online to do preliminary research.

But Roy Morgan Research says the incidence of Internet auto research doesn’t increase much over the next 18 months.

Instead the big spike happens only when buyers get within three months of purchase. By then, 69% have looked up car information online. A few buyers do no online research until the very last minute, taking to 72% the share of people buying a car within a month.

Roy Morgan’s latest Automotive Currency Report estimates 2.37 million Australians are in the market to buy a new car within the next four years. Overall 43% of them report using the Internet for car-buying research in the past six months.

Shoppers were comparing vehicle prices, features or financing options, locating dealers and contacting manufacturers.

Even four years away from purchasing, the Roy Morgan survey finds just over a quarter of intenders have gone online to check prices.

However, when it comes to researching finance options, the big surge is seen when buyers come within four to six months of their anticipated purchase date.

Then, within two to three months of purchase, many buyers start going online to locate dealers and ask manufacturers and dealers to contact them.

The incidence of checking vehicle features online grows steadily, along with checking prices, right across the timeline – but there is an extra spike right at the end. The researchers find more than one in four new-car buyers don’t study features online until their purchase is most imminent.

Jordan Pakes, director-automotive industry for Roy Morgan Research, says it’s been nearly a decade since the Internet overtook newspapers as the media new-car buyers used most.

“It’s vital for manufacturers and dealers to understand when in the process different car buyers first start researching various factors that will impact their eventual purchase decision,” Pakes says in a statement.

“While much of the initial ‘digital disruption’ of consumer purchasing behavior has now been absorbed, the next decade will mark further rapid advances to automotive technology and people’s attitudes to cars and transport.”