Kelkoo, a shopping comparison website, says car buyers are turning to the internet in 'droves'.

It reports that the number of online car buyers using its car category has grown by 668% in just three months.

. Kelkoo's car category offers car buyers the opportunity to search a wide range of sources, from classified ads and online car retailers such as Jamjar, to large brand manufacturers like Ford and direct importers. In total, Kelkoo's service provides a choice of 50,000 cars, including 64 different makes and 3,410 models.

Kelkoo's monthly Brandometer, devised in conjunction with Ernst & Young, the business advisory firm, shows the number of people using Kelkoo to compare car prices has risen to just under 40,000 in just 3 months.

Dave Wilkinson, e-leader at Ernst & Young said: "Car e-retail over the web is starting to really take-off. Both manufacturers and consumers are waking up to both the opportunity and the threat it provides."

In Kelkoo's car category, the Brandometer divides searches by new and used cars. August results reveal that the most searched brand for used & new cars was Ford. The results also show that BMW is more sought after amongst used car buyers than amongst new car buyers.

In addition, 99.5% of new car buyers conduct their online car search by brand - in contrast to other consumer product sectors covered by the Brandometer, such as consumer electronics, where brand indifference can be as high as 33%.

Kelkoo has 250,000 UK users.

Dorothea Arndt, head of UK marketing, said: "UK consumers are wising up to the opportunities the internet presents for them when looking for a car.”

Kelkoo is an 'unbiased' shopping search engine helping users to find the best deal available online by comparing prices from nearly 16,000 shopping sites, including Tesco.com, Buy.com and Comet.co.uk.