AutoTrader has been ranked the most popular search term within the online automotive marketplace, capturing 66% of all searches over the last 12 months, according to comparison website Uswitch. 

Out of the 15 online marketplace search terms that Uswitch collected, AutoTrader dominated. Cazoo takes second place behind AutoTrader (6%), with Carwow following in close third position with 5% of the overall combined search share.

Uswitch said the remaining four top contender brands have seen a fall in demand over the course of a 12-month period, while AutoTrader’s demand has stayed steady, neither increasing or decreasing over this period.

With 2,372 searches for car sale terms on average each month related to an in-person car purchase, people in Birmingham show the most interest in continuing to purchase cars in person. 

In-person searches are technically higher in London, with people living in the capital city on average searching for car buying terms such as ‘cars for sale’ 12,564 times each month. 

However, when taking the population of London into consideration, this equates to just 14.3 searches per 10,000 people. In Birmingham, 20.8 searches per 10,000 people are made for in person related car buying terms. 

In fact, over 30% of cities have made more in-person car sale searches per 10,000 people than in London -understandable, as lack of parking, cost of driving and availability of public transport throughout the city makes it harder to justify owning a car. 

Uswitch said onlines searches may rise in London as comparing search volume figures to this time last year indicates a 15.17% increase, highlighting the increased demand for searching for cars online in the past year in the capital city. 

Manchester meanwhile has the highest number of monthly searches, with 27.8 searches per 10,000 people. This is followed by Birmingham which has 20.6 monthly searches per 10,000 people and Bristol with 19.2.

Liverpool has also seen a rise in online searches since September 2022, with a 12.5% increase in searches for online automotive websites. Although Manchester has the most online searches overall per 10,000 people, online searches have in fact decreased by 2% since this time last year. 

Uswitch’s car insurance expert Leoni Moninska said: “With purchase behaviour moving more and more to the online space, this could mean that traditional car dealerships may come under threat. Information is a lot more readily available online, and people are doing their research online rather than in person. 

“However, despite the expected rise in consumers using online marketplaces to purchase their cars, this will not suit everyone. By visiting car dealerships, customers can not only ensure that the car they are purchasing has no internal or external issues, but are able to take a test drive to confirm that they are happy with their purchase choice.”

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