Jumpstart Automotive Media, a leading media, insights, and marketing solutions company, today released its monthly shopper interest data, with results showing increased shopper interest in key vehicle refreshes and upcoming launches, as well as pickups, utility vehicles and certain car segments during the month of March.

All three segments of pickup trucks (3/4 & 1-ton, full-size, and midsize) saw year-over-year increases in shopper interest ranging from 28% to 66% when comparing March 2018 to March 2017. GMC Sierra 1500 led all full-size pickups, with month-over-month growth of 108% in share of full-size truck shopper interest, and 79% growth over the same period last year. Also, although RAM 1500 saw a month-over-month decline of 23%, its shopper interest is still ahead by 73% compared to the same period last year.

Crossovers and SUVs also showed strength in shopper interest during the month, with two segments in particular stealing the spotlight. The subcompact (non-luxury) SUV/CUV segment was up 15% from March of last year, mostly attributed to new entries in the category (Toyota C-HR, Hyundai Kona, and Nissan Kicks). Furthermore, the compact luxury SUV/CUV segment was up 14% from February, and up 19% compared to March of last year. Most of the growth is attributed to two vehicles (out of 14 in the segment): Acura RDX and a new entry, the Cadillac XT4. The Acura RDX saw growth of 29% from February and 36% from March of last year; In its first month of reveal, XT4 grabbed 7% of shopper interest in the competitive set, and already jumped to rank 6th in the segment.

A handful of car segments continued to see increases in shopper interest, a trend that began around the beginning of 2018. In the midsize sedan segment (up 9% from March of last year), the more significant gains came from the Nissan Altima and Mazda 6, both which are in model-year refreshes (+73% and +23% year-over-year). Both the midsize and full-size luxury sedan segments also saw some modest growth year-over-year; Vehicles contributing to the lift in the segments are: Kia K900, Lincoln Continental, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, and Audi A6 in the midsize luxury segment; Cadillac CT6 and Audi A8 in the full-size luxury sedan segment.

For more background on the trucks, utility vehicles and cars/sedans showing the most shopper interest, please see Jumpstart’s most recent Insights Book.

“March illustrated a handful of interesting shopper interest trends displayed by consumers, as the month included a sprinkling of interest among trucks, utility vehicles, cars and sedans,” said Libby Murad-Patel, vice president marketing and strategic insights at Jumpstart. “The interest in trucks and utility vehicles is well-documented as a new mainstay of American interest, but it will be interesting to see if consumers continue to show rising interest in select cars given the still-moderate price of gas today.”

Jumpstart’s Path to Purchase Reports
Jumpstart analyzes share of shopper interest regularly to gain insight into what consumers are considering when researching their next vehicle purchase, as well as how long it takes them to make a decision and how media influences their shopping process. These insights are based on the shopping patterns of more than 20 million in-market auto shoppers who are researching vehicles across the company’s portfolio of automotive publishers.

About Jumpstart

Jumpstart Automotive Media, a division of Hearst Autos, offers high-impact and performance-driven marketing and advertising solutions that achieve optimum results. An industry thought-leader known for its in-depth shopping reports, Jumpstart connects automotive marketers with the largest, high-performing audience of car shoppers and enthusiasts through partnerships with: Car and Driver, U.S. News Best Cars, J.D. Power Cars, NADAguides, Autoweek.com, Autobytel, Autolist.com, Daily News Autos, LeftLaneNews.com, CarSoup, CarBuzz, CarStory, and VehicleHistory.com.

JumpstartAuto.com, @JumpstartAuto