Car Buying Outlook
About the Car Buying Outlook
Capital One's Car Buying Outlook is a survey of both car buyer and dealer preferences, attitudes, and behaviors around the car buying experience.
TRUST AND TRANSPARENCY
Trust Drives Transparency
Car buyers and dealers agree that transparency in the car buying process means price and financing fairness. However, they are misaligned on how transparent they find the car buying process.
CAR BUYING EXPERIENCE
Car Buyers Seek Digital Tools from Dealers
Demand for digital tools continues to grow. Dealers continue to invest in digitization, however car buyer perception of dealer’s digital tools has consistently decreased over the last two years.
STATE OF CAR BUYING
Economic Factors Impacting Car Purchases
Dealers recognize how current economic factors affect car buying, but appear to underestimate the impact on buyers’ purchasing decisions.
FROM SANJIV YAJNIK
Creating an Amazing Car Buying Experience
"Car buyers want to work with quality dealers they trust, and dealers can earn trust by providing transparency throughout the entire car buying experience—particularly while both buyers and dealers are facing headwinds unique to the auto industry,” says Sanjiv Yajnik, President of Financial Services at Capital One. “Dealers who can successfully create amazing experiences for buyers both online and in person have the greatest opportunity to build relationships with them—and ultimately win in the market."
Previous Car Buying Outlook Reports
The 2021 Car Buying Outlook
New Research from Capital One Finds Consumers Value In-Person Dealership Experience Combined with Digital Tools
The 2022 Car Buying Outlook
Car buyers embrace more digitized experience before heading to the dealership
Car Buying Outlook: A Deeper Dive
In-person experience continues to be essential, as buyers seek transparency and dealers digitize. EVs perceived to be the future
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About the Survey
The Capital One Car Buying Outlook consists of findings from two surveys targeted to car buyers and dealers, both of which were conducted on behalf of Capital One Auto Finance through Morning Consult.
The car buyer survey consists of 2,210 U.S. car buyers, ages 18+. 661 purchased a car in the last six months and are considered “current car buyers”, while 1,549 said they’re planning to purchase a car within the next year and are considered “future car buyers”. The survey was fielded October 10-15, 2022, with a margin of error of +/- 2%.
The dealer survey consists of 400 U.S. car dealers. These respondents currently work for an automobile dealership as an owner, general manager, F&I director, sales manager, internet manager or in the business development center at dealerships with an approximate annual sales volume of at least $1M. The survey was fielded October 11-13, 2022, with a margin of error +/- 5%.
Findings are compared to the July 2022 Car Buying Outlook (fielded to 2,209 car buyers and 400 car dealers between June 7-13, 2022), the March 2022 Car Buying Outlook (fielded to 2,200 car buyers and 530 car dealers between October 20-29, 2021), and the 2021 Car Buying Outlook (fielded to 1,000 car buyers and 401 car dealers between October 1-20, 2020).