Post-Presidential Election Survey Captures Automotive-Related Sentiment

CarGurus a leading car shopping platform in the U.S., conducted a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers to gather their opinions around how the recent presidential election will impact the automotive industry and their plans to buy a car. Overall, findings showed many expect both car and gas prices to increase, and even more expect to see fewer government incentives for environmentally-friendly vehicles, but that will likely not impact the decision to buy one.

CarGurus learned the following based on the presidential election results:
• 35% think auto prices will increase
• 8% think auto prices will decrease
• 57% think auto prices will stay the same
• Almost half (46%) think gas prices will increase
• Almost one quarter (21%) think gas prices will decrease
• Almost one third (32%) think gas prices will remain the same

In addition, the survey uncovered the following:
• 70% noted that the election will have no impact on their decision to buy a U.S. or foreign-made car
• 75% expect to see fewer government incentives to buy efficient cars like electronic vehicles and hybrids, and 25% expect to see more

When asked what impact a reduction in government incentives would have on the likelihood to consider purchasing an electric vehicle:
• 67% said it would not have an impact on their decision
• 17% said they would be much less likely to consider an electric vehicle
• 16% said they would be somewhat less likely to consider an electric vehicle

The CarGurus survey also found that younger respondents were more skeptical in their post-election opinions. They were more likely than older shoppers (55+) to believe gas prices will increase, with 60% of 18-24 year olds thinking gas prices will increase as opposed to 44% of respondents aged 55 or older. Additionally, almost 10% of younger shoppers also said they would delay decision to buy a car and almost 10% of 25-34 year olds planning to spend less on the car since the election.

“Our survey uncovered that while the election may have produced a level of uncertainty related to some issues like car and gas prices, others such as an affinity towards an electric vehicle remain largely unaffected,” said Sarah Welch, SVP Consumer Marketing at CarGurus. “It will be interesting to watch how this unfolds over the coming months and years, especially with the theme of financial prudence and caution coming from the younger generation.”

The survey’s full findings can be found here.

About CarGurus

Founded in 2007 by Langley Steinert, co-founder of TripAdvisor, CarGurus is a leading online automotive shopping destination focused on bringing transparency and efficiency to the car research and shopping experience. The site uses technology and market data analysis to help millions of automotive shoppers search for cars and quickly identify the best deals from top-rated dealers in their local area. Today, the site serves 22 million unique monthly users and more than 19,000 car dealerships with more than 5 million car listings, and ranks #1 among car shopping websites in the U.S. by daily unique visitor traffic. CarGurus also has sites in the UK and Canada.