IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Kelley Blue Book, www.kbb.com, the leading provider of new- and used-vehicle information, today reports an increase in new-car shopper activity on its top-rated Web site. After a period of consumer cautiousness, which led to lower shopping activity and lower sales in recent months, the average daily new-car traffic on www.kbb.com has increased 20 percent in January 2009 compared to the previous month. This reveals higher traffic levels than any time during the fourth quarter of 2008.
Support for the domestic manufacturers is up during this time as well, with traffic to General Motors reports up 19 percent from December 2008. Ford has 9 percent, and Chrysler has 20 percent more activity on kbb.com compared to the previous month.
"Based on the climb in new-car traffic and dealer leads generated on kbb.com in December and early January, we expect to see a lift in auto sales versus the last quarter of 2008," said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book and kbb.com. "Consumers are recognizing great deals are available now, many based on generous manufacturer incentives, making this a great time to buy or lease a new vehicle."
As a further indication that the recent sales freeze may be thawing, dealer leads generated on kbb.com were up 19 percent in the week ending December 28, 2008, compared to the previous week. In the following week ending January 4, 2009, the number of leads jumped an additional 18 percent, creating an overall leads increase of 40 percent compared to two weeks prior.