2006 Auto Sales Eighth Strongest on Record; Dealer Ad Spend Up

U.S. franchised new-car and light-truck dealers recorded their eighth strongest year on record in 2006, selling more than 16.5 million vehicles - down from 16.9 million in 2005 - according to NADA DATA, an annual analysis compiled by the National Automobile Dealers Association, writes MarketingCharts.

For the sixth consecutive year light trucks outsold cars, 8.7 million to 7.8.million, but the gap closed somewhat from 2005 levels: Light trucks made up 53 percent of total new-vehicle sales in 2006, down from 55 percent in 2005.

New-car dealers spent some $7.8 billion on advertising in 2006, with each dealership spending nearly $365,000, on average, according to NADA.

Ad expenditures per new vehicle were up 2 percent from 2005, averaging $590.

Among the advertising related findings from the report:

• On average, each dealer spent 11.5 percent of ad dollars on internet advertising, up from 9.9 percent in 2005 and 6.7 percent in 2004.
• Newspapers accounted for the plurality of ad expenditures (27.3 percent), though 10 years earlier they accounted for 52.2 percent.
• Television accounted for 19.5 percent of ad dollars, followed by radio at 18.1 percent.

MarketingCharts provides more findings here.