IRVINE, Calif. -

The share of used-vehicle retail site traffic for full-size cars on KBB.com during September climbed more than 7 percent from August, and the two models driving this surge also happened to be the same ones leading activity growth among all 2007-2011 model-year vehicles on the site.

That’s according to the Hot Used-Car Report released by Kelley Blue Book as part of the used-car iteration of its Blue Book Market Report for September.

Sitting atop the top 10 list of monthly used-car shopping activity growth in September were the 2011 Chevrolet Impala and the 2009 Nissan Maxima, whose shares of used traffic climbed 56.2 percent and 46.6 percent from August, respectively.

In the report, KBB manager of market intelligence and market analyst Arthur Henry said that these vehicles are “fueling shopper interest for the full-size segment.”

Overall, the traffic share for full-size cars was up 7.4 percent month-over-month.

Only two other segments — vans (up 9.9 percent) and luxury sport utility (up 9.2 percent) — saw greater increases in their share of used-car retail traffic.

Interestingly enough, when discussing the greater interest among consumers for commercial vans, Henry pointed out:
“There isn’t a single driver for the increased attention to commercial vans, as evidenced as no models that compete in this segment appear in this month’s top 10 list.”

Here are some models that did appear on the top 10 list, along with the 2011 Impala and the 2009 Maxima.

Placing third for growth was the 2009 BMW 5 Series (up 44.7 percent), followed by the 2009 Acura TL (up 41.9 percent) in fourth.

Two more Nissan models cracked the top 10 at fifth (2009 Rogue, up 30.3 percent) and sixth (2009 Altima in a tie with the 2009 Mercedes-Benz C-Class, as both climbed 27.4 percent).

Coming in at No. 8 was the 2009 BMW 3 Series (up 26.5 percent) and placing ninth was the 2009 Honda Accord (up 25.5 percent). No. 10 for growth last month was the 2009 Honda Civic, which moved up 5 percent.
 
As shown below in the top chart from KBB, import models dominated the lists of both risers and decliners. Oddly enough, as Henry points out, the only domestic to crack either list was the aforementioned Impala, which showed more positive change than any other vehicle.

He also noted Honda and Toyota, each of which had models make the top and bottom 10 lists.

The following charts from KBB illustrate the overall used traffic trends on the site during September.