NASHVILLE, Tenn. -

Dataium’s May Auto Shopper Intensity Index declined for the second straight month, but a bright spot was searches for used vehicles.

The firm determined pre-owned models continue to gain share in consumer online auto shopping, now up to a record 68 percent of all inventory searches.

Analysts contend the ASI index for April accurately mirrored all manufactures’ May sales results with a 90 percent confidence level. Based on a premise that the ASI index has been a consistent 60-day leading indicator of sales, Dataium thinks May’s ASI decline signals continued weakness in automotive sales for June and August.

The ASI index — which measures national automotive shopping activity across local dealership websites and automotive portals — began to slow in February, showed some signs of life in March and reversed course in April. The firm also indicated the ASI Index weights nearly a dozen online auto shopping behaviors and saw declines in lead volume, number of automotive websites shopped and auto shopper volume.

“One ray of hope was the slight uptick in inventory search volume, typically the 30-day precursor to improved lead volume,” stated Eric Brown, Dataium’s chief executive officer.

Breaking down the May ASI index by segment and make and model shows the SUV segment down 17 percent in shopper interest over last month and nearly 25 percent during the last five weeks.

As a segment, analysts discovered sedans bounced back with Hyundai leading the group in month over month gains, achieving a 25-percent increase. They pointed out Hyundai has led the industry for several months in ASI index growth.

At the model level, Dataium found inventory searches for Nissan Altima, and Toyota Prius are up on average of 19 percent for the last two months, indicating stronger lead volume for these specific models during the next 30 days.

Hybrids as a segment were up double digits again in May at 12 percent. However, analysts conceded growth in demand has slowed when compared to April’s 17 percent gain.

“Since March, hybrid demand has more than doubled, and its share of all inventory searches has tripled,” Brown declared.

To follow up on its earlier Japanese quake report, Dataium also said Japanese imports as a segment continue to demonstrate resilience and brand loyalty.

Analysts noted the group’s ASI index has begun to climb again, and nameplates including Infiniti, Toyota and Nissan are all up double digits in online inventory search volume.

Dataium also pointed out Honda and Mazda did not join their peers in these gains, showing strong declines in inventory searches on dealership websites.

The firm went on to mention domestic brands as a group continue to decline.

“However, Ford and Dodge are fighting back with 10 percent and 15 percent ASI gains, respectively, over the past eight weeks,” Brown highlighted.

“We are concerned by the second straight decline in the monthly ASI index, especially given its ability to predict future sales volumes,” Brown continued.

“There are some bright spots in the numbers particularly for imports and fuel-efficient vehicles,” he concluded.