NASHVILLE, Tenn. -

Online auto shopping activity is on the rise and could be leading to a climb in floor traffic for dealers. After two consecutive months of decline, the Dataium Auto Shopper Intensity Index turned upward in June, indicating stronger sales volumes for the industry during the next 45 to 60 days.

Highlights from June’s ASI index report include Japanese brands shooting up 15 percent as a group. Dataium discovered Toyota and Honda leads per dealership website were both up more than 20 percent from May to June.

Analysts pointed out June’s 10-percent SAAR decline mirrored the ASI index’s drops for April and May. 

“It is gratifying to see the index tick up after two months of decline,” stated Eric Brown, chief executive officer of Dataium.

“Though the positive trend is encouraging, there are still many storm clouds circling; domestic turmoil in oil-producing countries, debt battles in Washington, D.C., and continued weak job creation all threaten future strengthening of the index,” Brown acknowledged.

Elsewhere, Dataium determined inventory searches for SUVs and light trucks gained share during June, particularly at the end of the month when gas prices began to moderate.

Dataium also pointed out consumers hedged their bets, too, with the hybrid share of online inventory searches reaching its highest level in June.

Through proprietary data collection and analytics, Dataium reiterated that it aggregates and measures billions of auto shopper events from more than 20 million active potential buyers across a network of diverse automotive websites.

“The ASI index consistently mirrors automotive sales volumes 45 to 60 days out,” the company insisted. “Dataium not only provides data and research on auto shopper/buyer behavior nationally, but by specific makes, models, vehicle segments and specific markets as well.”