IRVINE, Calif. -

In describing the used-car shopper’s ongoing appetite for full-size crossovers and hybrid cars in the latest Hot Used-Car Report from Kelley Blue Book, Arthur Henry used the phrase “overwhelming affinity.”

In fact, KBB’s manager of market intelligence and market analyst said full-size crossover share climbed 34.7 percent month-over-month in February, while hybrid car share was up 22.3 percent.

Not surprisingly, some of this share increase has been due to higher gas prices. Interestingly enough, though, full-size crossovers don’t typically get as much positive impact from higher fuel costs as hybrids do, Henry explained. But things have changed.

“Hybrid cars traditionally gain attention along with skyrocketing prices at the pump, largely due to their fuel-sipping image. In addition, shoppers are willing to overlook the premium cost associated with a hybrid to avoid excessive trips to the gas station,” he noted.

“Full-size crossovers are less likely to receive this same benefit from pump prices. However, shoppers have been paying more attention to the full-size segment, as crossovers have gained a positive image as fuel efficient,” Henry continued.

Other segments seeing double-digits lifts last month were the subcompact car category (up 20 percent) and the midsize crossover class (up 10.7 percent).

Compact crossovers (up 9.4 percent), midsize cars (up 2.5 percent), full-size SUVs (up 1.4 percent), sports cars (up 1 percent) and luxury crossovers (up 0.9 percent) also increased share last month.

Looking at the sports car segment in more detail, Henry points out that the large activity shift that occurs when warmer weather is close has not yet materialized. That said, there have been some individual sports car models whose activity has started to heat up: the 2007 Audi S6 and the 2008 Saturn Sky.

In fact, this Audi model’s monthly used-car shopping activity growth was at 82.3 percent; the Saturn model’s was at 55.9 percent.

“Even with the inflation of gas prices, these two sports cars have experienced great gains in share of shopping activity. This largely is due to shoppers having more available income for their next vehicle purchase,” Henry noted. “Next month, Kelley Blue Book anticipates a large shift toward sporty vehicles, as gas prices are expected to come down and shopper discretionary incomes increase.”
 

Joe Overby can be reached at joverby@autoremarketing.com. Continue the conversation with Auto Remarketing on both LinkedIn and Twitter.