Cars.com: Both Toyota, Honda Suffer Notable Interest Declines
CHICAGO — The most recent Cars.com Consumer Lead Index indicates that negative residue from Toyota recalls isn't leaving the minds of potential buyers too quickly, and it might be spilling over to other automakers.
Site officials believe recalls continue to have a negative impact on sales activity since leads for Toyota vehicles overall have declined close to 5 percent, looking at a year-over-year comparison.
Cars.com also thinks interest in the automaker's vehicles continues to slip month over month. The site noted the Toyota RAV4 topped the list of vehicles experiencing the largest month over month decline in leads, followed closely by the Camry.
However, Toyota wasn't the only Japanese automaker to post negative trends, according to the index.
Officials also spotted a year-over-year lead drop of close to 11 percent for Honda. They pointed out that the Honda Fit, Pilot and Accord also joined the list of the vehicles experiencing the largest decline in activity month over month.
"While the Toyota trend is somewhat expected, what's more interesting is the fact that Honda has seen a significant decline as well," Cars.com editor in chief Patrick Olsen shared on Tuesday.
"Honda execs mentioned that they felt there might be some consumer backlash toward Japanese manufacturers as a result of the Toyota recalls and that certainly could be at play here," Olsen continued.
Swelling in the opposite direct as Toyota and Honda, Cars.com stressed Hyundai continues to gain momentum, fueled by the new Sonata. The site found Hyundai leads by more than 149 percent in May compared to same month last year. Furthermore, leads for the Sonata climbed by more than 30 percent over the April reading.
Besides the Hyundai Sonata, a few other specific new vehicles that enjoyed significant month-over-month lead gains included the Ford Mustang (59.90 percent), Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (38.93 percent) and Dodge Ram (23.42 percent).
The only two units not made by either Honda or Toyota with the greatest month-over-month declines in the recent Cars.com index were the Ford Fusion (-28.65 percent) and Mazda's Mazda3 (-18.44 percent).
Turning to a look at brand gains on a year-over-year comparison, the only nameplate to top Hyundai in the site's report was Land Rover (162.75 percent). Other brands that posted strong gains in this time frame include Buick (93.28 percent), Kia (84.27 percent), GMC (81.27 percent), Porsche (74.98 percent), Audi (65.59 percent), smart (65.47), Subaru (64.15 percent) and Volkswagen (55.06).
Sliding in the opposite direction with Toyota and Honda on a year-over-year comparison were brands such as Isuzu (-100.00 percent), Chrysler (-71.19 percent), Dodge (-49.28 percent), Mercury (-34.03 percent and Jeep (-33.57 percent).