An ad dollar shift to streaming and online advertising is not expected to ebb when it comes to the Automotive sector. That’s a key takeaway from a live data-filled session from Patrick Manzi, Ph.D., of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA).
But, that doesn’t mean Radio and Television are losing out on the billions of dollars in ad dollars from automotive, and Manzi shared the details in a TVB Forward virtual conference session on Thursday.
Among the reams of information shared by Manzi was the average transaction price for automotive. In July 2023, it was $47,275, with a $1,000 jump, with prices on used vehicles tapering after a pandemic-fueled surge tied to new vehicle availability problems and supply-chain concerns that have ended.
He also offered a look at monthly new light-vehicle sales by month, looking back to the start of 2021. After a jump in sales in April that remained steady through July, August was soft. That said, the overall sales portrait is akin to the first six months of 2021, and beats 2022.
WHERE THE AD DOLLARS ARE
How automotive dealerships are helping to drive consumers to sign and drive, with 15.2 million vehicle sales anticipated for 2023, the strongest year since 2019?
As shown below, Radio’s ad spend dipped from 9.8% in 2021 to 7.8% in 2022; as RBR+TVBR has reported, Audacy Inc. is overexposed to Automotive compared to its peers, and slow ad category recovery impacted its quarterly financial results across much of the period NADA viewed.
Meanwhile, Television’s auto dealership ad spending percentage also declined year-over-year, moving from 12.4% in 2021 to 10.2% in 2022.
Where did the dollars go? To little surprise, the internet experienced strong growth, as Direct Mail and Newspapers also saw percentage declines from 2021 to 2022.
SUPPLY AND ABSENCE
Manzi also took a moment to share with TVB Forward virtual conference attendees the current supply of automobiles by brand.
To little surprise, Tesla car delivery continues to be a lengthy process. Interestingly, Subaru vehicles are also experiencing low supply as popular auto makers Hyundai, Honda, Toyota and Mazda may likely be seeing strong sales, thus leading to limited vehicle choices.
By contrast, there seem to be plenty of Dodge, Buick and Jeep vehicles as of August, NADA data show.
