Study Shows Which Cities Love American, Asian, and European Brands

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- June 30, 2015: CarGurus today released a study identifying which U.S. cities shop the most for American, Asian, and European brand cars.

While all cities in the study showed a mix of preferences, there were clear trends: American brands do best in the Heartland, while imports get more traction in coastal regions.

As in previous studies, Detroit, MI tops the list with the most interest in American cars, with 69.5% of car listing inquiries directed to American brands. San Jose shoppers showed more interest than other cities in Asian brands (43.7% of total inquiries), and San Francisco led the field for European brands (27.7% of total inquiries).

Here are the top 5 cities for each category:

Consumer Interest in American Brand Cars

Detroit, MI (69.5%)

Oklahoma City, OK (58.6%)

St. Louis, MO (57.7%)

Indianapolis, IN (57.2%)

Pittsburgh, PA (57.1%)

Consumer Interest in Asian Brand Cars

San Jose, CA (43.7%)

Boston, MA (43.1%)

San Francisco, CA (42.5%)

Hartford, CT (41.9%)

Los Angeles, CA (41.9%)

Consumer Interest in European Brand Cars

San Francisco, CA (27.7%)

New York, NY (27.0%)

Miami, FL (26.3%)

San Jose, CA (25.7%)

Los Angeles, CA (25.4%)

For an infographic, please visit here and for the full list of rankings, please visit here.

Methodology

For this study, CarGurus analyzed inquiries submitted to dealers on car listings for sale in top metro areas in the continental U.S. over the past month, comparing share of interest by brand (American, European and Asian) in each metro area. Metro areas were ranked according to the percentage of total inquiries submitted on listings of American brand cars versus non-American brand cars.