NASHVILLE, Tenn. -

As the holiday shopping season is set to start in full force this week with Black Friday, it seems customers have a little less room to consider an auto purchase.

Dataium reported a softening in its monthly Automotive Shopper Intensity (ASI) Index for October, as it decreased 1.8 percent from rates seen in September.

The drop, Dataium said, suggests a slight decline in overall auto shopping interest moving into the beginning on the holiday shopping season.

And Dataium is predicting that softening to continue this month, as it expects the retail SAAR in November to be 12.4 million units, a 3.9-percent decrease from October.

Interestingly, though the ASI Index dropped, some trends showing automotive shoppers are “shifting their focus” popped up in October, “largely driven by new model announcements with a focus on fuel economy and affordability,” officials said.

For example, the Mercedes Benz CLA series saw the biggest rise in automotive shopping due in part to the announcement of 2014 models.

Next up was the Volkswagen Jetta, which saw large jumps in October after the announcement of 2014 models.

The story was also similar for the Subaru Forester, which experienced an 137 percent sales increase in October, according to Dataium, and also experienced the third largest increase in shopping intensity for the month.

“Rising shopper interest toward these vehicles in October indicates that November sales should increase in turn,” Dataium is predicting.

And although gas prices remain low, two hybrid models made it onto the Dataium ASI Top Ten in October, “indicating that shoppers are seriously considering fuel efficiency as they browse vehicles,” Dataium explained.

The new 2014 Toyota Prius V models came out in October, contributing to the units eight highest increase in shopping interest last month.

Dataium expects sales for this model may increase during the holiday season due to more affordable pricing and better fuel economy.

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