As summer gets underway and vacationers and road trippers hit the pavement, used-car shoppers seem to be shifting their interest from compacts and gas sippers to luxury vehicles and sports cars, according to kbb.com.

After high fuel prices this spring left consumers searching for ways to save pennies at the pump, kbb.com’s new M.I. Quick stats, which provide a snapshot of new- and used-car shopper perceptions and behaviors on the site, found that used-car shoppers are showing an interest in high-end vehicles, which the company noted is typical for this time of year.

The new M.I. Quick Stats report is a new offering from Kbb.com, which features “select Quick Poll results (driver input from Kbb.com shoppers), monthly Hot Used-Car Report information (the top and bottom movers in terms of used-car traffic on kbb.com) and relevant Market Watch Highlights (examines the drivers of month-over-month and year-over-year changes in shopper activity and share of market interest by brand, including trending for some major segments),” the company explained.

Sports Segment Drives Consumer Interest

And delving further into the Hot Used-Car Report data, Kbb.com noted that with gas prices on a downward trend, seasonal shopper interest is turning towards high-end luxury and sport vehicles.

In fact, the used-car segment with the largest lift for shopping activity month-over-month was the high performance segment,  which increased 13.9 percent.

"The reasons that we are seeing these huge shifts in used-car shopping is season and gas prices.  Around the late spring and early summer months (as many parts of the country begin to thaw), we have seen a pattern of shoppers gaining interest in sports cars or sporty vehicles.  The luxury segment is a beneficiary of this shift because the majority of sporty vehicles are offered by luxury manufacturers,"  Arthur Henry, market intelligence manager at Kelley Blue Book,  told Auto Remarketing. 

"Gas prices play an important role in vehicle shopping because the effect they have on specific segments are polarizing.  As they rise, hybrids and other fuel-efficient segments garner more attention, while trucks and perceived gas guzzlers suffer, but as soon as gas prices drop, the sentiment switches.  In the past couple of months, we have seen gas prices decline nationally, so it is natural for this trend to occur," he further explained, stressing that gas price trends play a large role in shifting consumer interest," Henry continued.

And which of these high-end units are turning shoppers’ heads?

Kbb.com officials noted that driving interest to this segment was the Chevrolet Corvette, which accounted for a significant  67 percent of segment traffic.

"The Corvette is a big player in the high-performance segment for a few reasons. One is that it is a big fish in a small segment in terms of available model years and vehicle productions.  Another reason is that it has a lower starting price-point than most of the vehicles in its segment.  This trend is very common for season, but more emphasized because of this year’s economic factors," Henry explained.

There was no particular Corvette model year that drew the interest of used retail shoppers, with traffic to each model year increasing at least 6 percent during the month, officials further explained.

And interestingly, most of the popularity of this vehicle was driven by cold weather states, including Michigan, Illinois and Washington, which had begun to “thaw” by the end of May.

Kbb.com also reported that one particular luxury model saw the greatest lift in traffic from the previous month: the 2007 Land Rover Range Rover Sport, which was also the key driver for the lift to the luxury sport utility segment, officials added.

Fuel Price Still on Drivers’ Minds

Offering some insight into the aforementioned shopping trends, Kbb.com editors explained, “For the past few years, gas prices have been volatile and difficult to predict. Despite the fuel price roller coaster, trends in the automotive industry and marketplace have made it easier to anticipate shopper behavior.

“The market should expect more demand for luxury vehicles and sports cars during this short reprieve. However, if gas prices shoot up any time soon, expect consumers to return to researching hybrids,” they added, stressing that consumer interest may continue to vary based on prices at the pump.

In fact, in a separate Kelley Blue Book Quick Poll, the company found that more than one-third of shoppers stated that fuel cost have the greatest impact on their purchase decision.

“This poll coupled with the Expected Monthly Payment poll suggests that shoppers continue to be sensitive to fuel prices and are considering more economical vehicles,” analysts added.

Shoppers Expect to Pay Less for New Cars

As new-car sales surge, potentially creating more trade-ins for dealers and perhaps easing the used inventory shortage a bit,  Kbb.com poll info included in May’s M.I. Quick Stats report showed that shoppers are expecting to pay less for their new unit.

And as shoppers begin to see purchasing a new car as a more viable option, this could bring even more potential buyers and trade-ins to the lots.

The Kbb.com poll concludes nearly 70 percent of  the site’s shoppers expect to pay less than $400 per month for their next new-vehicle purchase.

And according to Alec Gutierrez, senior market analyst of automotive insights for Kelley Blue Book, the average payment of a new vehicle purchased today is approximately $481 per month, a number which shows the disparity between shopper perceptions and the actual monthly payment incurred for a new-vehicle purchase.

"Many shoppers expect to pay less per month for a new vehicle relative to the average, and this suggests that shoppers feel they can afford to purchase a vehicle without heavily impacting their wallets.  This specific analysis does not speak to shopper confidence; however, it does indicate that fuel-efficient and economical vehicles are top-of-mind," Mark Williams, market intelligence research analyst for KBB, told Auto Remarketing.

"With fuel-efficient and economical vehicle consideration flourishing, shoppers may be straying from used vehicles to a new vehicle that historically they may have not considered," he added.