Leading Brands in the US Automotive Marketplaces & Retailers: Q2 2024 Insights

Introduction

The US automotive marketplace is a dynamic sector, with leading brands such as CarGurus LLC, CarMax, and Cars.com at the forefront. In Q2 2024, these brands demonstrated significant presence across their websites and apps. This article explores their performance and trends, based on comprehensive data provided by Sensor Tower, a leader in cross-platform user behavior insights.

CarGurus LLC

CarGurus LLC is a prominent player, with its website cargurus.com and the CarGurus: Used & New Cars app making substantial impacts.

• Audience Trends: From Q1 to Q2 2024, cargurus.com saw a notable increase in visits, peaking at over 148M in June. Unique visits remained stable, hovering around 10M monthly. The monthly true audience exceeded 11M in May, with web users dominating over app users.

• App Engagement: The app's monthly active users fluctuated, reaching over 1.8M in March but declining to approximately 1.6M by June.

• Ad Spend & Channels: CarGurus' monthly ad spend decreased from over $1.9M in January to about $1.1M in June. OTT channels were significant, contributing to millions of impressions monthly.

CarMax

CarMax, with its website carmax.com and the CarMax: Used Cars for Sale app, maintained a strong digital presence.

• Audience Trends: Carmax.com experienced steady visits, peaking at over 95M in March. Monthly true audience numbers remained robust, exceeding 11M in March as well. The web platform consistently outperformed the app in terms of audience reach.

• App Engagement: The app's monthly active user base remained stable, around 750K throughout the quarter.

• Ad Spend & Channels: CarMax's monthly ad spend peaked in February at nearly $4.9M, before tapering to about $2.3M in June. OTT was the leading channel in terms of spend and impressions.

Cars.com

Cars.com, featuring its website cars.com and the Cars.com - New & Used Cars app, also demonstrated substantial market activity.

• Audience Trends: The website's visits were consistent, maintaining around 70M monthly. The monthly true audience peaked at over 8.6M in April, with the web platform driving most of the traffic.

• App Engagement: The app's monthly active users varied slightly, reaching approximately 1.3M in April.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Cars.com increased its monthly ad spend significantly to about $2.9M in April, primarily through Facebook and OTT channels, achieving high impression rates.

Conclusion

The automotive marketplace in the US remains competitive, with CarGurus LLC, CarMax, and Cars.com leading the charge. Sensor Tower's comprehensive data highlights these brands' strategies and their cross-platform successes. By leveraging Sensor Tower's Web Insights, App Performance Insights, and Pathmatics, businesses can gain unparalleled insights into consumer behavior across web and app platforms.

Sensor Tower’s consolidated data offers unique advantages for decision-makers, presenting an opportunity to drive strategic growth in this competitive landscape. Explore our offerings to stay ahead in the market.