Leading Auto Brands in the U.S. for Q1 2025: A Sensor Tower Analysis

Introduction

The automotive industry in the United States continues to evolve, with digital platforms playing a crucial role in shaping consumer interactions. In Q1 2025, brands like Toyota, CARFAX, and CarGurus LLC have emerged as leaders in the Auto category, boasting significant monthly true audience numbers across their websites and apps. Leveraging Sensor Tower's comprehensive data insights, we explore these brands' performance trends from Q4 2024 to Q1 2025.

Toyota

Renowned for its innovation and reliability, Toyota's digital presence is solid, with its website, toyota.com, and the Toyota app showing robust engagement.

• Audience Trends: From Q4 2024 to Q1 2025, toyota.com maintained a stable monthly visit count, averaging over 60M visits. The monthly true audience consistently hovered around 10M.

• App Engagement: The app saw fluctuations in monthly active users, peaking at around 2.9M in December 2024 before stabilizing above 2.7M by March 2025.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Toyota's monthly advertising investment displayed varied trends, with a notable spike in March 2025, reaching nearly $12.8M. OTT channels were a significant focus, delivering substantial impressions.

CARFAX

CARFAX, known for its comprehensive vehicle history reports, centers its digital strategy on its website, carfax.com, and the CARFAX app.

• Audience Trends: The website experienced a peak in January 2025, with monthly visits surpassing 100M. Monthly true audience figures were stable, consistently around 8.7M.

• App Engagement: The app maintained steady monthly engagement, with active users slightly increasing to 930K by March 2025.

• Ad Spend & Channels: CARFAX's monthly ad spend peaked in December 2024, exceeding $3.5M, with OTT channels providing the most significant reach.

CarGurus LLC

CarGurus LLC, a leader in online automotive marketplaces, anchors its digital footprint with cargurus.com and the CarGurus app.

• Audience Trends: The website saw a notable increase in March 2025, with monthly visits nearing 100M. Monthly true audience figures showed an upward trend, reaching over 10M.

• App Engagement: The app's monthly active users grew steadily, surpassing 2.1M by March 2025, indicating a strong mobile presence.

• Ad Spend & Channels: CarGurus' monthly ad investments peaked in January 2025, with a spend of over $1.6M, primarily through OTT and Facebook channels.

Conclusion

The first quarter of 2025 highlighted the growing importance of digital platforms in the automotive sector. Toyota, CARFAX, and CarGurus LLC successfully leveraged their web and app presence to engage substantial monthly audiences. Sensor Tower's unparalleled data insights enable a comprehensive understanding of these dynamics, offering critical insights into cross-platform user behavior and advertising strategies. For more in-depth analysis, explore Sensor Tower's offerings, including Web Insights, App Performance Insights, and Pathmatics.