A Look at Pathmatics’ New Auto Taxonomy

New vehicle sales have increased by 15% YoY, while the average cost for a new car has decreased by 1.4% since October 2022 due to inventory surpassing demand. However, the drop in car prices may vary depending on the make or model. With rising oil prices, there may be increased demand for electric and hybrid vehicles. The new auto taxonomy in Pathmatics by Sensor Tower allows for easier analysis of brands and categories that are increasing their ad spend and changing their channel allocations. The taxonomy also provides details on the fastest-growing subsections of offerings by US ad spend or impressions, such as Electric Cars vs. Gas & Hybrid Cars, Car Dealerships vs. Used Car Retailers, and promotional offerings by replacement auto parts.

Key Takeaways:

Electric Cars is one of the 23 categories under Pathmatics by Sensor Tower’s new automotive taxonomy. Electric Cars (as a category) has grown its share of ad spend from 1% of spend across all categories in 2019 to 8% in ‘23 YTD; it is also one of only five categories that has grown every year, up 80% as of 3Q23, one of the fastest growing categories in 2023
As of 2023 YTD, the top advertisers for Gas and Hybrid Cars include Chevrolet (10%), GMC (8%), Hyundai (8%), Toyota (8%), and Kia (6%). Chevrolet and Hyundai are also two of the top 5 advertisers for Electric Cars in 2023 YTD, with 9% and 8% of paid SOV, respectively, across the category
- Other top advertisers include Volvo, Audi, and Nissan with 15%, 7%, and 7% of spend across the Electric Cars category in 2023, respectively
Looking at the mobile app performance of the Used Car Retailers, Vroom experienced the steepest decline in MAUs, falling -25% YoY in 3Q23, followed by Carvana (-19% YoY) and CarMax (-3% YoY), respectively. Vroom and Carvana experienced similar declines in downloads in 3Q23 as those apps fell -39% YoY and -33% YoY, while CarMax remained relatively flat
US ad spend has decreased across the Used Car Retailer segment and is down -20% YoY as of 3Q23, which comes after a surge of advertising in 2022
- Furthermore, this is after steady increases since 2019 (~20% and 25% YoY for 2021 and 2020, respectively), as pandemic-induced demand for cars presented car retailers with an opportunity to highlight their inventory and created competition for different retailers to be top-of-mind for buyers

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Written by: Abraham Yousef, Senior Insights Analyst

Date: November 2023

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