Fuel Sippers Sag as Gas Prices Fall - Daily Auto Insider

The Daily Auto Insider Wednesday, October 11, 2006 October 2006

As gas prices continue to fall, consumer searches for fuel-efficient vehicles have started to decline. According to the most recent Cars.com Consumer Search Index report, cars like the Toyota Prius, Toyota Yaris and Honda Insight top the list of new and used vehicles with the largest decline in search volume over the past month.

While searches for fuel-efficient vehicles have declined, searches for large luxury SUVs have increased significantly. The Hummer H2 and H3, Infiniti QX56, Cadillac Escalade and BMW X5 all made the list of used cars with the largest increase in searches over the past month.

Models with the largest increases in searches included: Hyundai Santa Fe (up 15 percent), Chevrolet Avalanche (up 14 percent), Jeep Wrangler (up 13.6 percent), Cadillac CTS (up 13 percent), Honda CR-V (up 9 percent), Acura MDX (up 8 percent), Chrysler 300 (up 8 percent), BMW 325 (up 7.4 percent), and Chevrolet Tahoe (up 7.2 percent).

At the same time, the Toyota Yaris searches dropped by 37.8 percent; the Toyota Prius by 33.8 percent; Volkswagen Jetta by 32.1 percent; Hyundai Sonata by 26 percent; Toyota Corolla by 25.6 percent; Toyota Camry by 23 percent; Chevy Cobalt by 21.2 percent; Honda Civic by 21.2 percent; Honda Accord by 18.7 percent and Honda Pilot by 18.6 percent