Number of Consumers Selling SUVs on Cars.com Continues to Rise

CHICAGO, June 27 -- Large SUVs posted for sale by owner on cars.com have risen dramatically over the last several years and now make up a larger portion of the total number of ads listed for sale by owner.

The increase in large SUVs for sale by owner on Cars.com was calculated by taking a look at the most popular large SUVs on the market, like the Chevrolet Suburban and GMC Yukon, and tracking their listings as a percentage of the total number of Sell It Yourself listings on Cars.com. While the total number of people selling their cars themselves has increased significantly over the last several years, the amount of SUVs posted for sale by owner has outpaced the overall growth of for sale by owner listings.

Since March of this year, SUV postings have increased more than 14 percent and are up a staggering 40 percent from March 2003.

High fuel cost has been the primary factor driving the spike in consumer postings of large SUVs over the past several years. As the number of SUVs for sale rises, the number of consumers posting more fuel-efficient models, like the Honda Civic, continues to decrease. Though not as dramatic as the increase in SUV listings, the number of more fuel-efficient vehicles listed for sale by owner on Cars.com has decreased by 6 percent since March of this year and 23 percent since March 2003.

"It's no secret that gasoline prices have affected consumer buying and selling behavior," said Michael Kellogg, group project manager of cars.com classifieds. "But the influx of large SUVs posted through the Cars.com Sell It Yourself program has created some great buying opportunities for consumers in the market for those types of vehicles."

About Cars.com

Partnered with more than 200 leading metro newspapers, television stations and their websites, Cars.com is the most comprehensive destination for those looking to buy or sell a new or used car. The site lists more than 1.5 million vehicles from 11,000 dealer customers, classified advertisers and private parties to offer consumers the best selection of new and used cars online, as well as the content, tools and advice to support their shopping experience. Recently selected by Forbes.com as a Best of the Web site for car shopping, Cars.com combines powerful inventory search tools and new-car configuration with pricing information, photo galleries, buying guides, side-by-side comparison tools, original editorial content and reviews to help millions of car shoppers connect with sellers each month.

Launched in June 1998, Cars.com is a division of Classified Ventures, LLC, ( http://classifiedventures.com/ ), which is owned by leading media companies, including Belo , Gannett Co., Inc. , The McClatchy Company , Tribune Company and The Washington Post Company .