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What is the average cost per lead incurred by an auto broker listing a Mercedes or BMW on an website like AutoTrader.com or CarGuru.com? Ie. What are the conversion rates on these makes of cars and how does this relate to the amount of money spent to generate a lead?
Hi there, and thank you for your request for the average cost per lead for an auto broker, such as AutoTrader.com or CarGuru.com, listing a Mercedes or BMW, including conversion rate.
In short, after extensive research through consultancy reports, statistics data and industry insight studies, I have determined that the information you have requested is not available because data on conversion rates and cost per leads through online auto brokers specific to luxury cars has not been compiled in publicly accessible reports.
However, I was able to locate average cost per sale for BMW, as well as general conversion rates for auto dealer websites, including luxury and non-luxury cars, including sales conversion, finance, service, parts and total rates.
I elaborate on my findings below.
METHODOLOGY
In order to answer your query, I started by looking for information on the online auto dealer industry, both in general and specific to luxury cars (like BMW and Mercedes Benz). I researched reports by car industry consultancies and organizations like SEMA, TrueCar, DriftRock, Dealer eProcess, AutoHook and WardsAuto - but none of them included the specific metric required, either the conversion rate for BMW or Mercedes listed by auto dealers or cost per lead of said auto dealers for those specific car manufacturers.
I then expanded the scope of my research and looked through non-auto- or online-specific consultancies which have published reports on the automotive industry, such as PwC, Market Research, Euler Hermes, McKinsey, IBISWorld, KPMG and the EIU - but none of their reports had information regarding conversion rates or cost per lead.
The closest I got was locating general conversion rates for online auto dealers in terms of sales, total, etc. but this relates to all cars, not just luxury nor just BMW or Mercedes - though it applies to these makers as well. I offer this information below.
I also found some information on average cost per lead for BMW, which I outline below as well.
USEFUL FINDINGS
According to András Gerenscér, a German BMW specialist, noted that the average cost per sale for the brand is €190 as of 2011 (most recent numbers I could find on the topic), which is roughly US$215.
However, BMW has been working on lowering costs, such as costs per lead - Driftrock pointed out that BMW managed to reduce its cost per lead by 56% by switching to Facebook lead ads.
These numbers, however, are high compared to the average cost per sale of the industry in general, which according to AutoHook reached US$93.48 as of 2015, for brands like Ford, Chrysler, Volkswagen and Suburu.
According to Dealer eProcess, conversion rates for auto dealers reach 23% for total leads, 12.9% for sales leads, 4.5% for finance leads, 4.5% for service leads and 1.1% for parts leads.
These rates fall within the range given by Automotive News, which for typical dealership websites is between 16% and 25%.
POTENTIAL CONTINUED RESEARCH
In understanding the type of information that is publicly available, I have come up with some alternative research paths that I think will come in handy for your project:
- What are the conversion rates for auto dealer websites? How have they changed in the last three to five years?
- Give me insight on costs and conversion rates regarding auto dealer websites, specifically when it comes to luxury cars.
To wrap up, after extensive research through consultancy reports, statistics data and industry insight studies, I have determined that the information you have requested is not available because data on conversion rates and cost per leads through online auto brokers specific to luxury cars has not been compiled in publicly accessible reports.
If you would like us to continue our research in any of the research paths suggestions above, please let us know.
Thank you for choosing Wonder!