GfK Automotive Intentions and Purchases Study

The Industry Standard for Measuring and Understanding Automotive Demand and Sales Potential

The GfK Automotive Intentions and Purchases Study is the longest-running continuous pre-purchase tracking instrument in the automotive category. Established in the early 1980s, it has become the industry standard for gauging what specific makes and models consumers want, and when they intend to make their purchase.

The Automotive Intentions and Purchases Study (AIP) is a monthly and quarterly tracking study that monitors consumer demand for new cars and trucks in the US market. The AIP Study captures consumers’ expectations for the next new automotive purchase and identifies changes in demand as market conditions evolve and consumers’ purchase horizons narrow.

A Powerful and Unique Research Design

The AIP Study is continuously in the field, using Internet sample sources. GfK receives approximately 200,000 completed surveys each quarter and all fieldwork is balanced according to geography, socioeconomic characteristics and household composition to assure representativeness and reproducibility of results. Information is delivered monthly in virtual real time—within ten days of the close of the month.

Key elements of the resulting database include:

Purchase horizon (timing of the next new vehicle purchase, from the next three months out)
Make, model and selected characteristics of the next vehicle intended
Principal driver of the next vehicle intended
Make and model of the vehicle to be replaced (if any)
Recent purchases by make and model
Extensive demographic and geographic data

In addition to these direct measures, GfK Automotive calculates measures of intended replacement loyalty, intended conquesting, the ratio of conquests to defections, changes in intention over time and changes in demand stratified by proximity to next purchase.

There is no other resource in the automotive category that provides the depth of information, and the ability to analyze demand data and retail interaction within the context of over twenty years of trending experience.

For more information about the GfK Automotive Intentions and Purchases Study, or any other GfK Automotive product, contact us today.