BLC Belo Corp.

CHICAGO, June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- High gas prices have helped generate significant search volume and email leads sent to dealers for the new Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit subcompact cars. According to the latest cars.com Consumer Search Index, the Yaris and Fit top the lists for largest new- and used-car search increases and cracked the top 10 in terms of email leads sent to dealers. "The combination of a low base price and extremely good gas mileage have translated into very good sales for cars like the Yaris and the Fit," said Joe Wiesenfelder, cars.com senior editor. "If gas prices continue to remain at these levels throughout the summer, sales of these cars and others in this category should remain strong." While searches and email leads to dealers for fuel-efficient vehicles remained strong in May, searches for larger SUVs like the Toyota Sequoia continue to trend downward. As a category, searches for large SUVs were down in May; however, the decrease wasn't nearly as dramatic as the one experienced last summer when searches for some large SUVs dropped by more than 30 percent. Vehicle Searches (May) Models with the most searches performed on cars.com. Top New-Car Searches Top Used-Car Searches 1 Honda Civic 1 Honda Civic 2 Toyota Camry 2 Honda Accord 3 Toyota Yaris 3 Ford Mustang 4 Honda Accord 4 Toyota Camry 5 Toyota Corolla 5 Toyota Corolla 6 Ford Mustang 6 Volkswagen Jetta 7 Acura MDX 7 Ford F-150 8 Toyota RAV4 8 Toyota Tacoma 9 BMW 325 9 Mitsubishi Eclipse 10 Volkswagen Jetta 10 Chevrolet Corvette Search Increases (April-May) Models with the largest increase in the number of searches performed on cars.com. Top New-Car Search Increases Top Used-Car Search Increases 1 Toyota Yaris 373.07% 1 Toyota Yaris 1124.78% 2 Honda Fit 415.62% 2 Honda Fit 744.86% 3 Saturn Sky 31.31% 3 Saturn Sky 53.30% 4 Chevrolet Avalanche 14.99% 4 Ford Aspire 30.89% 5 Pontiac G6 8.75% 5 Plymouth Breeze 27.87% 6 Scion xA 7.69% 6 Dodge Caliber 27.84% 7 Pontiac Vibe 7.64% 7 Isuzu Ascender 26.88% 8 Mazda6 7.27% 8 Mercedes-Benz 240D 25.78% 9 Chevrolet Aveo 6.47% 9 Kia Amanti 24.61% 10 Scion xB 5.79% 10 Isuzu Axiom 23.59% Search Decreases (April-May) Models with the largest decrease in the number of searches performed on cars.com Top New-Car Search Decreases Top Used-Car Search Decreases 1 Lexus GS 300 21.57% 1 Toyota Prius 16.53% 2 Toyota Sequoia 19.61% 2 GMC Envoy XUV 11.83% 3 Hyundai Tucson 19.25% 3 Mitsubishi Montero Sport 11.20% 4 Nissan Xterra 16.21% 4 Lexus RX 350 10.91% 5 GMC Yukon 16.11% 5 Plymouth Voyager 10.55% 6 Hyundai Azera 15.15% 6 Mitsubishi Montero 10.24% 7 Lexus IS 350 14.18% 7 Dodge Challenger 9.92% 8 Lexus RX 330 13.28% 8 Subaru SVX 9.87% 9 Honda Pilot 12.53% 9 Toyota Sequoia 9.40% 10 Toyota Tundra 12.30% 10 GMC Safari 9.39% Top Dealer Email Inquiries (May) New Cars Yielding the Most Dealer Used Cars Yielding the Most Inquiries Dealer Inquiries 1 Honda Civic (2006) 1 Honda Accord (2004) 2 Toyota Yaris (2007) 2 Honda Civic (2002) 3 Honda Accord (2006) 3 Honda Accord (2003) 4 Toyota Corolla (2006) 4 Honda Civic (2005) 5 Toyota Camry (2007) 5 Honda Civic (2003) 6 Honda Odyssey (2006 6 Toyota Supra (1994) 7 Toyota Camry (2006) 7 Mitsubishi Eclipse (1997) 8 Toyota RAV4 (2006) 8 Honda Civic (2000) 9 Toyota Prius (2006)) 9 Infinity G35 (2003) 10 Honda Fit (2007) 10 Honda Civic (2001) Top Cars Listed For Sale By Owner (May) 1 Honda Accord 2 Honda Civic 3 Ford Mustang 4 Ford Explorer 5 Ford F-150 6 Jeep Grand Cherokee 7 Toyota Camry 8 Volkswagen Jetta 9 Chevrolet Corvette 10 Dodge Ram About the cars.com Consumer Search Index The cars.com Consumer Search Index offers a comprehensive look at the internet search behavior of cars.com visitors. The statistical information is compiled by tracking the more than 8.3 million unique visitors that log on to cars.com each month and the vehicles that are most popular. The lists are based off a minimum of 4,000 searches for any given vehicle. Dealer inquiries measure the volume of emails consumers send to dealers seeking information about a particular vehicle. The information is supported by expert analysis from the cars.com editorial staff. More statistical information to support automotive-related stories is available upon request. Please contact Steve Nolan directly at 312-601-5163. 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 six leading media companies, including Belo (NYSE:BLC), Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Knight Ridder (NYSE:KRI), The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI), Tribune Company (NYSE:TRB) and The Washington Post Company (NYSE:WPO). DATASOURCE: cars.com CONTACT: Steve Nolan, Public Relations Manager of cars.com, +1-312-601-5163 (direct), +1-630-310-2468 (mobile), Web site: http://www.cars.com/ http://classifiedventures.com/

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