Increasing choice and affordability have seen distinct consumer attitudes and purchasing patterns emerge in the key mid-priced luxury car and small SUV segments.

The emma (Enhanced Media Metrics Australia) Automotive Trends and Insights Report, Hit The Road!, reveals the ‘Medium Luxury’ and ‘Small SUV’ segments are burning up the road in Australia’s hyper-competitive car market, particularly among consumers who are either considering buying a new vehicle or have recently bought one.

“The emma data shows Medium Luxury car buyers are more inclined than Small SUV buyers to strongly agree they are fanatical about cars, that image is important to them, that they like sporty-looking vehicles and those that are built for speed and high performance,” said Ipsos MediaCT managing director Simon Wake.

“Meanwhile Small SUV buyers, who want a vehicle that can do everything, are most likely to strongly agree a new car has to have ‘all the extras you can get’, with style and image important though less so than for the Medium Luxury segment.”

emma data also shows the highly competitive environment affects purchase intentions and behaviour differently for each car buying segment.

Four key consumer segments represent 37 per cent of Australia’s adult population and 43 per cent of all new car buyers: the middle/upper-middle class metro families of ‘Assertive Materialists’; young, mainly male, urban and successful ‘Social Creatives’; highly educated, financially successful but non-status focused ‘Conscientious Consumption’; and the lower-middle class, pessimistic ‘Life Is Tough’ group.

“The emma data shows that across the population when researching cars to buy, all income groups rely most heavily on online advertising and searches; advice from family and friends; car manufacturers’ websites and dealer-supplied materials; and traditional media – newspapers, magazines and then television,” Wake said.

“With Australians increasingly spoilt for choice in new car options, our cross-platform audience insights survey emma will continue to guide marketers looking to communicate with car buyers along their roads to purchase.”