Inside the hidden new car buying journey

Discover how today's buyers research, compare and narrow their options, and where brands still have an opportunity to make an impact.

Most new car buyers walk onto your floor looking like they're still shopping around. They're not. By the time they get there, the decision is nearly made.

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To understand what is really happening between first search and final decision, we recently looked at new car buyers specifically, drawing on Australia's Car Buyer Report alongside recent consumer sentiment research into how buyers are using AI and how they feel about EVs. Together, they paint a clearer picture of a journey that now happens largely out of view, and it matters because every stage of that journey is now a chance to win a buyer over, or lose them, well before they reach the showroom floor.

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Only 25% of new car buyers set foot in a dealership during early research,¹ and most of that research now happens where brands and dealers can't see it: comparing models, reading reviews, narrowing a shortlist, all before anyone makes contact or shows up in person. By the time 62% do visit a dealership, they are close to a decision, not shopping for one.¹

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The role of AI

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AI has quietly become a larger part of that research. More than half of AI users now use it to compare vehicles and listings,² often in plain language, for example "I want a small SUV under budget, leather seats, only in brown or black". That shift matters for how discoverable your inventory is. A listing built around make, model and trim alone is easy to miss when buyers are searching in full sentences. It also matters because of where those AI searches tend to land: carsales holds 55% of AI chatbot traffic across the competitor set, more than three times the next closest site.³ In practice, that means a buyer comparing cars through AI is more likely to be pointed to carsales, and to your listing, than anywhere else.

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AI is changing more than how buyers search, it is changing who gets on the shortlist in the first place. It is putting brands in front of buyers who would never have gone looking for them, widening the shortlist to include names they would have dismissed a few years ago.⁴ That holds true even for EVs, where consideration keeps growing. But an easier path onto the shortlist is not the same as an easier path to the sale. Most buyers considering an EV still want to buy it through a dealer.⁵ Familiarity might be shifting, but the need for a trusted human to back the decision has not.

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The road ahead

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While there are many levers here, three are squarely in an OEM's control, and worth acting on before a buyer ever reaches a shortlist.

Get your data AI-ready. Buyers are searching in full sentences, not just make, model and trim, so the more structured and complete your vehicle data is across the network, the more likely your models surface when it matters.

Build consideration earlier. Since 62% of buyers are close to deciding by the time they visit a dealer¹, brand and product content now has to do its work well before that visit, not during it.

Make offers work harder. A special offer alone lifts enquiries by 60% and views by 75%.⁶ Backing your network with national campaigns and co-op offer funding gives every dealer a lever that is proven to shift buyer attention, before they have even shortlisted you.

Back EV consideration with clarity. Familiarity with EVs is growing, but most buyers still want a dealer to close the deal.⁵ Give your network the specs, comparisons and ownership information that make that final, human step easier, not harder.

None of this replaces the dealer relationship. It just means the groundwork for winning a buyer now starts earlier than the showroom, and OEMs are best placed to lay it.

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Looking for more insights into how Australians buy cars? Download your copy of Australia’s Car Buyer Report 2026: New Car Buyer edition.

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^Sources

^{1 Australia’s Car Buyer Report 2026, New Car Buyer Edition (new car sub-sample, n=1,373) Q. Which of the activities below have you done? 'Visited a dealership'}

^{2 carsales AI in the Car buying Journey Survey, June 2026, n=390 Q. Which of the following do you plan to do with AI as you go through your car buying journey?}

^{3 Similarweb (AI Chatbot Traffic), Apr 2026 - Jun 2026 (does not include app traffic); Please note figures in the graph are rounded to the nearest 1,000. carsales compared to measured category competitors only (being CarsGuide, CarExpert, Drive and WhichCar)
4 carsales Onsite Survey, June 2026, new car buyer sub-sample, n=615. Q Which brand or brands are you now considering that you wouldn't have considered 3 to 5 years ago?}

^{5 carsales EV Consumer Survey, May 2026, n=463. How would you prefer to buy a new EV? Asked of non-owners who have considered an EV}

^{6 carsales internal platform data, Special Offers Uplift analysis (Showroom Stock cut), 1 Jan–13 Jul 2026}

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AI is changing more than how buyers search, it is changing who gets on the shortlist in the first place. It is putting brands in front of buyers who would never have gone looking for them, widening the shortlist to include names they would have dismissed a few years ago.⁴ That holds true even for EVs, where consideration keeps growing. But an easier path onto the shortlist is not the same as an easier path to the sale. Most buyers considering an EV still want to buy it through a dealer.⁵ Familiarity might be shifting, but the need for a trusted human to back the decision has not.

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