Victorious Prime Minister Boris Johnson among least trusted celebrity car dealers; car-buyers have most faith in David Attenborough

• Car buyers seemingly don’t trust leading politicians as car dealers, according to new CarGurus research
• Despite landslide election victory Boris Johnson only narrowly beats Jeremy Corbyn and Nigel Farage in poll, although none score well
• David Attenborough most trusted by car buyers, despite never having passed his driving test
• Car lover David Beckham ranks highly but wife Victoria is last on list of celebrities

Prime Minister Boris Johnson might have swept the board on election night, but UK car buyers have revealed he would be among their least trusted celebrities if he were a car dealer, according to an exclusive survey by the UK’s fastest-growing automotive shopping site, CarGurus*.

In a vote of no confidence for the re-elected Prime Minister, a cross-section of car buyers voted Johnson a lowly 11th out of 15, even with his fresh mandate to ‘Get Brexit Done’ and a brief history as a car reviewer for the likes of GQ.

Even though Johnson trumped his political rivals last week he faired only marginally better here. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn – a keen cyclist who does not own a car – finished 12th while Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, whose party failed to secure a single seat on election night, was the least trusted of the politicians listed, in 13th place.

CarGurus surveyed more than 2,000 car owners and buyers to find which celebrities they would trust the most when buying a used car**.

The findings are part of research conducted for the forthcoming 2020 CarGurus Car Buyer Trust Index* * *, a study examining the role that trust plays in the car-buying process.

While the car buyers surveyed put little faith in the UK’s politicians, they voted broadcaster Sir David Attenborough as the most trustworthy car salesperson, even though the 93-year-old has never passed his driving test.

The royal family would also make great used car salespeople, according to CarGurus research – the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were the second-most-trusted celebrities listed, while the Queen was ranked third.

David Beckham, well known for his collection of expensive cars, was fourth on the list yet his wife Victoria was placed last. Ed Sheeran (6th) was voted most trustworthy of the three singers listed, ahead of Adele (9th) and Stormzy (14th).

For further information, please contact:
James Drake at CarGurus – UKPR@CarGurus.com / 0208 541 3434 / +44 07809 657178

*Among its nearest competitors based on the percent change in average unique monthly visitors from Q3 2018 to Q3 2019 (source: Comscore MMX Multi-Platform®, Custom-defined list includes Cargurus.CO.UK, Motors.CO.UK, AutorTrader.CO.UK, Pistonheads.com, and Gumtree.com))

**CarGurus surveyed 2,183 car owners and buyers to find which celebrities they would trust the most when buying a used car, with all respondents aged 18-64, providing a shortlist of well-known celebrities in the UK.

*About the CarGurus Car Buyer Trust Index:
To create the Car Buyer Trust Index, CarGurus partnered with GlobalWebIndex – a leading market research company with a data set that represents more than 2 billion consumers worldwide. GlobalWebIndex contacted previous survey respondents based on past car purchases and expressed intent to buy, and then presented them with a bespoke survey about trust in the car buying process.

In the survey, respondents were asked a range of questions about their perceptions of – and trust in – 21 car brands, with 20 based on SMMT sales data and Tesla added as a brand of topical interest. They were also asked questions about their purchasing journey and their trust in the automotive industry at large.
The total sample size was 2183 internet users in the UK, with all respondents aged 18-64. In order to have a representative cross-section of car buyers the study surveyed the following groups:

1) Those that have purchased a car in the past six months and intend to do so again in the next six months (190);
2) Those that have purchased a car in the past six months and do not intend to do so in the next six months (419);
3) Those who have not purchased a car in the past six months but intend to do so in the next six months (501);
4) All other car owners (1073)

Informed by the industry expertise of CarGurus, and inspired by academic trust research, the CarGurus Car Buyer Trust Index was designed by GlobalWebIndex intelligence, and focuses on five factors believed to be key in building trust for car buyers:

1) Integrity – delivering on promises
2) Transparency – being transparent about problems and taking responsibility
3) Genuineness – genuinely concerned about consumer needs and acting in their best interest
4) Social conscience – showing commitment to social causes and the environment
5) Reliability – providing a problem-free ownership experience

Each respondent was asked how important each of the five factors is to them when deciding to purchase a car. They were then asked to evaluate four brands on those factors, with brands selected at random from a pool of those that respondents either own or said that they were aware of. Based on how important a respondent rated each factor, a weight was assigned to them and the Trust Index calculated the score as a weighted measure.

How CarGurus Works:
CarGurus helps car shoppers search local car listings and quickly find great deals from top-rated dealers. Every day, the company analyses millions of data points on hundreds of thousands of UK car listings to calculate each car’s Instant Market Value (IMV) or fair retail price. This data is used in combination with dealership ratings from other shoppers to rank and rate available cars results based on the quality of the deal: Great, Good, Fair, High or Overpriced. The site also provides transparency on how long the car has been on the forecourt and if it’s had a price drop. Consumers can contact dealers directly.

About CarGurus:
Founded in 2006 by Langley Steinert (also a co-founder of TripAdvisor), CarGurus (Nasdaq: CARG) is a global, online automotive marketplace connecting buyers and sellers of cars. The company uses proprietary technology, search algorithms and data analytics to bring trust and transparency to the automotive search experience and help users find great deals from top-rated dealers. CarGurus is the most visited automotive shopping site in the U.S. (source: Comscore Media Metrix® Multi-Platform, Automotive – Information/Resources, Total Audience, Q3 2019, U.S. (Competitive set: CarGurus.com, Autotrader.com, Cars.com, TrueCar.com)). CarGurus launched in the UK in 2015 and is the fastest growing auto shopping site in the UK among its nearest competitors based on the percent change in average unique monthly visitors from Q3 2018 to Q3 2019 (source: Comscore MMX Multi-Platform®, Custom-defined list includes Cargurus.CO.UK, Motors.CO.UK, AutorTrader.CO.UK, Pistonheads.com, and Gumtree.com). In 2019, CarGurus acquired UK-based PistonHeads.com, which it operates as an independent brand. In addition to the United Kingdom and the United States, CarGurus operates online marketplaces in Canada, Germany, Italy and Spain.
CarGurus® is a registered trademark of CarGurus, Inc. All product names, trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.
To learn more about CarGurus visit www.cargurus.co.uk.

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