Who's Buying Convertibles?
CARS.COM — Summer is in full swing, which means it’s time for family vacations, barbecues, lounging by the pool and, for some, getting as much time in the convertible as possible before the cold returns. Even for those who don’t have a droptop in the garage, Cars.com’s data shows that car shoppers have not lost their taste for sun-splashed motoring and, what’s more, there are several new convertibles here or coming soon to satisfy that craving. These include the 2016 Buick Cascada, 2017 Fiat 124 Spider and even a topless SUV: the 2017 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque.
Related: Research Convertibles on Cars.com
Unsurprisingly, the number of convertibles listed on Cars.com and interest in those models peaks in the spring each year as the weather gets warmer. Where are these convertible searches most popular?
Using a mix of data from January 2016 to now, including convertible share of statewide inventory and how many times those models are viewed, we assigned each state a heat score. The higher the number, the more convertible listings there are in that state and the more times those listings are being seen by shoppers.
The states that rank the highest are — for the most part — concentrated on the coasts. Florida, California, Connecticut, Virginia and Arizona had the highest share of convertibles in their statewide inventory, led by Florida. Arizona also ranked high, given its warm climate. Unsurprisingly, ranking down near the bottom were many of the states with colder climates, including Alaska and Montana.
There were some surprises in our data, though: Illinois ranks as one of the top states, while New Mexico scored surprisingly low.
Cars.com’s data shows that interest in the class is high, although droptop sales have been on the decline for years, ever since the Great Recession. Over the past four years, as Cars.com’s number of total vehicle listings has climbed by 35 percent to meet increased demand, the number of total convertible listings has fallen by 5 percent. However, within our inventory, convertibles on average garner nearly four times the views that the other body styles do.
