As the coronavirus pandemic hits the auto industry hard, investors need to find ways to weather the storm. In this Intelligence report, we explore different types of alternative datasets that can help investors evaluate auto companies and OEMs. We will discuss a variety of datasets, ranging from clickstream datasets that can gauge consumer demand, to crowdsourced and economic datasets that can shed light on auto production, inventory, and sales.

CONSUMER DEMAND

An auto consumer’s journey these days starts with browsing the Internet. A study by Deloitte in 2018, in which 22k consumers were interviewed from 15 regions, found that before any visit to a dealership occurs, nearly two thirds of consumers would peruse through dealer websites (e.g. check available inventory, find dealer locations), OEM websites, and retail websites (e.g. eBay Motors, Autotrader).

In fact, a study conducted by Google using clickstream data from