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Automotive Advertising Statistics 2026
These automotive advertising statistics focus mainly on U.S. local advertising, where the clearest public channel-mix and forecast data is available. The figures below combine BIA automotive category data, March 2025 local forecast figures cited by Premion, and 2025 linear TV reporting from WardsAuto.
BIA’s March 2025 forecast update put U.S. local automotive ad spending at about $12.61 billion in 2025 and $13.04 billion in 2026.
The same forecast showed 2027 local automotive ad spending reaching about $13.84 billion, still below the pre-pandemic 2019 level of $16.9 billion.
BIA’s 2024 automotive report said digital ad spend would rise to $6.9 billion in 2024, equal to 56.1% of all paid automotive media.
BIA said 86.3% of 2024 automotive ad spending came from three verticals: OEMs, new car dealers, and local dealer associations.
OEMs were the largest 2024 automotive advertising vertical at about $3.73 billion, followed by new car dealers at $3.56 billion and dealer associations at $3.33 billion.
CTV/OTT was BIA’s fastest-growing automotive media channel in 2024 at +15.7% year over year.
For new car dealers, PC/Laptop was the biggest 2024 media channel at 26.5%, followed by mobile at 18.3% and TV OTA at 15.6%.
For new car dealers’ 2024 digital mix, local search led at 37.2%, followed by local video at 22.3%, display at 21.9%, and classified and vertical at 18.6%.
Premion cited MRI-Simmons data showing 90% of people planning to buy a car in the next 12 months are ad-supported CTV/OTT viewers.
BIA’s March 2025 forecast showed local automotive CTV/OTT ad spending at about $400 million in 2025, $431 million in 2026, and $456 million in 2027.
WardsAuto reported automakers spent an estimated $2.1 billion on linear television advertising from January to early December 2025.
CTV growth is one of the clearest structural shifts in automotive advertising, especially as advertisers target in-market buyers with more measurable video channels.
What These Automotive Advertising Statistics Show
Automotive advertising is increasingly digital-first, but it is not digital-only. Dealer and OEM budgets still spread across PC, mobile, OTA TV, radio, search, video, and streaming channels, with the fastest growth coming from CTV/OTT and digital video.
The overall picture is a market that is growing again, though still below pre-pandemic levels in local advertising. Search and performance-focused digital remain core to dealer strategy, while streaming TV keeps taking a larger share as measurement and targeting improve.
At the same time, traditional television still matters. WardsAuto’s 2025 reporting on linear TV spend shows that auto marketers continue to use big-reach video, especially around sports, even as more budgets move into connected TV and other digital channels.
Sources
BIA Automotive Report 2024
Premion, The Streaming TV Playbook 2025
Premion, How CTV Campaigns Are Accelerating Car Sales in a Shifting Auto Market
WardsAuto, Automakers spent over $2 billion in linear TV ads in 2025
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