If you’re running Google Ads for an automotive or transport business, one of the biggest questions is:
What should I be paying for leads?
Automotive services often rely on local, high-intent searches. This page breaks down real performance data from automotive and transport campaigns across 3 years, based on accounts we’ve worked with, managed, and analyzed.
Here’s how performance has trended over time:
| Year | Industry | Accounts | Spend | Impressions | Clicks | Conversions | CTR | CVR | CPC | CPA | Conv Value | Conv Value / Cost | Zero-Conv Accounts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Automotive / Transport | 2 | $53,045.75 | 6,588,949.00 | 52,167.00 | 617.73 | 0.79% | 1.18% | $1.02 | $85.87 | $0.00 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2024 | Automotive / Transport | 2 | $52,475.50 | 4,301,152 | 23,694 | 527.5 | 0.60% | 2.20% | $2.21 | $99.48 | $70,703.49 | 134.74% | 0 | |
| 2025 | Automotive / Transport | 5 | $138,986.47 | 4,009,900 | 27,736 | 4,635.68 | 0.70% | 16.70% | $5.01 | $29.98 | $19,933.17 | 14% | 1 |
| Year | Industry | Network | Spend | Clicks | Impressions | Conversions | Conv Value | CTR | CVR | CPC | CPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Automotive / Transport | Cross-network | $67,708.84 | 89,018.00 | 19,502,387.00 | 9,916.18 | $114,820.20 | 0.46% | 11.14% | $0.76 | $6.83 |
| 2023 | Automotive / Transport | Discover | $0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| 2023 | Automotive / Transport | Gmail | $0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| 2023 | Automotive / Transport | Google Display Network | $0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| 2023 | Automotive / Transport | Google Search | $40,697.22 | 10,614.00 | 538,602.00 | 702.00 | $4,839.96 | 1.97% | 6.61% | $3.83 | $57.97 |
| 2023 | Automotive / Transport | Google TV | $0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| 2023 | Automotive / Transport | Google owned channels | $0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| 2023 | Automotive / Transport | Maps | $0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| 2023 | Automotive / Transport | Search partners | $1,836.39 | 1,169.00 | 200,274.00 | 25.00 | $179.95 | 0.58% | 2.14% | $1.57 | $73.46 |
| 2023 | Automotive / Transport | YouTube | $0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| 2024 | Automotive / Transport | Cross-network | $61,018.83 | 49,762.00 | 21,795,844.00 | 2,860.33 | $79,350.48 | 0.23% | 5.75% | $1.23 | $21.33 |
| 2024 | Automotive / Transport | Discover | $0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| 2024 | Automotive / Transport | Gmail | $0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| 2024 | Automotive / Transport | Google Display Network | $0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| 2024 | Automotive / Transport | Google Search | $53,554.20 | 8,848.00 | 420,681.00 | 475.17 | $1,434.02 | 2.10% | 5.37% | $6.05 | $112.71 |
| 2024 | Automotive / Transport | Google TV | $0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| 2024 | Automotive / Transport | Google owned channels | $0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| 2024 | Automotive / Transport | Maps | $0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| 2024 | Automotive / Transport | Search partners | $1,698.88 | 3,486.00 | 145,093.00 | 6.00 | $6.00 | 2.40% | 0.17% | $0.49 | $283.15 |
| 2024 | Automotive / Transport | YouTube | $0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| 2025 | Automotive / Transport | Cross-network | $48,535.57 | 9,729.00 | 3,495,650.00 | 3,821.25 | $13,872.29 | 0.28% | 39.28% | $4.99 | $12.70 |
| 2025 | Automotive / Transport | Discover | $0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| 2025 | Automotive / Transport | Gmail | $0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| 2025 | Automotive / Transport | Google Display Network | $484.05 | 388.00 | 229,320.00 | 2.00 | $0.00 | 0.17% | 0.52% | $1.25 | $242.03 |
| 2025 | Automotive / Transport | Google Search | $88,880.52 | 10,672.00 | 144,820.00 | 806.43 | $6,054.88 | 7.37% | 7.56% | $8.33 | $110.21 |
| 2025 | Automotive / Transport | Google TV | $0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| 2025 | Automotive / Transport | Google owned channels | $0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| 2025 | Automotive / Transport | Maps | $0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| 2025 | Automotive / Transport | Search partners | $687.13 | 404.00 | 33,351.00 | 6.00 | $6.00 | 1.21% | 1.49% | $1.70 | $114.52 |
| 2025 | Automotive / Transport | YouTube | $399.20 | 6,543.00 | 106,759.00 | 0.00 | $0.00 | 6.13% | 0.00% | $0.06 | inf |
Across all three years, automotive campaigns continue to rely heavily on Search for performance, while gradually incorporating other networks to expand reach and support the full customer journey.
Automotive searches are typically:
This leads to:
Compared to higher-cost industries:
Automotive campaigns often show:
However:
In this industry:
If you’re running Google Ads:
You should expect:
You should focus on:
You should avoid:
These numbers give you a realistic performance range, not a guarantee.
Your results will vary based on:
If your current results are:
There’s usually a fixable reason.
We work with businesses across industries to improve performance and efficiency in Google Ads.
We’ll show you:
