J.D. Power: Consumers Increase Their Use of Smartphones in Car Shopping Consumers' reliance on their smartphones to obtain information about new cars is growing, according to the 2012 Automotive Mobile Site Study, released Tuesday by J.D. Power and Associates, the market research company. The study found that the number of shoppers using smartphones this year increased to 31 percent from 24 percent in 2011, and from 17 percent in 2010. It also found that 53 percent of those shoppers accessed information from their smartphones at the dealership. The study, conducted in August, included 9,131 evaluations of automotive mobile Web sites from shoppers who said they intended to buy or lease a vehicle within the next two years. Most shoppers, 66 percent, were looking at the sites to glean information about vehicle pricing; 54 percent were seeking information on a particular model; 53 percent were looking at photos; 52 percent were accessing vehicle reviews or ratings; and 47 percent were in an active comparison between vehicles. Although more consumers are using their smartphones to access information, they are not always happy with the sites they encounter. Using a 1,000-point scale to gauge overall consumer satisfaction, the study found user satisfaction with the mobile-phone equivalents of the Web sites was 767 -- lower than satisfaction levels for desktop-accessed Web sites (818) and tablet versions (824). Among automakers' mobile sites, Acura and Kia finished in a dead heat with 794 points. At the bottom, also tied, were Audi and Lexus with scores of 733.