Despite a strong September, Columbus Day weekend car-shopping activity was down this year, according to new data from Dealer.com and Dealertrack (divs. Cox Automotive). Analysts reported a 5% decrease in dealership visits and a 3% drop in dealer website visits when compared with traffic from the six prior weekends.

The decrease can in part be blamed on a particularly brutal hurricane season, but it was indicative of an overall trend toward underperforming three-day holiday weekends, according to James Grace Sr., director of product analytics at Cox Automotive Media Solutions Group.

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