It seems that for many Americans, a new year means a new car with Cars.com reporting it saw an uptick in searches from people interested in buying a car in the start of 2009.

Cars.com president Mitch Golub says that although the figures the company is looking at are for a very short period, it believes 2009 will be an encouraging year for the auto industry.

“Based on activity we saw in the first full business week of the year on Cars.com, we are optimistic that automotive sales will pick up in the first quarter of 2009,” he said.

Overall the site has seen a 19 percent increase in traffic over last year, with users spending 12 percent more time on the site than a year ago. The average visit is now up to 15 minutes per user.

With the increase in people accessing the internet through handheld devices, the company says it has seen searches from mobile devices increase 30 percent since December – a total of 39 percent of all Cars.com users.

In a tough economy, a number of people are likely turning to Cars.com to look for inexpensive used cars.

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