You’ve heard of the connected car, but how about using your smartphone to buy a car? According to a study sponsored by Greystripe, more than a quarter of iPhone, iPod touch and Android users plan to buy a car in the next year, and 78 percent will use their mobile device to facilitate the process.

Greystripe, which runs a mobile ad network, collected the data for the study from its network of touch devices during the period between Nov. 16, 2010, and Feb. 15, 2011.

The study also measured consumer sentiment around types of cars that were being considered for purchase, and 15.6 percent of users were looking to buy a new car in the next year. An additional 10.4 percent of users were looking to buy a used car in the next year, for a total of 26 percent of users in the market for a car in the next 12 months. 

Of course, all this is not lost on the car industry, which continues to up its spending in mobile advertising. Greystripe reports that in its network alone, the ad spend from auto brands increased by 113 percent from the first quarter of 2010 to the first quarter of 2011.

Apparently, mobile plays a critical part of the auto buying process for the majority of touch device users. iPhone and Android users in the study said they would use their phones for initial research, price comparison on the lot, finding dealerships and contacting sellers.