JD Power survey: Younger Buyers Avoiding Domestics

[Scotsman]

Well, certainly not me and I'm a SoCal native AND I grew up around these cars. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for imprinting such fine automobiles into my mind at such an early age. God bless their souls.

A new study from J.D. Power & Associates offers some new insight into the steep cost American carmakers are paying for what is seen a sluggish response to rising fuel prices. The new Power study also underscored the importance of perception in consumer attitudes toward various vehicles and brands.

While older buyers who purchase domestic vehicles are more likely to avoid certain models because they are imports, younger consumers who purchase import vehicles are more likely to avoid models because they are of domestic origin, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Avoider Study.

Among import buyers for example, the younger the person is, the more likely they are to avoid models because they are of domestic origin, the study found.

The study was based on responses from more than 35,000 owners who registered a new vehicle in May 2007, and it examines the reasons consumers fail to consider particular models when shopping for a new vehicle.

The survey also found that buyers aren't particularly impressed with vehicles described as "environmentally friendly" but they do want vehicles with good fuel economy. Gas mileage is the most frequently mentioned reason for purchasing a vehicle, while it remains the seventh most frequently cited reason for avoiding a particular vehicle model, the study found. Buyers tend to avoid non-premium brands more often due to poor gas mileage, compared with premium makes.

Customer perceptions of poor gas mileage, rather than actual data regarding fuel economy performance, may influence these avoidance decisions, the study indicated. A greater proportion of the import buyers also mention poor gas mileage as a reason for avoiding domestic models. In addition, younger buyers "are more apt to indicate gas mileage as a reason for purchasing, compared with their older counterparts," the study said.

The data from J.D. Power already seems to have had influence on domestic carmakers, who cannot afford to alienate the younger generation of car buyers. General Motors recently announced that it is putting more effort behind selling the Chevrolet brand as a leader in fuel efficiency, and both Ford and Chrysler have stepped up efforts to sell the fuel efficiency of their vehicles.

However, domestic manufacturers are still haunted by past reputations for shoddy quality, despite the all-out and to a large degree successful, efforts by GM, Ford and Chrysler to improve, the study found.

"Many buyers continue to have unfavorable impressions of domestic models due to concerns about quality, reliability and depreciation issues, even though the quality of many of these domestic products is on par with or exceeds that of their import counterparts," said Jon Osborn, research director at J.D. Power and Associates. "Domestic manufacturers need to get this message out in front of younger buyers and convince them to put their models on their shopping list."

"As an example, the HUMMER H3 is the most-avoided model in its segment, with 21 percent of buyers saying that they would not consider buying this model and many citing poor gas mileage as a reason," said Osborn. "However, EPA fuel economy estimates for the HUMMER H3 are very similar to those of other mid-size utility vehicles, such as the Jeep Commander and Chrysler Aspen, which have much lower rates of avoidance.

"The perception that the HUMMER model gets worse gas mileage than other comparable models may be strongly influencing consumer decisions to exclude it from consideration-especially since gas prices have remained high. Changing customer perceptions by educating buyers about this model's fuel efficiency performance may help to lower its avoidance rates," he added.

Not surprisingly perhaps, the study also found that the North Central region of the United States contains the highest proportion (41 percent) of domestic vehicle buyers who do not consider import brands during the shopping process. Vehicle styling and cost are the two most frequently reported reasons that consumers give for avoiding import brands.

In the Northeast and the West--regions contain the highest proportions of buyers of import vehicles--shoppers say they avoid specific models because they are domestic in origin. The most frequently cited reasons given for avoiding a domestic brand are concerns about reliability, poor quality and depreciation.

The study also found that buyers are making avoidance decisions based on consumer-generated information found on the Internet, with consumer reviews most often cited as a source leading to avoidance, followed by expert reviews and manufacturer site information.

http://www.thecarconnection.com/Auto...73.A13703.html

[Mr. Wyndham]

I think that this is what the Camaro was bred to do. Attract younger buyers.

any young'uns reading (Me included:p):

GM, CHYSLER, AND FORD DO NOT MEAN "poor reliability, poor quality and depreciation." GET THIS THROUGH YOUR HEADS! YOU'VE BEEN BRAINWASHED BY THE JAPANESE BEING IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME.

God. This is why I hate Toyota, Nissan and all the others. 90% because they have imprinted this perception into peoples minds. and those people imprinted it into their kids.

Not Me!!! And I'm in the Northeast which is apparently the "highest proportions of buyers of import vehicles"...

[AirGoya]

EXACTLY DRAGON!! You explain things so well.

its like if a car comes from honda or toyota it automatically gets good mileage and it will "last forever". I hate when people say that!

"Many buyers continue to have unfavorable impressions of domestic models due to concerns about quality, reliability and depreciation issues, even though the quality of many of these domestic products is on par with or exceeds that of their import counterparts," said Jon Osborn, research director at J.D. Power and Associates.

All i gotta say. I wish i had this quote with me at all times.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Put it in your sig. :p


And thank you.

[Hyperknight]

I blame the Fast and Furious

[DGthe3]

Japnesse does not equal perfection. Yes, on average Honda and Toyota (including all their brands) have better reliability than GM, DC, and Ford Mo Co. But most the other Japanesse brands rank pretty low. But Chevy and Ford brands are only 10% lower in problems/vehicle. But what about the cost of repairs? if it costs $400 to fix a toyota but $300 to fix a Chevy, even if you need to fix the Chevy more often it still costs you less in the end. Also, the perception of Toyota and Honda is based largely off of their small cars. Detriot dominates in the midzied and large car segments for reliability. And milage, maybe domestic isn't as good, but generally you get reasonable fuel economy with good power and style.

By the way, im 22 and there is only a couple people up here at school that consider domestics. They wouldn't even believe that europeans tend to have such poor relibility. And they are supposed to be training to be mechanical engineers, but they won't listen. "American cars suck" is their view of things.

[Mindz]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

I think that this is what the Camaro was bred to do. Attract younger buyers.

any young'uns reading (Me included:p):

GM, CHYSLER, AND FORD DO NOT MEAN "poor reliability, poor quality and depreciation." GET THIS THROUGH YOUR HEADS! YOU'VE BEEN BRAINWASHED BY THE JAPANESE BEING IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME.

God. This is why I hate Toyota, Nissan and all the others. 90% because they have imprinted this perception into peoples minds. and those people imprinted it into their kids.

Not Me!!! And I'm in the Northeast which is apparently the "highest proportions of buyers of import vehicles"...

Every Ford my faimly has bought has been terribly built. Problems every 20k miles or so. I would chalk it up to being a lemon, but ther's been 6 or 7 Fords my family has owned and every single one has a different problem.

Only owned one GM which is my saturn, but my toyota 4runner (1988) was great. Would I buy a new toyota? hell no. Why? styling is terrible, and the celica is dull. I grew up with 4 cylinder engines since I couldn't afford gas. Now that I make more money I can afford the bigger engine, granted I'm not going to a 4 or 6 cyl family car. I would still own a corolla over an aveo. The styling on almost every 4 banger looks like crap. My favorite is the S13 silvia front end with a 180 sx rear end (sil-eighty) by Nissan, followed by the Lancer VI and then my eclipse 97-99. Ford probe, . Chevy aveo, . Chevy Cavalier, . Chevy Xtreme but it was too expensive.

Another reason the import scene is so low in the middle of nowhere (North Dakota, etc.) is because no one wants to ship cars out there from the coasts. Most of the people out there have farms with big old duallies. They make enough money to afford gas and just go to the dealer they've bought their familys' vehicles from since the early 50's. There are a few families like that in the east bay area, but when a car gets shipped from Japan, Aussieland or some other place, it gets stored in Alameda/Martinez area then trucked out to other states. People can just plop down dealerships for imported cars right here and it is more cost efficient to sell them on the coast instead of paying to transport them into the midwest area.


I'm stoppping my novel before I get to chapter 14.