New Car Shoppers Prefer American Made Products
by Steve Cypher on Monday, January 26th, 2009In a new survey conducted by Kelley Blue Book the California research company finds that nearly three quarters of car shoppers prefer to buy American made products and they plan to buy versus lease and purchase new cars versus used.
Just another survey?
Here at Auto Credit Express, we find ourselves looking at the growing number of surveys with a skeptical eye. Every week, one survey seems to be predicting one form of behavior, while another one comes to an opposite conclusion.
This time around, a survey conducted by Kelley Blue Book Marketing Research finds that 51% of respondents say they try to buy American-made products while one-third of automotive shoppers polled say they would only buy from an American-based manufacturer.
Here is the story from Kelley:
At 33 percent, exclusive interest – shoppers saying they would only buy cars from a particular country – was far higher for vehicles from the United States than for any other country. Exclusive interest in Japanese vehicles, in comparison, was only 12 percent and five percent for vehicles manufactured in Germany. Furthermore, vehicles from the United States are on the vast majority of shoppers’ consideration lists, with more than 90 percent saying they would consider buying a vehicle from a domestic manufacturer, compared to 74 percent for Japanese vehicles, 57 percent for German vehicles and 38 percent for Korean vehicles.
In addition, an overwhelming majority (97 percent) of vehicle shoppers plan to buy rather than lease their next vehicle, and nearly 70 percent say they will purchase new cars rather than used.
“Seeing the domestic automakers’ recent struggle has ignited a heightened sense of patriotism among some American car shoppers, and the latest Kelley Blue Book Marketing Research indicates that people are pulling for the Big Three to survive and thrive,” said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book and kbb.com. “The overwhelming inclination to buy versus lease is a sign of the current economic climate. People feel that leases are both less available and not as financially advantageous as they previously were. In addition, consumers are being more fiscally conservative in the midst of the recession, opting to buy a car they can afford versus leasing a car that may realistically be out of their budget.”
More than half of the survey respondents plan to purchase their next vehicle in the next three months, and say they could be motivated to purchase even sooner if good auto financing offers are available, citing cash rebates and incentive offers as most popular, followed by financing offers and then overall improved economic and personal financial stability.
The latest Kelley Blue Book Marketing Research survey was conducted on Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com among 537 qualified respondents from December 8-14, 2008.
The Bottom Line
If this latest poll is an accurate picture of all car buyers – not just those who visit kbb.com, it certainly seems that the recent public humiliation undergone by the CEO’s of the Detroit 3 as they were grilled by members of congress may have resulted in a public backlash of sympathy for their plight. After all, as Americans, we are in this thing together. If this is the case, it couldn’t have come at a better time for the American car companies.
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