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Study shows more car buyers favor new power alternatives

14 August 2002

DETROIT, MICHIGAN — U.S. car buyers in 2002 seemed more inclined than they were in 2001 toward increased use of ethanol, natural gas and electricity, judging from new research from Market Facts Motoresearch, a leading market research firm.

Serious consideration of ethanol as a light duty vehicle fuel increased from 14% in June 2001 to 20.1% in March of 2002. Similarly, consideration of natural gas increased from 19% to 24.9% and consideration of electricity increased from 24% to 30.8% in the same time frame.

In fact, consideration of all eight alternative fuels tracked by Market Facts Motoresearch among U.S. light duty new car buyers and intenders increased significantly between Summer '01 and Spring '02. Clean diesel fuel also was among the big gainers, increasing in consideration from 20% to 25%.

These results are from the Market Facts Motoresearch Survey of Advanced Propulsion and Alternative Fuels among Retail Customers. The Spring '02 wave included the opinions of 1,350 consumers in the U.S., surveyed through Market Facts TeleNations Global Program.

The study is also fielded semi-annually in Germany and annually in seven other major automotive markets.

Newer Technology Vehicles Also Gain Favor

Beyond attitudes toward alternative fuels, the study also tracks attitudes toward advanced propulsion technologies, such as electric, hybrid, fuel cell and direct injection diesel vehicles.

In the most recent wave, awareness of hybrids increased slightly, though favorable attitudes toward them remained relatively stable—a net gain in the study's penetration index.

According to Scott Miller, Executive Vice President and Director of Market Facts Motoresearch's Alternative Fuels and Propulsion practice, The biggest news on hybrids is that the perceived personal benefits, such as economy of operation, are increasing while the understood societal benefits, such as reduced emissions, remain stable.

This is important, because U.S. car buyers are not well-known for making purchase tradeoffs solely for the sake of the environment.

Favorability toward Direct Injection Diesel vehicles also increased dramatically among those who were aware of the technology, from 34.3% in Summer '01 to 42.6% in Spring '02.

"The tremendous success of this technology in Europe20 combined with the marketing efforts of a few companies here in the U.S.20 seems to be having a positive impact, but only among those who are already familiar with diesel vehicles," said Miller. The primary perceived drawback of diesel technologies remains the impact on the environment caused by emissions.

Despite increased consideration of these fuels and technologies, Miller noted that the industry still has a long way to go to bring them into the mainstream.

"Like other studies that have made headlines recently, our data indicate that roughly 50% of respondents would consider a hybrid system if offered by a reputable manufacturer in a body style that met the conventional needs of the buyer; however, these same data show consideration at roughly 40% for both electric vehicles20 that have not been well accepted20 and fuel cell vehicles20 that aren't even on the market yet. So, although future acceptance looks positive, these data need to be considered in context."

Although the expected timeline for shopping for an advanced propulsion vehicle narrowed slightly in the Spring '02 wave, with 22.8% expecting to shop within 5 years, more than 57% still indicated that it would be five years or more before they expected to shop for anything other than a vehicle with a conventional internal combustion engine.

"Amazingly," Miller said, the percentage of consumers in California who expect to wait more than five years is actually higher than the national average 20 for the second wave in a row 20 despite the fact that Californians are more aware of, and more favorable toward, many of the technologies.

Demonstration programs may be reinforcing the idea that these new technologies are in the "test" phase and will not be available in vehicles that meet the average consumer's needs anytime soon.