Thursday, 27 September 2007
J.D. Power and Associates discovers that car buyers rarely cross shop imported and domestic vehicles
« And just like that, the General Motors strike ends as the UAW and automaker reach labor agreement | Main | Will BMW bring the Triumph brand back? Automotive News columnist speculates; enthusiasts daydream »If you look at new vehicle sales numbers of domestic versus imported vehicles in the United States today, you’ll find a nearly even 50/50 split. One could interpret this as a product of intense competition where buyers find themselves considering various brands, both foreign and domestic, before making their ultimate decisions.
But according to J.D. Power and Associates’ recent “Escaped Shopper Study,” almost 80 percent of new car buyers shop either only domestics or exclusively imports. Various reasons are cited for preferring one to the other, including price, incentives, perceived reliability, fuel economy and potential resale value.
The study surveyed 31,355 new vehicle buyers between May and July of 2007, and its results are striking. Let’s assume that the 80 percent of inflexible buyers is split evenly between imported and domestic vehicles. That means that for every automaker, 2 out of 5 shoppers will not even consider your brand, based on country of origin alone. Then again, 2 out of 5 will favor your brand due to its origin (or from where it doesn’t originate). But it makes you wonder, are automakers really competing with others across the industry, or are they all struggling among their respective factions?
Source: PRNewswire
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