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High Gas Prices Spark Need for Fuel Efficiency
Fifty-nine
percent of U.S. in-market vehicle shoppers say that
gas prices have either changed their minds or strongly
influenced purchase decisions, according to the August
2005 AutoVIBES, a monthly automotive study from Harris
Interactive and Kelley Blue Book Marketing Research
tracking consumer automotive buying intentions. This
is an increase of 13 percentage points since last month
and an all-time high since AutoVIBES began tracking
the effect of gas prices on vehicle choice in April
2004.
In addition, 42 percent of vehicle shoppers indicate
that they would seriously consider a more fuel-efficient
vehicle if gas prices were to increase an additional
$0.25 above the current national average (which was
$2.61 per gallon on August 26, 2005). This is an increase
of 12 percentage points since last month and an all-time
high since tracking began in April 2004.
"With prices for gas now skyrocketing above the
psychological threshold of $3 per gallon in many areas,
consumers are more interested in fuel-efficient cars
than at any time in the last two decades," said
Jack R. Nerad, editorial director and executive market
analyst for Kelley Blue Book. "Pump prices are
not only pinching the pockets of today's SUV owners,
but future owners as well, as we are seeing three and
five year residual values on new SUVs begin to fall."
AutoVIBES is a monthly omnibus survey of approximately
2,000 U.S. adults ages 18 and over who plan to purchase
or lease a new vehicle within the next 12 months. This
survey was conducted August 26 - 29 on Kelley Blue Book's
Web site (www.kbb.com), the most visited Web site among
in-market vehicle buyers. The study was designed and
analyzed jointly by Harris Interactive and Kelley Blue
Book Marketing Research.
The data was weighted by demographics and propensity
to reflect the general adult population of the United States in in-market
vehicle buyers. Though this online sample is not a probability
sample, in theory, with probability samples of this
size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the
results have a sampling error of plus or minus three
percentage points of what they would be if the entire
U.S. adult population who plan to purchase or lease
a new vehicle within the next 12 months had been polled
with complete accuracy.
For more information, visit Kelley Blue Book.
(Source: kbb.com) |
