Report: New Car Buyers Prefer Buying American Made when Comparing Import to Domestic

According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Escaped Shopper Study(SM), new car buyers consider country of origin a major factor when deciding on make and model. Most new vehicle buyers only consider foreign or domestic and do not cross-shop between the categories. The good news is that of those who do consider both types, the study showed the buyers ultimately chose American-made vehicles.

Reasons giving for choosing domestic over import models were most often financial. Foreign models didn't offer as aggressive rebates or incentives as their domestic counterparts. Many domestic car buyers simply decided they did not want to buy an import because of personal preference.

The import buyers who shopped domestic models usually rejected the vehicles due to perception of the vehicles resale value, reliability, and gas mileage. With nearly 49% of the U.S. auto market being comprised of import vehicles, buying vehicles based on their country of origin is a troublesome trend for American automakers. Almost 80% of people surveyed said they only shopped for vehicles of one type or another. That the people who did cross-shop chose imports based on perceived deficiencies in American made models shows the effect of bias on car buyers.

Kara Steslicki, research manager of the automotice retail practice at J.D. Power and Associates, says the findings show continued difficulties for the Big Three American automaker - Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors - in winning back some of their market share.

"It also suggests that too few U.S. consumers have caught on to the fact that cars and trucks offered by Detroit automakers are in many cases as good, if not better, than their rivals from Asia and Europe." says Steslicki. "Reliability and resale value perceptions are difficult to change overnight, especially considering that people are already rejecting domestic vehicles because of this. To win back market share, domestics are faced with two alternatives: either continue outspending imports on incentives, or find vehicle specific opportunities, such as styling or promoting a positive dealer experience, that can have an immediate impact on consumer perceptions of the brand."

The Escaped Shopper Study study is performed annually to give a complete look at how car buyers choose one model and make over another. Other factors, such as frequency of negotiating (only 25% of shoppers tried to negotiate) and how the type of research the consumer conducted - test drives, internet shopping, and magazine reviews - affected their final decision. That the study is being released the same day that the short lived GM worker strike is ending could be a sign of renewed emphasis on the Big Three's relationship with American consumers.

SOURCE :

J.D. Power and Associates, J.D. Power and Associates Reports: The Desire to 'Buy American' Drives Many New-Vehicle Shoppers to Purchase Domestic Rather Than Import Nameplates, PR Newswire