AutoPacific Reports: American New Car Buyers Crave Larger Vehicles
29 October 1997
AutoPacific Reports: American New Car Buyers Crave Larger Vehicles
SANTA ANA, Calif., Oct. 29 -- AutoPacific, Inc. today
released selected results of its 1997 Future Attribute Demand and Segmentation
Study(SM) which comprehensively analyzes the future product demands of car and
light truck buyers. Based on a survey of 25,900 new vehicle buyers, about 42%
want a larger passenger area, 38% want more cargo space, and 29% want a larger
exterior. Less than 10% want a smaller passenger area, cargo space or
exterior size. These findings puncture the contention that smaller, more
efficient vehicles are the wave of the future.
These findings are among the results which provide input on the future
demand for 104 product attributes included in AutoPacific's survey.
George Peterson, President of AutoPacific, Inc. says, "With gasoline at
historically low prices in the United States, there is no penalty for size.
American buyers are demanding vehicles which are more spacious and can carry
more cargo. They want more passenger area and more cargo space. They also
want an efficiently sized package. The message for the car designers and
manufacturers is to provide outstanding spaciousness in every new vehicle they
sell in the American market."
Peterson notes that, "The idea of a global car where a single vehicle can
be sold in the United States, Europe and Japan with no market-specific product
changes is not viable. Cheap gas in the United States makes the product
decisions made by American customers dramatically different from those in
Japan and Europe. Here, bigger is still better. Efficiency means the most
space for the exterior size of the vehicle."
AutoPacific's research quantifies customer demand for a larger passenger
area, a passenger area the same size, or a smaller passenger area than they
presently have for each age category and product segment. These data are also
collected for cargo space and exterior size.
The selected results showing consumer demand for their future vehicles are
shown below:
Passenger Area Cargo Space Exterior Size
Larger Smaller Larger Smaller Larger Smaller
* Total
Industry 42% 6% 38% 6% 29% 9%
Age Category
* Under 30 years
of age 56% 5% 50% 6% 41% 7%
* 30s 50 6 44 8 36 10
* 40s 40 8 36 8 29 11
* 50s 36 6 33 6 24 9
* 60s 30 3 32 3 17 4
* 70 and
over 26 2 24 2 16 4
Gender
* Males 42% 6% 38% 7% 30% 9%
* Females 42 5 38 5 28 8
Product Segment
* Total Cars 43% 4% 42% 3% 33% 5%
* Luxury Cars 27 6 33 4 19 10
* Large Cars 23 2 23 2 13 5
* Middle High Cars 31 5 34 3 23 7
* Middle Low Cars 41 4 39 3 31 6
* Small Cars 57 4 51 2 48 3
* Sports Cars 52 1 63 1 41 3
* Sporty Cars 55 4 55 2 41 2
* Total Trucks 40% 7% 34% 10% 24% 12%
* Full Size Pickups 41 4 25 10 21 12
* Compact Pickups 60 2 39 9 37 6
* Full Size SUVs 18 14 19 14 9 19
* Mid-Size SUVs 39 7 38 9 23 11
* Small SUVs 60 3 69 2 53 4
* Full Size Vans 34 13 31 15 34 19
* Minivans 24 18 33 13 17 20
AutoPacific, Inc. is an automotive marketing research and product
consulting firm headquartered in Santa Ana, CA. The Future Attribute Demand
and Segmentation Study(SM) is part of AutoPacific's annual Research Suite(SM)
of syndicated automotive research projects. For more information contact
George Peterson, President; Eric Noble, Marketing Executive or Vicki Mills,
Project Manager at (714) 838-4234.
SOURCE AutoPacific, Inc.