A recently-released Kelley Blue Book survey says that nine out of ten car-shopping Americans have at least one hunk of Detroit iron on their wish list. Even more tellingly, one third of shoppers polled would only buy a car built by Ford, Chevy or Chrysler. That’s a considerable preference for America as a nation-state of ostensible origin compared to Japan (12 percent) or Germany (five percent). “Seeing the domestic automakers’ recent struggle has ignited a heightened sense of patriotism among some American car shoppers, and the latest Kelley Blue Book Marketing Research indicates that people are pulling for the Big Three to survive and thrive,” said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book. Which is one way to look at it…
Or, it could suggests that many of the people who buy American cars do so because they simply won’t consider any other. After all, if KBB’s data is correct a full third won’t even think about shopping a non-Detroit brand. The flip side of this coin is the low levels of online research for American vehicles. Why spend hours researching online if you know you’re buying domestic before you start looking (as a third of Americans apparently do)? In short, there isn’t a “perception gap” for American cars, per se. Detroit makes enough decent cars that nearly everyone would consider buying at least one. But sales seem to come primarily from a demographic that don’t cross-shop the “foreign competition.
I don’t think anyone disputes that the domestics (yes, even Chrysler) sell at least one competitive vehicle, it’s just that a) so do the imports, b) no one is selling anything in this market, regardless of badge and c) people still feel like they’re playing roulette, especially if any of the domestics fail.
That’s the same percentage of people who watch Jerry Springer. Hmmm…
I’d surely have a few on my list, if I was shopping right now…especially a variant of the Ford D platform.
I too as a Foreigner should maybe not comment on this thread, but I too at one time had a lot of faith in buying Domestic vehicles, in fact I belonged to a buying group that promoted North American vehicles over all others way back in the 60’s and 70’s and even in the late 80’s I still purchased a GMC Truck, it was only later than I could see the error of my ways due to a lot of problems with that Truck, always in the Garage for service and I could see the rise of Asian vehicles, mainly Japanese that seemed a lot better from better interiors to better mileage too.
Domestic makers could have done better in the 70’s 80’s and even now, but somehow they didnt bother and the consumer suffered! and now there sales have fallen off the Clift!
Its hard to see buying domestic when you hear of Tie rods ends lasting less than two years then we had the Gasket problems that dragged on for both Ford and GM on there V6 engines.
From body panels that came out of the Factory not meeshing, where was the quality control?
No wonder all of us Consumers decided enough was enough.
You know the Big 3 will extrapolate this announcement to wonderous, fanciful PR and adverts. Go on, get some!
I think there are one or two cars I would be interested in from the Big 3, like psarhjinian noted. However other makers have cars I am interested. Is there a car company out there that doesn’t have at least one car you are interested in? Likely not. The question should have been “Is there a car company that you are not interested in purchasing even one model from? This comment from the guys at KBB changes nothing.
The survey does seem to show that import buyers (over 50% of the market) are not just blinkered “Japan rules/Detroit sucks” mono-focused dweebs.
They are actually more likely to consider all the products available. Apparently it is the product, not the perception.
Put another way, of the 50% of buyers that are open to considering from various segments of the market Detroit is only getting the attention of one in four.
Considering they have a store on every corner that is not good.
Bunter
“The flip side of this coin is the low levels of online research for American vehicles.”
This is very evident in the Edmunds forums. Compare the volume of posts for cars like Accord, Camry, Altima, to the volume for Domestics and its like night and day. Their cars are still not connecting with consumers.
I’ve spent all my working life in that business and have seen countless studies, Whatever you want to prove, you’ll find a study for it. Or, as a grizzled VW exec fancied to say: “I only believe a study I have forged myself.”
On-line research? I doubt someone who always bought a F-150 and always will will do a lot of on-line research. A brand loyalist won’t do any on-line research. He’ll buy again. Those who do on-line research are the swing-voters of the trade.
If I’d be a Detroit manufacturer, I’d find it distressing that only a third want to buy nothing else than American. But the thing is: The respondents lie to you. They just tell you what they think you want to hear. What counts is what they do and what they buy. Foreign market share is a tad higher than 50%. That’s the only number that counts. The other numbers are for the dogs.
There’s nothing new revealed in this study. It’s pretty predictable that about one third would only buy D2.8. The more significant number is what percent of the buying public won’t consider a domestic brand. Last time I heard, that was close to 50%.
Bunter1 :
January 9th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
The survey does seem to show that import buyers (over 50% of the market) are not just blinkered “Japan rules/Detroit sucks” mono-focused dweebs
Bunter I disagree.
I know several people that buy Toyota and nothing else. Also the same for a friend that has nothing but Accords they drive for 8 years and trade for another Accord. both husband and wife.
They certainly think have good reasons but car brand bias is certainly not limited to domestic buyers.
It’s even worse than that. I’d certainly say that Detroit makes some good cars. I’d even consider looking at a CTS the next time I’m car shopping. So, those would be my answers to the survey.
However, I’m unlikely to actually buy a CTS, even if its documented quality is just as good as a Lexus or BMW (and I would hope it’s better than Mercedes!).
Consider and give equal consideration are different. I’ve been wanting to buy an American car ever since the 1986 Taurus which I thought was a significant turning point in American car design. However, something always makes me stop from pulling the trigger and decide to wait a few years. A few years later, I’m always glad that I didn’t buy the model that I’d considered. I’m still in the mode of waiting “just a few more years” before I buy American.
Why is everyone so surprised that a lot of Americans like American cars? And, truth be told, most of us haven’t experienced any of the horror stories that are used to prop up the viewpoints of those who don’t like American cars. My 1985 Mustang GT was inexpensive to buy, well-enough-made, faster than anything imported for twice the price and an absolute hoot to drive. My two Ford Rangers (bought new) gave me exactly what I expected from them. Even the used Detroit iron I’ve bought over the years have been good cars.
Looking at the market today, I see a sea of import-brand sameness whether it’s Japanese/Korean appliance-mobiles or German snob-mobiles. They are probably great cars, but none of the ones I could reasonably afford do anything for me.
I do have to say, however, that in the short-term I have benefitted mightily from Detroit’s negative reputation. There are some incredible one to two year-old deals out there on decent cars that have depreciated far below their equivalent import brand counterparts. Ever price a used Lexus? Why bother. For the price of a used four-year-old ES you can get a very nice one or two-year-old Cadillac STS. And that’s just one example.
“Furthermore, vehicles from the United States are on the vast majority of shoppers’ consideration lists, with more than 90 percent saying they would consider buying a vehicle from a domestic manufacturer, compared to 74 percent for Japanese vehicles, 57 percent for German vehicles and 38 percent for Korean vehicles.”
I don’t take the survey all that seriously either. Apparently there were lots of non-auto “would/do you buy American” questions.
“More than half (51 percent) of the survey respondents say they try to buy American-made products if they are readily available and price-competitive, and 14 percent say they will go out of their way to buy American. Six percent say they will only buy American-made products, and they will do without if an American-made product is not available… The penchant for buying American-made products also has made its mark in the automotive marketplace, even amidst the recent turmoil of the domestic manufacturers.”
In other words, surveys probably went something like this:
KBB: Do you prefer to buy American products?
Respondent: Of course. I love my country.
KBB: What about cars?
Respondent: Uh, I guess.
As Bertel says, only the sales count.
while my grandparents have only ever bought American cars, and would never even consider a foreign brand,they are a dying breed. I would consider one, it just happens i’ve never actually bought a foreign brand vehicle.
Of course you can make the numbers say whatever you want. Do they include trucks? If so, there are a lot of people who would ONLY buy an American truck even with a Camry and Miata parked in the driveway.
As far as the “consider” part – who wouldn’t at least consider buying a ‘Vette?! There’s your 90% right there!
Also, patriotism is stupid reason to buy a car. This is what Detroit has counted on for decades – people who will buy their product not on it’s merits but out of some other misplaced sense of obligation. Good plan.
America makes a lot more than one good car! How many import humper articles that over analyse how many people look up Hondas and Toyotas vs big 3 cars do we need to endure. I would take a big 3 truck like the Silverado, Ram or F150 over a prentend truck like Ridgeline or tailgate snapping Turdra or frame rotting Tacoma any day of the week. I would take a Malibu over a Camry. I would take a Fusion V6 over any Accord 4 cylinder. I would take a Chrysler 300C over a bland Avalon. I would take a Corvette or Camaro or Mustang over a…. wait a minute Toyota and Honda don’t even make anything thats rear drive and compares to these muscle machines.
Blobinski- I’d say that every car maker does have a desirable car but not all have desirable dealers where I live.
Some are too far away for me like HUMMER, Lexus, Infiniti, Mini, Land Rover, Mazda (hour or more drive)
Some have reps for being shady- Ford, Chevy, Toyota, Nissan. In a pinch I could drive a bit and find better dealers but I would like to buy as close as possible. Makes service easier.
Honda, BPG, Saturn, Subaru and Chrysler are OK
I actually think “foreign” market share being 50% is OK. We’re coming to a point where quite a few brands are on equal sales for each model, with no big outliers. Look at the compact SUV market, any of those is a decent seller.
Lokki- I think “just do it” is the proper slogan for you. Why not buy an American car?
ponchoman49- would you take a Cobalt or Focus or Caliber over the 3, Impreza or Civic? Aveo over Fit or Versa?
The small cars are where the biggest gaps are.
The Ridgeline is a great car if you’re not all into the macho posturing. It will still hold a decent amount of stuff, tow a small trailer (popup) and it has a comfortable ride and is roomy.
Complicating this is the fact that many people do not know where the hell things come from:
http://www.andersonanalytics.com/reports/BrandAndCountries.pdf
I am waiting for Mr. Ressler to accuse those only considering domestic cars to be ‘prejudiced/racist’. And I would agree. If it wasn’t for those people the domestics would be dead already.
The more significant number is what percent of the buying public won’t consider a domestic brand. Last time I heard, that was close to 50%.
Since the domestics have just under 50% of the market that would mean that almost 100% of import brand buyers would never consider a domestic brand. That doesn’t make any sense because we know that 1/3 of buyers will buy only domestic, so about 15% of the market will consider a foreign brand but ends up buying domestic. Likewise, there have to be those who consider a domestic brand and end up buying an import.
Juniper-Sorry buddy, I didn’t say there were NO people like that. But these are just annecdotal examples. They have zero statistical value.
The survey we are discussing here indicates that the majority (90%) of buyers (read down through the survey link to Kelley blue book) will at least consider a domestic. 90%. The means the vast majority of import buyers would.
This survey clearly indicates that it is largely domestic buyers who do not consider other options (33% of all buyers are domestic only, domestics have less than 50% of the market). That’s OK.
The indication in this survey is clear, most import buyers will consider a domestic, yet inspite of far higher incentives and near complete control of some large segments of the market (PUs, big SUVs) they only land about 25% of those that consider both.
It’s not perception.
It’s not prejudice.
It’s product.
Regards,
Bunter
You can bet that a good chunk of that 1/3rd are driven by patriotism. Patriotism does not mean the car itself is whats desired. Maybe they are buying what many domestic commercials are advertising, freedom and good ol USA. Even though many foreign cars are made in the states.
Ponchoman: “America makes a lot more than one good car! How many import humper articles that over analyse how many people look up Hondas and Toyotas vs big 3 cars do we need to endure. I would take a big 3 truck like the Silverado, Ram or F150 over a prentend truck like Ridgeline or tailgate snapping Turdra or frame rotting Tacoma any day of the week. I would take a Malibu over a Camry. I would take a Fusion V6 over any Accord 4 cylinder. I would take a Chrysler 300C over a bland Avalon. I would take a Corvette or Camaro or Mustang over a…. wait a minute Toyota and Honda don’t even make anything thats rear drive and compares to these muscle machines.”
I agree. Americans can make awesome cars. The Subaru Legacy 3.0R is an excellent car made in Indiana.
One would only hope that the D2.8 would build at least one competitive car in its class. What bothers me is that there is 10% of the population that believes the domestics are completely worthless. That is the most important part of this survey to me.
TEW-what is amazing is that more don’t.
I like my Acura TL (last year’s , not this years model) it’s a fine American made car.
Perhaps we should all be honest here:
It’s not US vs Imports, rather Union v Non-Union.
Mike, you nailed it on the head. “Buy American” really means “Buy UAW”
I am proud of North American workers, because they build the best damn cars at any price. Hyundai Alabama, Nissan Tennessee, Toyota Kentucky and Honda Ontario RULE!
I would never buy a Chinese Chevrolet or Mexican Ford just to save a buck.
I will never ever consider an import. Only buy American. OK. Call me names. Throw stuff at me. It’s OK. Will never buy import. Stay true to my country and still no compromise in product. Toyota, Nissan Honda etc offer a fine product. Just not going to invest in their economies. Sorry.
Bridge2far: “I will never ever consider an import. Only buy American. OK. Call me names. Throw stuff at me. It’s OK. Will never buy import. Stay true to my country and still no compromise in product. Toyota, Nissan Honda etc offer a fine product. Just not going to invest in their economies. Sorry.”
At this point, Subaru, Toyota, Nissan and Honda are doing more for the American economy than the big 3/UAW are. The evil imports are not sucking away citizen’s hard earned tax dollars to delay their inevitable downfall like certain American Companies are. The imports have not allowed themselves to be bleed to death by a greedy union thus risking chapter 11 which has contributed to the current instability of the economy.
Buying a big 3 car pays two people. Overpaid and greedy union reps and stupid executives who could not plan themselves out of a paper bag. I fail to see how that supports America. If you want to support the American economy, buy a car made in America by a sane and fiscally responsible company. Subaru for example.
Frizzlefry the Toyota Corolla Matrix and Tacoma are made by UAW workers. Everyone should just buy what they want and not worry about the other guy. Who gives a rats ass on what the other guy is buying?