Survey Finds Online Car Shoppers Overwhelmingly Poised to Buy Hybrid Vehicles
IRVINE, Calif.--March 21, 2002--It's Not Price or Tax Rebates -- But Comparable Makes and Models That
Will Motivate Them to Buy; Autobytel's New "Green Guide" to Help
Overcome Lack of Hybrid Information
According to a recent Autobytel survey(a), 90% of online auto shoppers surveyed might consider buying a hybrid vehicle if it was offered in the exact same model as the car or truck they currently drive, or next plan to buy. The survey further reveals that among the nine out of ten consumers that are potential hybrid adopters, 67% of women and 55% of men would either "definitely buy" or "strongly consider" a hybrid if a comparable model was available. Another key finding is that a significant percentage of consumers simply lack sufficient information about hybrids. Autobytel announced that it is addressing this information gap with today's launch of a Green Guide on its three consumer car-buying websites (Autobytel.com, Autoweb.com, Carsmart.com).
As the Senate energy debates rage on, Autobytel's study can provide critical insight into what it would take to make consumers "go hybrid." Online automotive shoppers, like those polled in this Autobytel site survey, represent 62% of all new car buyers -- and have proven to be serious, ready-to-buy consumers.(b)
The Senate is currently re-focusing its debates away from higher fuel-efficiency standards, toward offering consumers large rebates to purchase hybrid or alternative-fuel vehicles. However, only a very small minority of Autobytel respondents -- 9% of women and 13% of men -- indicate that a tax credit (of $1,500 or more) would most influence them to buy a hybrid. Instead, availability of comparable hybrids to current vehicle models overwhelmingly topped online automotive shoppers' lists -- with 83% of respondents citing a form of vehicle parity as the biggest incentive to future hybrid buying. Specifically, 36% of women and 46% of men cite "confidence the vehicle will perform comparably to an all-gasoline vehicle" as the most important factor. And similarly, 49% of women and 35% of men say that being able to get the model, styling, size and features they want in a hybrid version would be the most powerful incentive.
Respondents to the survey clearly indicate that additional cost is not necessarily a barrier to purchasing a hybrid vehicle. In fact, when consumers were asked what they would be most willing to give up for the better fuel economy of a hybrid, 45% of consumers indicated they would be willing to pay $1,000 to $2,000 -- or more -- for the hybrid version. Women are even more willing to pay for environmentally-friendly hybrids: 43% of women indicate they would pay up to $2,000 more, as opposed to 34% of men. Only 10% overall, on the other hand, indicate that they are most willing to accept a differently styled or sized vehicle, and only 16% are most willing to compromise some performance features, such as horsepower and acceleration.
Another key finding of the survey is that most online car shoppers are simply uninformed about hybrids, with 44% of women indicating that they were "not very informed," or having heard the term "hybrid" for the first time when taking the survey, with 31% of men in that same category. In fact, only 9% of women and 18% of men define themselves as "very informed." The lack of information is so inhibiting to hybrid adoption that, for women shoppers, simply not knowing enough about hybrids is the #1 reason cited for not purchasing one.
Autobytel's comprehensive "Green Guide," available at its leading consumer research and purchasing sites Autobytel.com, Autoweb.com, and Carsmart.com, aims to help provide consumers with a wealth of information on hybrids and other environmentally-friendly vehicles. The "Green Guide" features an in-depth buying guide for current and future hybrid models, a glossary of terms, informative hybrid technology articles, fuel economy guides, useful links, and more -- everything a consumer needs to make it "easy to be green."
"Our survey reveals that three out of four consumers -- both men and women equally -- prefer an independent all-makes website as their chosen source of information about hybrids -- dramatically more than any other media -- more than any other source," said Autobytel CEO Jeffrey Schwarz. "We have a mandate to provide this information to online automotive shoppers at each Autobytel Inc. site."
About Autobytel Inc.
Autobytel Inc. , the world's largest Internet automotive marketing services company, helps retailers sell cars and manufacturers build brands through marketing and CRM (customer relationship management) programs. Autobytel Inc. owns and operates the popular websites Autobytel.com, Autoweb.com, Carsmart.com and Autosite.com, as well as AIC (Automotive Information Center), a leading provider of automotive marketing data and technology. Autobytel Inc. generated an estimated four percent of all domestic new vehicle sales -- $17 billion in car sales in 2001 -- for dealers through its websites. With approximately 8,800 dealer relationships and 30 international automotive manufacturer customers, Autobytel Inc. is the largest syndicated car-buying content network, reaching millions of unique visitors as they are making their vehicle buying decisions. Autobytel Inc. content and technology has potential exposure to over 90 percent of total web traffic.(c)
(a) Autobytel's survey was conducted at the Autobytel.com site from 3/14/02--3/19/02.
(b) J.D. Power & Associates 2001 New Autoshopper.com Study
(c) Jupiter Media Metrix October 2001 Digital Media Audience Report (Autobytel Inc. sites is the unduplicated audience of the Autobytel and Autoweb properties and Carsmart.com. The car-buying and ownership category as defined by Autobytel. Autobytel Inc. provides content to Yahoo! Inc., AOL websites, MSN.com and Lycos.com. The unduplicated audience of these four sites accounts for over 90 percent of total traffic.)
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