1996 National Study Supplement
Management White Paper

Preference for Vehicle Make

April, 1996

Contents

• Introduction
• Methodology
• Preference for Vehicle Make
• Future Purchase Intention
• Make Loyalty
• Term of Ownership and Timing of Future Purchase

Introduction  Top

This 1996 Management White Paper is being provided by The Dohring Company as a supplement to our 1996 National Automotive Consumer Study.

The national study, provided as a service to the automotive industry, focused on the most topical issues of the day including:

• Consumer attitudes and perceptions of franchised car dealerships
• One-price selling versus negotiating the purchase
• Purchasing new vehicles versus late model used vehicles
• Used car superstores

This white paper is intended to provide in-depth answers to help you better understand the consumer perspective on specific issues.

The national study has not been funded by any outside source and is strictly provided as a service. The design intention was to address several primary areas of importance to our automotive, OEM supplier and dealer client base.

The Dohring Company is North America's largest provider of custom market research to the retail automotive community. We have conducted more that 3,000 automotive market research studies for dealers, dealer associations, advertising agencies, manufacturers and suppliers in North America and internationally. The company, based in Glendale, California, employs over 100 full time staff and has conducted over 300,000 interviews with vehicle buyers in 1995 alone, and over one million in the past ten years.

Additionally, we are proud to have been designated Marketing Research Supplier to the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

The Dohring Company is a full-service provider of marketing research and the developer of TrendTrak®, our exclusive on-site survey polling device. For additional information, please contact us at 1-800-242-8022.

Methodology  Top

A total of 1,253 respondents were surveyed from across the 50 United States in proportion to their household populations. All respondents were surveyed by telephone during December 1995, and were qualified as intending to purchase a new or used vehicle in the future from a new car dealership. The study has a standard error of ± 2.8%.

Preference for Vehicle Make  Top

Respondents were asked which one make they would most seriously consider for their next vehicle purchase. The following table provides the top responses:

Future purchase intention:

Future Purchase Intention  Top

Grouping these into categories and comparing the results against prior surveys:

Over the past three years, domestic vehicles have been increasingly favored over imported vehicles, taking share away primarily from the Japanese namplates. Highline makes are losing some ground to the now-car lines, such as sport utility vehicles.

Breaking out future purchase intentions for the top makes in each of the four principal vehicle categories:

Make Loyalty  Top

When asked which make of vehicle they currently drive and then later asked which one make of vehicle they would most seriously consider for their next vehicle purchase, over four in ten respondents (41.4%) indicated that they would most seriously consider the same make of vehicle again. Almost a fourth of the respondents (22.7%) were undecided regarding the make of their next vehicle and over a third (35.9%) indicated that they intended to purchase a vehicle of a different make next time. The likelihood of purchasing the same make of vehicle next time increased dramatically with age. Make loyalty was lowest among females 18 to 24 years old, where less than a fourth (23.5%) intended to purchase the same make next. Make loyalty tended to increase among increasingly older age categories for both genders and was highest among women 65 years and over, where six in ten (59.7%) intend to purchase the same make of vehicle next time.

Loyalty to vehicle make: (repeat purchase intention)

Make loyalty was highest among owners of domestic vehicles; 42.3% of domestic vehicle owners indicated that they would most seriously consider purchasing the same make next time. A little over a third of the Japanese nameplate owners (35.2%) indicated that they would most seriously consider purchasing the same make next time and less than a third of the European nameplate owners (32.5%) indicated that they would most seriously consider purchasing the same make next time.

For those who would most seriously consider a different make of vehicle for their next purchase, the top affirmative responses as to "Why?" were: "better quality" (29.3%), "better styling and looks" (22.4%), "better performance and handling" (12.4%), "more reliable" (12.2%) and "more spacious" (10.9%).

For more detailed information regarding make loyalty, see the Management White Paper entitled: "Loyalty to the Dealership and Loyalty to the Make."

Term of Ownership and Timing of Future Purchase  Top

Those respondents who drive European nameplates intend to drive their current vehicles, on average, a total of 4.7 years and intend, on average, to purchase their next vehicle in 1.9 years. Those respondents who drive Domestic nameplates intend to drive their current vehicles, on average, a total of 5.4 years and intend, on average, to purchase their next vehicle in 2.7 years. And, those respondents who drive Japanese nameplates intend to drive their current vehicles, on average, a total of 6.0 years and intend, on average, to purchase their next vehicle in 2.9 years.

For more detailed information regarding when buyers intend to be in the market to purchase a vehicle, see the Management White Paper entitled: "Next Time in the Market."