http://www.reuters.com/article/press...008+BW20080109

[quote]``Mean' and ``Green' Collide in Detroit: New MyRide.com Polls Gauge Car Buyers'...
Wed Jan 9, 2008 8:02am EST

``Mean' and ``Green' Collide in Detroit: New MyRide.com Polls Gauge Car Buyers' Desires for Super-Power vs. Alternative-Power

According to MyRide.com Consumer Polls:

-- Miles-Per-Gallon and Eco-Friendliness Trump Power and
Performance

-- 51% of Consumers Say Their Perception of GM is More Positive
Than a Year Ago

-- Consumers Most Impatient for All-Electric Vehicles, Diesels
and New Hybrids
IRVINE, Calif.--(Business Wire)--With plug-ins, fuel cell vehicles and hybrids sharing the floor
alongside hugely powerful muscle cars and ultra-sized SUVs, the theme
of next week's North American International Auto Show in Detroit could
be described as "mean vs. green." And, with GM pitching its
environmental leadership (Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 aside) and Toyota
taking heat for its mammoth trucks, including the bigger-than-ever
14-mpg Sequoia, a shift in traditional automaker perceptions may be
afoot.

To gauge how car buyers feel about these and other developments in
an industry, with one foot in the past and the other searching for a
foothold in the future, MyRide.com(a) conducted a series of online
consumer snap polls. The polls are currently posted alongside in-depth
Detroit Auto Show coverage
www.myride.com/events/index.html. Below are some highlights
from the recent polls.

Consumers mixed on muscle

Recent and most-anticipated debuts are the Chevy Camaro and Dodge
Challenger, but, according to the polls, consumers have mixed feelings
about these retro muscle cars, with only 28% describing their return
as positive, 32% describing it as negative, and 41% describing their
feelings as mixed. When pressed on which of the upcoming muscle cars
they'd be most likely to buy, it was a close race between the Camaro
(29%) and Nissan GT-R (25%).

Mileage trumps horsepower ... theoretically

When asked what will matter most during their next vehicle
purchase, only 10% cited power and performance, while 38% named gas
mileage and environmental friendliness. For most, however, it's a
compromise--with 52% saying they'll look for the best available
combination they can find between power and efficiency. And although
people say they place a high priority on being green, most (53%) said
they traded up in terms of horsepower in their most recent vehicle
purchase.

Full-size hybrid SUVs get a big response

Thanks to GM's new "two-mode" hybrid technology, full-size SUVs -
like the Chevy Tahoe and Silverado, Cadillac Escalade and Dodge
Durango- are about to come out in hybrid models that should deliver
mileage in the 20-25 miles-per-gallon range. Sixty-two percent of car
shoppers surveyed described their reaction to these vehicles as
positive. And 28% say their arrival will impact what they're
considering for their next vehicle purchase, either significantly or
somewhat ("if the price difference and fuel benefits make sense").
Only 8% said they plan to buy a full-size SUV truck but won't pay the
premium for hybrid benefits. The remaining 64% say they won't consider
a full-size SUV or truck - hybrid or otherwise.

The Toyota/GM PR Wars

MyRide.com asked a series of questions designed to determine
whether consumer perceptions of Toyota and GM shifted over the past
year.

Despite some recent press concerning Toyota's environmental stance
and lackluster reliability ratings, most survey-takers (41%) say their
perception of Toyota is about the same as it had been a year ago, and
the remainder was roughly split between having a more positive vs.
less positive perception. For those who say that Toyota's image has
slipp

 

notice, all of this "green" crap stems from commiefornia...people out there, at least the ones calling the shots, live in a bubble, and they obviously have no idea what goes on in the rest of the country.

 

Yeah, let government into your house telling you what you can light you house with, how you can raise your kids, etc. Freedom from choice ain't nothing I'm looking to attain.

 

when i was in elem. and middle school, we took a form home for our parents to sign that asked for the permission to spank us..! "corporal punishment approval form"...do those exist anywhere in the US now?

 

Me too on the form (70's to be precise in VA). Now you can't "deny a child his right to education" even if his present negatively impacts or contributes to the denial of others.....ridiculous. No one is accountable for anything and everyone's special. Bollocks!

I'm pondering invading (peacefully) some third world country with a group of like minded Americans who remember the concepts of PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY and PERSONAL FREEDOM, not all this namby pamby "we're victims BS" and "please government solve all of our problems because we're too dis-empowered tripe"[:@]. I was thinking Chile at first, but then came to the realization they had too much seismic activity...maybe Uraguay or Paraguay or Montanna! ;-) Hell, I'd consider Canada, but I like summer too much (don't mind the Winter).

Peaceful place.....chew the Prozac...chew the Prozac............

 

i laughed out loud at that post...

 

The "green" beans are also the ones who shoulder a large part of the blame for gasoline prices being so high. Because of the environmentalists, there hasn't been a new refinery built in the US in over 25 years. More demand, higher supply levels of crude, but the bottleneck occurs at the refinery level in this country. I believe the number of U S refineries has been stuck in the mid-twenties since the end of the 1970's. If you think the oil companies are making money now, imagine if they could have built more refineries during that twenty-five + year period where "we didn't want to offend anyone - or their cause". Their profits would be even higher than they currently are!
I don't see an end to this until someone stands up and says "enough political correctness!" No matter what you do or say, someone, somewhere is going to be offended. America's become "sissified".

 

I disagree with you all on this. The whole "free market, personal freedom, do whatever you want, buy a 1000 hp Challenger because you can afford it, environmentalists stopped refineries" theory doesn't hold water. Nor is the "let's be entirely politically correct, let's save the world, buy a fortwo so we have a great car for vacations (yeah right)" theory practical. In reality, it is much more about balancing practicality and leaving a better world for future generations. The problem is not government. The problem is people that are more concerned about their own lives than believing they have a voice in THEIR government. Meanwhile corporations have infiltrated the federal government and essentially locked us out of it. I work for a local government as a city planner and I can assure you as person with a working class, practical background (I didn't grow up a green bean) that government can work for the people it represents and at the same time be idealistic, progressive, and environmentally conscious without losing sight of reality. At the local level governments are often very efficient and progressive and balance the two sides very well. Oil refineries have not been built in the last years mostly due to nearby whiny residents that didn't want them in their backyard (just to clarify they have never been proposed in someone's backyard!) and more and more since the oil companies aren't willing to take a 20 year bet to find out if they will pay off (because corporations are heavily weighted towards immediate payoff). What I mean is there should be an environmental impact process to properly review new refineries. Similar processes are needed all the time for many other types of developments in many cities. The problem is these processes not only provide professional review of projects and recommend conditions that benefit us all when something does get approved, they also bring out all the Not In My Backyard people who are often very unrealistic. There seems to never be any equal or greater representation at these meetings by the people that would benefit from the use, refinery or whatever. No, these people are busy "working" as a daytrader or sitting at home playing XBox or whatever. If they actually came out to the meetings there would be many more of them, but they don't.

I am unlike most people, in that through my job I aim to give back to others. While most have a job to make as much money for themselves as possible, I am trying to actually directly improve the country (or at least a little part of it). As much credit as military, firefighters, and police get credit for, you'd think there would be more people in this country that would want to get involved in government (as their job) so that we could improve the professionalism of our government. We need more professionals in government. No, most just want to keep working in their private company job and whine about "the government". I for one, can't stand that. When I get on the road though is when I get totally selfish, the Challenger will be my release.

 

I would like to see how many of those they polled can afford the Nissan GT-R.

 

or how many of them have driven anything like it...or even been in anything like it.