Auto Trends

Yes, we all know that most consumers do care about the green in their wallet. But do they care enough about the green in the trees, to lose some of that there green in their pocket towards their next car? BrandIntel, the consumer website who searches the Internet forums and discussion boards for relevance of how consumers are feeling towards certain products and ideas, recently pulled together a study on green vehicles and how they were being received by their consumers.

The background of this study followed several truthful facts that have become a focus for many consumers over the past few years:

1. Since fuel prices have been on the rise, consumers are naturally looking for more economical vehicles. This means specifically that hybrid and diesel vehicles are becoming more and more common in the market.
2. The government standards of “green” cars has been steadily increasing, marking 2020 as the year where all consumer vehicles must meet a 35 mpg standard at the very least.

So what do the consumers have to say about all this???

1. Well, number one, they certainly do “care about green issues.”
2. Consumers also have a very positive view on hybrid vehicles and their future effects on the environment.
3. Of all the discussions going on over the Internet, 29% of them are focused on Hybrid vehicles and fuel economy, while only 7% are being focused on clean diesel technology and 6% on “plug in” hybrid vehicles.
4. Hybrid technology maybe most discussed, but diesel technology is clearly more trusted. Consumers definitely think that diesel technology is a proven technology and therefore more reliable and less complicated.

**But before you pat yourself all on the back for being a nation of mean green environmentalists… there is one small catch to all these green flowers and love.

There seems to be a definite need for the green issues to have the ability to save the consumers money before they actually buy into the idea. In other words, if the “green” saves us “green”, then we’re all for it. If we would have to pay extra green to save the “green”… forget it.

As BrandIntel appropriately puts it, “So maybe we’re all rainforest destroying mercenaries…”

In part 2, we’ll look at the list of manufacturers that consumers trust most for their “green” credibility. Who is it going to be… Ford, Chrysler, BMW?

Stay tuned to find out!