Study: Hybrid car owners unlikely to buy another
Toyota Prius
/ Toyota(CBS) - Hybrid cars have gained praise, derision and driven technological advancement since their introduction. Sales have surged on the back of higher gas prices, inspiring many automakers to focus on turning out gas-electric vehicles.
But the one thing hybrid cars may not be able to inspire is loyalty. A recent study shows that nearly two-thirds of hybrid owners decide not to purchase another hybrid vehicle when it's time to trade in.
R.L. Polk, an automotive marketing research company, released a study this week showing that only 35-percent of hybrid owners purchased another gas-electric vehicle when trading in during 2011. Repurchase rates vary across hybrid models, with the highest percentage of hybrid loyalty going to the Toyota Prius. Removing that car from the model shows a repurchase rate under 25-percent.
"Having a hybrid in the product lineup can certainly give a brand a competitive ege when it comes to attracting new customers," says Brad Smith, director of Polk's Loyalty Management Practice. "The repurchase rates of hybrid vehicles are an indication that consumers are continuing to seek alternative solutions to high fuel prices."
Fuel prices and hybrid loyalty seem to go hand in hand. When gas prices were stable during the third quarter of 2011, only 31-percent of hybrid owners decided to repurchase. That number jumped to 40-percent in the fourth quarter when gas prices spiked.
Hybrid vehicles represent 2.4-percent of the new car market in the U.S., according to Polk, down from a high of 2.9-percent in 2008.
The study also revealed that hybrid loyalty was not significantly higher in "eco-friendly" markets like Los Angeles and Seattle than the rest of the country. The Polk study shows that the highest hybrid loyalty rates are in Florida, which had three of the top-five repurchase rates.
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He is systematically dismantling our economy.
Second that 40 mpg alternative may not be anywhere near as nice a car or have the performance of the Prius. When I have rented subcompacts that get that kind of advertised mileage, they pale by comparison.
Third, it is not only the gas to consider. My first Prius has over 175k miles, and it has yet to have a single repair. It has the original brakes, even, thanks to regenerative braking. The engine hours are probably comparable to a car with 120k miles, since the engine is off much of the time.
Fourth, you may not regain the diference in purchase price, unless you also consider the difference in price at disposal of the vehicles.
Fifth, I bought a second Prius, because I liked the first. I have never done that with any vehicle before. Considering the longevity of my first one, not many people would have a reason to buy a second one yet. What is the loyalty number for non hybrid models? What percentage buy a second ford focus, for example?
A hybrid had a particular use where it is ideal. If you drive a lot, especially in urban, stop-and-go settings, a hybrid will save you a lot of money over its life.
If you don't drive much, the payback for a hybrid is too long. If you drive a lot of highway miles, a conventional gas or diesel drivetrain is better suited.
Hybrids haven't been out much until recent years, so we're seeing early hybrid owners changing vehicles. What seems most likely is that people realized their driving habits weren't in line with a hybrid's best utilization, and headed in, what is for them, a more practical direction.
Whenever I go out to buy a new car it will absolutely be another hybrid and unless American cars increase mpg's to be competitive with Prius and Civic, I will either buy another Civic or I will buy a Prius. The Civic is most like the American car but if the Prius has a smoother ride I would probably buy it.
Many people still don't understand that U.S. oil production peaked in 1970, and the peak included unconventional oil sources that science-denying Republicans claim will make us "independent." World oil production has been flat since 2005, which means a likely global peak.
It makes no sense to only buy a fuel-efficient car during a spike and assume the price will somehow decline overall. Short attention spans seem to rule in America, though.
People who are the right fit for hybrid ownership do seem to keep them. People who aren't the right fit trade them in on something else.
Besides, hybrids are only good until you have to seek assistance from your local dealership. Beyond changing your tires and brakes, there is very little on a hybrid that a typical consumer could service on their own. Logistically speaking, hybrids are a cash cow for an industry that depends largely on repair / maintenance of a vehicle to make $$$.
Note: Most people dont realize that if a car is "parted out", it's worth 3-5 times what they paid for it new.
Then consider that many of the technologies that make up hybrids are rather new to the consumer market and that the vehicles dont have the best track record for reliability.This is why most Hybrids are traded in before the warranty expires.
IMO... it's better to wait for an all electric car. Even if it only has a range of 50-100 miles, who cares! My daily commute is 12-25 miles round trip and the average daily commute for most of us is under 50 miles.
All the Hybrid does is fill someone with "smug-ness" and a sense that they're some how magically helping the environment. The truth of the matter is that Hybrids use almost twice the resources to produce that an equivilent gas powered vehicle(rare earth materials), for a modest increase in gas milage.
Last time i checked.... Hybrid's are all over the place so there's no longer any reason to carry around a false sense of yuppy superiority while driving one.