7:40 am, August 6, 2008
GREEN car growth is continuing – with Auto Trader being the latest to report motorists’ changing priorities.
Nearly one in five motorists is considering a hybrid for their next car, and a quarter are thinking about biofuel models.
That’s eight million UK motorists, which confirms the impact the green revolution is having. It’s the word on everyone’s lips at the moment, and really is beginning to affect buying decisions.
Whether this is for environmental reasons, or just to save money, we’re not sure. But it’s nevertheless a rapidly growing trend.
Performance and safety still top the list of most important considerations. Fuel economy is next up – but even so, nearly half of all motorists are interested in CO2 emissions, and over a quarter want to know if environmentally-friendly materials were used during production.
17 per cent even want to know if it was made in an environmentally-friendly factory.
One in five would be prepared to pay more for alternative fuel models, with 40 per cent happy to spend the same amount. In contrast, one in five would not buy a hybrid, with 17 per cent ruling out biofuels, no matter what the price.
Tom White, head of financial services at Auto Trader, comments: ‘It is no surprise that our survey shows that a quarter of motorists, equivalent around 8 million UK drivers, are seriously considering alternatively fuelled vehicles as their next car.’
‘However, it is still clear that more educational work needs to be done to inform motorists that alternatively fuelled cars mean no compromise on cost, performance and reliability. The UK motoring public is generally in agreement that rising oil prices make alternative fuelled vehicles a very attractive prospect.’
Auto Trader also looked into what people reckon are the greenest manufacturers. The results are interesting:
Toyota: 49 per cent
Honda: 37 per cent
Volkswagen: 25 per cent
BMW: 22 per cent
Lexus: 21 per cent
