The Detroit News - New-car buyers ranked fuel efficiency their top issue and are considering smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, according to survey by Consumer Reports released today.
The survey found 37 percent of buyers said their leading consideration when shopping for their next car will be fuel economy. Quality, at 17 percent, was a distant second, followed by safety (16 percent), value (14 percent) and performance (6 percent).
"These results make it clear that high fuel prices are continuing to impact driver behavior and influencing future purchase considerations," said Jeff Bartlett, Consumer Reports deputy auto editor. "While quality, safety and value are still important, this may be foreshadowing a market shift by folks seeking relief at the pump."
It's a dramatic turnaround from when gas was cheap.
In 2006, fuel efficiency was the fourth-most important factor for car buyers, steadily increasing since 2001, when it was the 22nd-most important.
Oil prices have been sharply higher for much of 2012. Early predictions were that gas prices could average nearly $5 a gallon this summer.
But in recent weeks, oil prices have fallen amid global economic uncertainty. U.S. gas prices average $3.71 a gallon, down more than 13 cents from a year ago, and down 4 cents from last week.
In the Consumer Reports survey, two-thirds of owners surveyed said they expected their next vehicle to get better fuel mileage than the one they're driving now.
The Obama administration plans to finalize new rules that will nearly double the fuel efficiency of the nation's cars and trucks to 54.5 mpg by 2025.
Wade Newton, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said fuel efficiency is key.
"This is important to us as automakers, too. Long-term, sustained, consumer support for fuel-efficient vehicles is essential to any automaker meeting these very aggressive fuel economy standards we've now got in place," Newton said.
After topping 24 miles per gallon for the first time ever earlier this year, fuel economy of all new vehicles sold in the United States in April slipped, said the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.
Average fuel economy (window-sticker values) of cars, light trucks, minivans and SUVs purchased in April was 23.9 mpg, down from 24.1 in March, but the same as in February. Despite the drop, fuel economy is up 3.8 mpg (or 19 percent) from October 2007.
The survey found car owners were open to different ways of saving at the pump, from downsizing to looking at hybrids, electric cars or diesel models.
Women disproportionately said they were motivated by environmental benefits (65 percent vs. 58 percent of men) and more concerned about dependence on foreign oil (63 percent vs. 49 percent of men).
