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21st December 2007

According to a new Harris Interactive AutoTECHCASTSM study of adults in the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain, more than one-third (35%) are very or extremely likely to include enhanced fuel economy technologies on their next vehicle. Nearly one-third of all vehicle segment owners expressed the same sentiment, with SUV/4x4 owners expressing the highest initial consideration at 44%. Despite this, once respondents were made aware of a £650/€950 price tag, consideration dropped 24 percentage points to 11%.

Stephen Lovett, Director of Automotive & Transportation Research at Harris Interactive says, “We defined ‘enhanced fuel economy’ as technologies that improve overall fuel consumption by controlling valve timing, reducing engine friction, improving transmission efficiency and reducing other mechanical losses. It is interesting to note that while this data shows us that consumers are very interested in these fuel-saving technologies, it also indicates that they’re generally not willing to pay for them.”

Almost 2 out of 10 respondents (19%) indicated they were very or extremely likely to include hybrid electric technology in their next vehicle. Consideration dropped twelve percentage points to seven percent once respective market price of £3,000/€4,000 was revealed. Seven out of ten prepared to consider hybrid electric vehicles (70%) were at least likely to consider a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.

Despite the numbers, majorities of the sample in each country were found only somewhat or not at all familiar with both enhanced fuel economy and hybrid electric vehicle technologies. Adults in the United Kingdom are the least familiar with enhance fuel economy (89%), followed by Germany (84%), France (81%), Italy (77%) and Spain (52%). When asked about hybrid electric vehicle technology, more adults in Germany (21%) are familiar with the technology, as opposed to those in Italy (15%), Spain (13%), the U.K. (12%) and France (7%).

Lovett concludes, “Consumers are less concerned with the technologies themselves than the benefit that they provide. In the end, what really matters is going farther on each litre of fuel, with a minimum upfront investment.”

This AutoTECHCAST survey was conducted online between August 8 and September by Harris Interactive among a total of 16,285 adults ages 18 and over who own or lease a vehicle, have a valid driver’s license, have at least once household vehicle, owns a listed manufacturer vehicle or listed European model 1998 or newer within the United Kingdom (3,271), France (3,532), Italy (3,751), Germany (3,308) and Spain (2,423).

Figures for age, gender, education, region and Internet usage were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

(www.harrisinteractive.com)

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