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Junkie
Location: Northern California
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Purchasing by Reputation
Recently, the following article was published in the San Francisco Chronicle. It specifically refers to people who are buying foreign brand cars based solely on the perception that they are better built.
NOTE: I did not put this into Tilted Motors because of the question below related to other purchases. I would like to see a broader response.
Link Here
Quote:
Bay Area drivers like foreign cars
American makers are tops in truck sales
Todd Wallack, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
©2004 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback | FAQ
URL: sfgate.com/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/01/20/BUGHR4D36M1.DTL
When Ange Strom-Weber, a 22-year-old college student from Alameda, was shopping for cars recently, she mulled over models from Honda, Toyota and Volkswagen. But she didn't test drive any Fords, Chevys or other U.S. brands. "I would never, ever consider buying an American car because they are not built well,'' said Strom-Weber, who settled on a 2004 Honda Civic last month.
She isn't alone. Bay Area residents continue to flock to imports, despite U.S. automakers' claims that they have narrowed or erased any differences in quality.
Seven of the 10 best-selling passenger cars in the Bay Area last year were made by foreign automakers, two more than on the national list, according to R. L. Polk & Co., which tabulated car registrations through November 2003.
Four of the 10 best-selling light trucks in the region were made by Japanese manufacturers. By contrast, the national list is completely made up of trucks from the traditional Big Three domestic automakers.
"The Asian imports own California,'' said Peter Welch, president of the California Motor Car Dealers Association, an industry association. "They've done a better job of marketing. And they have designed vehicles that have been more appealing."
To be sure, an import isn't what it used to be 20 years ago. Many foreign- branded cars and trucks are actually made in the United States. Both the Toyota Corolla and Tacoma, among the best sellers in the Bay Area, are built at the New United Motor Manufacturing (Nummi) plant in Fremont. Conversely, Chrysler was purchased by a German corporation, Daimler-Benz AG, six years ago to form DaimlerChrysler.
Nevertheless, foreign brands generally sell better in the Bay Area than in the country as a whole.
For instance, Chevrolet has 3 of 10 best-selling cars nationwide: the Cavalier, Impala and Malibu. But none of them cracked the top 10 in the Bay Area.
"Imports don't have nearly the hold on the Midwest that they do on the coasts,'' said Gordon Walton, general manager of Parker-Robb Chevrolet Buick in Walnut Creek. "The West Coast is much more open-minded."
Walton also said that some U.S. cars fare poorly because people believe they are not constructed as well as Asian cars, despite major improvements over the years.
In one survey of new car owners, J.D. Power & Associates found that new U. S. cars are now on par with European makes in quality and have narrowed the gap with Japanese models. A separate survey of car owners after three years found that General Motors ranked above average in quality among all automakers, and domestic automakers as a whole surpassed their European counterparts, but they still trailed the Japanese.
But many buyers still believe there is a huge difference based on just the name. On the used-car market, for instance, a 2000 Toyota Corolla sells for about $2,000 more than a Chevrolet Prizm, even though both cars were produced at the Nummi plant, a Toyota-General Motors joint venture, and are nearly identical.
"A lot of it has to do with perception," Walton said.
Honda and Toyota have an especially strong reputation among car buyers. The Honda Accord is the top-selling car locally, and the Honda Civic is No. 3, according to Polk, which tracked vehicle registrations for the first 11 months of 2003. Data for the full year are not available yet.
"It's really a Honda market,'' said Conley Byrnes, general manager of Honda of Oakland.
Toyota was close behind, however. The Toyota Corolla ranked No. 2 and the Camry ranked No. 4 in the Bay Area. All of those cars are also among the most popular nationwide. But unlike the national top 10 list, the Bay Area roster of best-selling cars boasts the Ford Mustang, a sports car, and the BMW 325, reflecting the region's affluence.
Honda and Toyota also sell some of the most popular light trucks locally. Honda makes the CR-V, a smaller sport utility vehicle, and the Odyssey minivan. Toyota produces the Tacoma pickup and the Sienna minivan.
Overall, Bay Area residents buy more cars than trucks, possibly because of the region's scarcity of parking spaces and interest in fuel-efficient cars. But the gap is shrinking. Last year, light trucks, including sport utility vehicles and minivans, accounted for 46 percent of the new vehicles registered in the Bay Area, up from 45 percent in 2002, reflecting a nationwide trend.
Californians were on a pace to buy more light trucks than cars for the first time last year, the Polk data suggested.
Trucks overtook cars several years ago in many other states. Nationwide, light trucks accounted for 59 percent of sales in 2003, up from 56 percent a year earlier, according to Ward's Automotive.
Much of the increase has come from so-called crossover vehicles, a cross between a car and sport utility vehicle or minivan, including the Subaru Forester and Toyota RAV4. The cars promise some of the height and roominess of SUVs, while offering a smoother ride and better fuel efficiency than traditional trucks. The downside is that they generally aren't designed to be driven off-road or carry heavy cargo.
Moreover, the lines between the two segments have become increasingly blurred, skewing the growth figures for light trucks. The carlike PT Cruiser, for instance, is classified as a light truck because its seats fold down to resemble a truck bed. And Subaru has reportedly decided to make minor tweaks to its Outback station wagon next year so that it will qualify as a light truck as well, escaping some of the tougher fuel economy and air pollution standards that apply to cars.
"The category has gotten very broad,'' said Walton. "What was a station wagon is now considered a truck."
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CHART (1):
Best-selling cars -- Bay Area*
1. Honda Accord
2. Toyota Corolla
3. Honda Civic
4. Toyota Camry
5. Ford Taurus
6. Ford Focus
7. Volkswagen Jetta
8. Nissan Altima
9. Ford Mustang
10. BMW 325
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHART (2):
Best-selling light trucks -- Bay Area*
1. Ford F Series
2. Chevrolet Silverado
3. Toyota Tacoma
4. Ford Explorer
5. Honda Odyssey
6. Toyota Sienna
7. Honda CR-V
8. Dodge Ram
9. Chevrolet Tahoe
10. Dodge Caravan
* January-November 2003
Source: R.L. Polk & Co.
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CHART (3):
Best-selling cars -- U.S.*
1. Toyota Camry
2. Honda Accord
3. Ford Taurus
4. Honda Civic
5. Toyota Corolla
6. Chevrolet Impala
7. Chevrolet Cavalier
8. Ford Focus
9. Nissan Altima
10. Chevrolet Malibu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHART (4):
Best-selling light trucks -- U.S.*
1. Ford F Series
2. Chevrolet Silverado
3. Dodge Ram pickup
4. Ford Explorer
5. Chevrolet Trailblazer
6. Dodge Caravan
7. Ford Ranger
8. Jeep Grand Cherokee
9. Chevrolet Tahoe
10. GMC Sierra
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHART (5):
Best-selling cars -- California**
1. Toyota Camry
2. Honda Accord
3. Toyota Corolla
4. Honda Civic
5. Ford Focus
6. Nissan Altima
7. Ford Taurus
8. Ford Mustang
9. Volkswagen Jetta
10. Mercedes-Benz C
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHART (6):
Best-selling light trucks -- California**
1. Ford F Series
2. Chevrolet Silverado
3. Toyota Tacoma
4. Ford Explorer
5. Dodge Ram (RMS)
6. Ford Expedition
7. Chevrolet Tahoe
8. Toyota USA Tundra
9. Ford Ranger
10. Honda Odyssey
Source: Ward's Communications
*2003
** 2003, January-November
Source: R.L. Polk & Co.
E-mail Todd Wallack at twallack@sfchronicle.com.
©2004 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback | FAQ
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So, the question is, do you buy by reputation or through research?
I own a Honda Hybrid. When I bought it the only hybrids were from Honda or Toyota. I bought based on research, although the Hondas do have a good rep. My wife owns a Saturn wagon because she has had good experiences with Saturns before. So we kind of go both ways. 
I don't think that this issue is limited to car purchases. Do you see it happening with other purchases?
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