DETROIT – Gas prices are still high and, J.D. Power finds, its an increasingly important factor in what shoppers study before they buy. The 2004 J.D. Power and Associates Escaped Shopper Study found that 15 percent of new-vehicle buyers will reject a vehicle because of its gas mileage.
Ironically the mileage is a particularly sensitive issue for those shopping for a full-size SUV: of those respondents to the Power survey, 22 percent will reject a model due to gas mileage, and about 40 percent who decide on something else will choose a mid-size SUV instead.
While SUV shoppers keep gas mileage in mind, a large proportion of them still buy another SUV, albeit a smaller one, when the one they first considered didnt meet their standards for fuel efficiency, said Scot Eisenfelder, vice president of the retail automotive practice at J.D. Power and Associates. Rebates are another factor in the shopping experience that can have the power to turn on or off buyers: Powers
says 18 percent of shoppers reject a model due to insufficient rebates, a number up two percent over 2003.
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