Hybrid car owners not likely to buy another one

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Ron2K
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Hybrid car owners not likely to buy another one

Post by Ron2K »

Interesting article on Slashdot for the resident petrolheads.
Slashdot wrote:A new study has found that people who purchased a hybrid car in the past are not likely to buy a hybrid for their next car purchase. 'Only 35% of hybrid vehicle owners chose to purchase a hybrid again when they returned to the market in 2011, according to auto information company R.L. Polk & Co. If you factor out the super-loyal Toyota Prius buyers, the repurchase rate drops to under 25%.' The study also found Florida drivers to be a bit more loyal to the hybrid segment than elsewhere in the country. 'It's hard to know what's causing the low repurchase rate. One reason is that about 17,000 people purchased electric cars last year, and other data shows that many of those were trading in a hybrid vehicle. Honda has been hounded by high-profile class-action and small claims court lawsuits over fuel economy issues with older models of its Civic hybrid. ... Hybrid vehicles represent just 2.4% of the overall new vehicle market in the U.S., according to Polk, down from a high of 2.9% in 2008.'
For the record, I probably would have considered a hybrid during the 2008 petrol price spike were I in the car buyers market then. These days, they wouldn't feature on my radar at all (even with petrol prices higher than 2008 levels). Thing is, it's a stepping stone technology: they're more expensive than they should be for cost-conscious consumers, and the environmentally-friendly brigade are these days more likely to purchase a Leaf or Volt.
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Re: Hybrid car owners not likely to buy another one

Post by GreyWolf »

Ron2K wrote:Thing is, it's a stepping stone technology: they're more expensive than they should be for cost-conscious consumers, and the environmentally-friendly brigade are these days more likely to purchase a Leaf or Volt.
This just goes to show how ****ing CLUELESS the environmentally-friendly brigade really is. Electric cars are STUPID!! Why? 3 resons:

1. Electricity for these "green" cars is made in power plants which cause polution
2. Checmicals for the batteries cause polution
3. Their performance and range is useless
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Ron2K
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Re: Hybrid car owners not likely to buy another one

Post by Ron2K »

^^ You may find disagreement on your first two points though; one of the Slashdot folks mentioned that about 80-90% of a vehicle's environmental impact is the fuel usage over its lifetime. (Disclaimer: he did not provide any hard data backing that up, and has been challenged.)

Performance and range are indeed incomparable with combustion engines at present, but given time and incentive, this could change in future. Thing is, oil is still comparatively cheap enough for a concerted effort into bringing about alternatives to not be commercially viable.
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Re: Hybrid car owners not likely to buy another one

Post by doo_much »

GreyWolf wrote:
Ron2K wrote:Thing is, it's a stepping stone technology: they're more expensive than they should be for cost-conscious consumers, and the environmentally-friendly brigade are these days more likely to purchase a Leaf or Volt.
This just goes to show how ****ing CLUELESS the environmentally-friendly brigade really is. Electric cars are STUPID!! Why? 3 resons:

1. Electricity for these "green" cars is made in power plants which cause polution
2. Checmicals for the batteries cause polution
3. Their performance and range is useless

You of all people should appreciate the beauty of good marketing...
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Re: Hybrid car owners not likely to buy another one

Post by THE_STIG »

GreyWolf wrote:
Ron2K wrote:Thing is, it's a stepping stone technology: they're more expensive than they should be for cost-conscious consumers, and the environmentally-friendly brigade are these days more likely to purchase a Leaf or Volt.
This just goes to show how ****ing CLUELESS the environmentally-friendly brigade really is. Electric cars are STUPID!! Why? 3 resons:

1. Electricity for these "green" cars is made in power plants which cause polution
2. Checmicals for the batteries cause polution
3. Their performance and range is useless
:D :D somebody who agrees with me.

4. people who drive such things are utterly boring and stupid in every way
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