Via
Green Car Congress:
According to the latest Kelley Blue Book Marketing Research study, only six percent of new-car shoppers in the US think diesel is most likely to succeed in becoming a mainstream vehicle powertrain type, compared to 40% identifying hybrids, 20% picking hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and 17% citing flexible-fuel systems.
Oh. My.
If this is in any way representative of the true state of things, we're in bigger trouble than I would have guessed. More people said hydrogen fuel cells would be more prominent?!
When asked about their perceptions of diesel engines, nearly half of the in-market new-vehicle shoppers say that diesels are dirty and noisy. In addition, the latest study shows that shoppers increasingly believe that diesel-powered vehicles get poorer fuel mileage than conventional gasoline engines, and fewer consumers are seeing diesels as fuel-efficient.
That's frankly amazing. Did none of the survey respondants have any contact with Europeans at all?
Interest in diesels is steadily declining among in-market new-vehicle shoppers, while interest in hybrids continues to grow. The gap between shoppers’ interest in diesels versus hybrids has greatly widened particularly in the last month, with the nine-point gap in December 2007 jumping to a 17-point gap in January 2008.
Full article:
Survey: US New-Car Shoppers Do Not See Diesels as a Likely Mainstream Powertrain