Although the high price of gas has many U.S. car buyers considering a vehicle with a hybrid powertrain, a new survey reveals that few are willing to fork over the extra cash for a hybrid when it’s time to sign on the dotted line. However, new safety and technology packages continue to climb the “must have†list.
According to J.D. Power and Associates‘ 2008 U.S. Automotive Emerging Technologies Study, 72 percent of car buyers said they were very interested in hybrid technology – ranking fifth on J.D. Power’s list — but that number plummeted to just 46 percent – or eighth place – when it was revealed that a hybrid drivetrain would add about $5,000 to the cost of a vehicle.
Safety systems took the top two spots on the survey — blind spot detection and backup assist, respectively – but consumers dropped blind spot detection to number when they learned of its $500 price tag, leaving the number one position for backup assist technology.
In dash navigation also scored well – coming in at number three – but dropped like a rock to the number eighteen spot when it was revealed that the option would set buyers back about $1,800.
