Polk's study tracked repurchase rates of consumers in eco-friendly markets -- including Los Angeles; San Francisco; Seattle; Portland, Ore.; and San Diego, among others -- and discovered that those customers were only slightly more loyal to hybrid vehicles than the nation at large. The top eco-friendly market, West Palm Beach, Fla., had a repurchase rate of 43.2 percent.
Plache of Edmunds.com said that even among groups known for their environmental consciousness, hybrid purchase rates aren't always high:
People talk about the 'Gen Ys' on the market, and how much more concerned they are about doing the environmentally friendly thing. But when you look at the cost of hybrids and electrics, the differences are often too great. Unless the numbers are there, it's hard to justify making that purchase for the purpose of saying, 'I'm living greener.'
In the future, sales of full hybrids may be affected by "partial-hybrid" technology, such as start-stop systems. In those cases, consumers will be able to get some of the benefits of hybrids with lower initial costs, Plache said. "As CAFÉ standards increase, you're going to see more and more automakers adding hybrid 'parts' to their cars. At some point, the line between hybrids and conventional vehicles will be less distinct than it is today."
In the meantime, Polk will continue to watch gasoline prices and work closely with its customers to analyze its impact on hybrid sales. Smith said to date, gas prices have had little or no impact on hybrid segment loyalty.
There's no clear-cut answer to the fuel price concerns of today. Until there's a more definitive answer on what the technology of tomorrow will be, consumers will continue to make purchases based on what's comfortable. And today, that's still gasoline.
Related posts:
For a close-up look at GM's Chevy Volt, go to the Drive for Innovation site and follow the cross-country journey of EE Life editorial director, Brian Fuller.
You obviously didn't watch the video because Newt wasn't in it. I found the video of a Palestinian official on a web page that was showing how Newt agreed with the video.
FrankWye : If you did not care about Newt, then you should not have used a video that was obviously corrupted and was trying to glorify Newt. It not only ruined its credibility, but should have warned you that it was out of context sound bites designed to deceive. Palestinians and Christians are being abused by Israel.
Palestinians do exist, have done so for over 7000 years, are the indigenous natives, and have a right to independence.
In contrast, Israelis are mostly of European origin, are largely descendents of Khazar converts who did not even come from the Mideast, (the Ashkenazim). The Hebrew tribes were historically nomadic and have no claim to any land. And the current population of Israelis are all guilty of new crimes as new illegal settlements are constantly built on land illegally confiscated from Arabs who are continually being dispossed and expelled. The crime every day is the failure of Israel to follow the Oslo Accord, the UN Resolutions, or international law. Time will never erase this continuing crime. There is no purpose or excuse for the existence of Israel. Israel not only makes Jews much less safe, but violates the basic principles of Judaism, where we are supposed to wait for the coming of the Messiah for the creation of Zion on Earth, not create is out of pride and greed, by force.
Typical Lefty strategy. Ignore the facts, attack the person. I really didn't care about Newt, the only thing that the article was saying was that what I have been saying about Palestine has been verified by the Palestinians themselves. Watch the video.
Interesting that I was watching a geneaology show tonight and the person on the show was tracing her family back to Europe, Eastern Block and Russia. The Jews were exterminated and removed from their homelands, at the time, and today no one cares. No one is crying for the return of their homelands. This has happened throughout history and like the video shows it is because solving the Palestinian problem doesn't help them. Like the Lefties of the world, they need their victims.
So, in about another 20 years there will not be any more "theives and victims". Done.
FrankWye : Anyone who would quote Newt Gingrich with "TRUMPET AND FANFARE!!!"
automatically loses. Obviously the Palestinians are many people, and their ancestors have always lived in Palestine for over 7 thousand years. They are the only indigenous people to the land now occupied by Israel.
FrankWye : False, the Palestinians have the lowest income in the world, because they are locked in concentration camps by the Israelis.
The fact the Saudis have lots of money is irrelevant. They never got involved and don't care about the Palestinians. Why should Arabs automatically have anything in common? The Palestinians are more Greek, Babylonian, Akkadian, Phoenicians etc., then they are Arab. The Palestinians have always been virtually unarmed.
FrankWye : We covered that already. The US DID make reparations to the indigenous natives that were left. But you can not compensate those who are dead and left no decendents.
That has nothing to do with Israel because both the thiefs and the victims still live.
FrankWye : Wrong again. The Palestinians were there first, and the Hebrew tribes coming off the Sinai invaded the Palestinians.
You do remember how the Hewbrew tribes attacked and massacred Jericho, right?
The land never belonged to the nomadic Isralites. It was always the origin of the sedentary Palestinians.
And yes, all the subsequent fighting has been over continual massacres by Israel.
Why do you think the Olso Accord failed? It was because Israel continued to illegally expell Arabs from the occupied territories, and build Jewish settlements where the Arab homes used to be. There has never been an end to the theft.
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A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
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