Fact #532: August 18, 2008
Trends in Vehicle Attribute Preference
"Which one of the following attributes would be MOST important to you in your choice of your next vehicle?" was the question asked in an August 2008 survey. The choices were dependability, safety, fuel economy, quality, and low price. This same question was asked in previous surveys and the results are compared in the graph below. Dependability was chosen most often in nearly every survey. In 2008, 26% of the survey respondents indicated that fuel economy would be the most important vehicle attribute, which is the same share of respondents that chose dependability.
Note: Respondents that answered "Don't Know" (2% of respondents in 2008) were not included in these data.
Supporting Information
| Year | Fuel Economy | Dependability | Low Price | Quality | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 42% | 31% | 14% | 4% | 9% |
| 1981 | 20% | 40% | 21% | 7% | 12% |
| 1983 | 13% | 38% | 30% | 11% | 9% |
| 1985 | 8% | 41% | 29% | 12% | 10% |
| 1987 | 4% | 44% | 31% | 8% | 14% |
| 1996 | 7% | 34% | 11% | 19% | 29% |
| 1998 | 4% | 36% | 5% | 20% | 34% |
| 2000 | 11% | 33% | 11% | 22% | 24% |
| 2001 | 11% | 30% | 8% | 22% | 30% |
| 2004 | 22% | 26% | 10% | 19% | 23% |
| 2005 | 12% | 33% | 7% | 21% | 28% |
| 2006 | 20% | 28% | 7% | 20% | 26% |
| 2007 | 21% | 30% | 7% | 17% | 24% |
| 2008 | 26% | 26% | 8% | 15% | 22% |
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