Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.bonus,americast.usa-today.bonus From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: bonus Mon, Sep 28 1992 Date: Mon, 28 Sep 92 04:52:55 EDT Message-ID: 09-28 0000 BONUS: Consumers look past fuel economy USA TODAY Update Sept. 28, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network Eleven years ago, a videocameraman in a helicopter swooped over the El Mirage dry lake bed in southern California and fixed his lens on a Ford Escort darting across a vast open landscape. As the car sped by, the camera zoomed in on two 30-foot-tall plastic-foam numerals, 47:31, plugged into the ground. The numbers, representing the 1982 Escort's highway and city gasoline mileage, had just been released by the Environmental Protection Agency. The resulting Ford TV commercial aired in prime time and touted fuel economy as the Escort's biggest selling point. WHAT HAS CHANGED SINCE THEN? Today, the EPA releases those figures for the '93 model year to yawns. Fuel economy, the obsession of car buyers during the oil shortages and price surges of the mid-1970s and early '80s, is no longer a big deal. In fact, it's the No. 6 factor consumers consider when they shop for a car. "I don't know if one out of 100 (car shoppers) talks about (fuel economy) anymore," says Charlie Lesseg, general manager of Cavalier Ford in St. Louis. WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT PASSION FOR SUPERHIGH-MILEAGE VEHICLES? The answer is part economic and part technological, and it's also a regulatory success story: Gasoline is cheap. When you take inflation into account, gasoline prices are lower than they were in 1947. In fact, if you adjust for inflation, gasoline costs about 43% less now than it did in 1980, shortly after the Shah was deposed in Iran and oil prices skyrocketed. WHAT IS THE SITUATION IN OTHER COUNTRIES? Gasoline is "a hell of a buy today," says David Andrea of the Office for the Study of Automotive Transportation at the University of Michigan. Gasoline prices are a huge bargain in the USA compared with overseas. Mostly because of heavy taxes, Italians pay $4 a gallon, the French and Japanese $3. WHAT HAS CHANGED WITH CARS? Automotive engines are much more fuel-efficient than in the past, so consumers don't have to buy a tiny hatchback to get decent mileage. "Within all classes, the (MPG ratings) of cars has risen dramatically," says Jack Gillis, author of The Car Book. In 1976, U.S.-made cars averaged 16.4 miles per gallon, compared with 25.6 for imported cars. Last year, prodded by federal fuel-economy goals, domestic models averaged 27.4 miles per gallon, compared with 29.8 for imports. DO OTHER BRANDS GET GOOD MILEAGE? The narrowing gap between the two has been caused partly by improvements by the Big Three and partly because Japanese manufacturers began selling luxury cars that offer lower mileage than the Corollas and Civics of a decade ago. Today, even relatively large cars get decent mileage: Chrysler's highly touted new LH models - Chrysler Concorde, Dodge Intrepid and Eagle Vision - rate at 20 mpg city, 28 highway. And those are family sedans. WHAT ARE BUYERS LOOKING FOR? Buyers are more concerned about safety, quality, dependability and value. "The biggest catch phrase is value, the most they can get for the least dollar," says Rob Cochran, owner of No. 1 Cochran in suburban Pittsburgh. The increasing popularity of specialty vehicles such as minivans and sport-utilities is another sign that consumers are worrying less about MPG ratings. The most popular minivan, the Plymouth Voyager, gets 18 mpg in the city and 23 on the open road. The Ford Explorer, the fifth-most-popular vehicle in the USA, gets only 15 miles per gallon in the city and 20 on the highway. IS FUEL ECONOMY STILL A CONCERN? Auto-industry researchers agree that fuel economy has dropped significantly as a factor in consumers' purchasing decisions. Chrysler studies show that fuel economy was the third-most-important factor in choosing a car in 1981. By this year, it had dropped to ninth. A recent study of 43,000 new-car buyers by Consumers Attitude Research found that fuel economy tied for 10th with dealer service as a reason for buying a car or truck. WHAT OPTIONS ARE OUT THERE? When Ken Luce went shopping for a new car in Atlanta last week, fuel economy was a low priority. Luce, a 52-year-old sales representative, was looking for a reliable and safe car - one that would project an image of success but wasn't too flashy. His choice: a '93 Lincoln Continental, which gets a combined city:highway 20 miles per gallon. Larry Curtis of Centerville, Va., picked up his Chevrolet Astro minivan Friday at Pohanka Chevrolet in nearby Chantilly. Curtis, a 49-year-old mortgage handler, bought an Astro minivan - combined city:highway mileage of 18 mpg - because he considered it a good value and it has safety features such as anti-lock brakes and all-wheel drive to ease his mind about family ski trips to New England. IS FUEL ECONOMY STILL IMPORTANT? But fuel economy is still important to some shoppers. A first-time buyer who is looking at subcompacts is more likely to buy a high-mileage model. And fuel economy becomes a factor when a consumer has narrowed his or her choice to two or three models. George Peterson, president of AutoPacific Group of Newport Beach, Calif., says cars must get at least 20 mpg in city driving - or some buyers will walk away. Twenty miles per gallon "is the first psychological threshold. People think that's pretty good," Peterson says. "Look at Taurus and Accord: They're above 20. ... They're not superstars. But they don't need to be." WILL THE GAS GUZZLER RETURN? Most analysts don't interpret the decline of fuel economy as signaling the return of the gasoline guzzler. Even Luce, who leased his Continental on Friday at Frank Jackson Lincoln-Mercury in suburban Atlanta, bought a car that was far from the worst gasoline guzzler in its class. "He did in fact make an environmental choice when you consider other cars in that category," says Gillis. "Most people who are considering gas hogs are a little bit embarrassed and may not make that decision." WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT DOING? And Uncle Sam is still forcing automakers to comply with its controversial corporate average fuel economy standards. This year, a manufacturer must average 27.5 miles per gallon for all cars sold, and Congress has been debating raising that standard to at least 40 mpg by 2001. HOW ARE AUTOMAKERS REACTING? Although the automakers oppose boosting the fuel-economy averages, they vow not to go back to the gasoline-hog days of the '60s and early '70s. "We'll never back off on a commitment to fuel economy," says Terry Bresnihan, a Ford spokesman. "It's always going to be important to a segment of the population." Looking ahead, analysts generally agree that historically low gasoline prices probably have only one way to go: up. Much of what's left of the world's oil is still found in parts of the world such as the Middle East that are prone to political upheavals. Bonus Editor: Kate Coughlin. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM