Poll: Americans still favor foreign cars

[MNdudeswitz]

Poll: Americans still favor foreign cars

WASHINGTON - Americans have a bias against cars made by U.S. automakers, but an AP-AOL Autos poll found flickers of loyalty that could offer hope for an industry struggling to survive.
The problem for Detroit is changing perceptions that often don’t match reality.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16524038/

[Saturn69]

Not this American.

[MNdudeswitz]

I guess I am soon to be a 2 out of 3 American car owner, don't know where my wife's mazda falls into line. I will also buck the trend according to the poll more blue collar people favor american cars, while more educated people favor imports. Well this is one very educated person that right now, favors American cars!

[genjy]

I favor the cars that are best for me.

[EldoFan]

What's new?

This is the Nth survey I've seen that says the same basic thing though......so I'm starting to wonder, where do they do all these polls? Kalifornia?

[guitarlix]

People always wanted American cars. They just left because they had no choice. Well the tide is changing and maybe they'll come back now.

[01cavalier]

Not much of a surprise, though myself to buy a foreign car, it really must be more effecient, a better purchase price, be more reliable and more enjoyalbe, in looks and performance. They just dont do that, so I don't see why. Guess I'm not trendy, oh well

[GMFreak8]

This is news how?

[desmo9]

What's the point of taking a poll when people have already voted with their pocket books?

Let's instead take a poll on whether the typical Toyota Camry and Tundra buyer thinks he's an underinformed chump living life in a sheep mentality with Consumer Reports in hand.

[powervette]

Germans favor Japanese cars only in anonymous polls, but when You ask a German which cars are the best in the world he says 'German without a doubt!' - silly behaviour but in my opinion still better than all of those Americans who hang flags, sing national anthem and claim domestic products are junk at one time.

[LeSabre]

If I were to buy a foriegn branded car, It would most likely be one from Europe, not Japan. Though I prefer to by an American make.

[genjy]

Originally Posted by desmo9

Let's instead take a poll on whether the typical Toyota Camry and Tundra buyer thinks he's an underinformed chump living life in a sheep mentality with Consumer Reports in hand.

I bet many of those "underinformed" buyers had bought a Dodge K-car or a Cavalier or a Tempo and got screwed in every orifice.

[Mrbowtie]

Originally Posted by genjy

I favor the cars that are best for me.

After all, we do live in the "ME" generation.

[LAMRONH]

Originally Posted by EldoFan

What's new?

This is the Nth survey I've seen that says the same basic thing though......so I'm starting to wonder, where do they do all these polls? Kalifornia?

Funny you should raise such an odd question.
There are polls and there are polls. And then there are Poles, but that is for another day.
Cherry picking poll audiences has been going on since the time of Alexander the Great. Twisting the results, misreporting the results, lying about the results, etc. are common practice too.
Telephone surveys can achieve any result that's needed. It's common knowledge that you can zip code your calls and you will get libs, conservatives, nazis, commies, socialists, aardvarks, blacks, purples, browns, native Americans, polar bears...
Just phone the correct district, and you will get 90% thinking Mike Dukakas is Jesus Returned, that GHWB is Satan, that Elvis is selling cars in Detroit (happy birthday, Elvis), that Condoloser Rice is Kofi Annan's daughter...
The survey results that I believe are the ones I can see that haven't been monkeyed with: sales figures.

[member12]

American cars have too many quality problems. Face it, guys...us GM guys are the minority now. If we are not the minority, we will be soon. GM has overcome not only their poor choices, but the poor choices of Chrysler and Ford. No one ever says that GM makes bad products..it's usually "America" makes bad cars.

Until they can end all of these little issues, GM will continue to carry that repuation. Sure, if you want a full size truck they are ok....but there are still little "glitches". Even if they are not serious, the point is that it breaks. Cars that rattle, squeak, shake, or require too much service is not only frustrating, but it is embarrasing. Cars are an image in this country.

GM has to be better than the competition. THey can't have any car model anywhere that doesn't meet or exceed the Honda or Toyota equivalent.

Who cares about being number 1....be the best you can be. GM still nickle and dimes their suppliers too much. Yes, their products are improving. As soon as they finally meet Toyota or Honda- their products are outdated (it took the Buick Regal until 2003 to get a perfect rating for reliability) and Toyota has moved on.

The CSVs are still on lots and ruining GM's image with every sale.
The Colorado has had no recall for its widespread power windows/door locks screw up
The Trailblazers, while decent, still have the old GM interior and poor quality.
The Cobalts are bombing the Consumer's Reports surveys.
You are pretty much guaranteed to have a recall with an American vehicle. Recalls are not as bad as a reliability issue, but consumers see that as a sign of an underlying problem.

GM needs to not only make sure their cars all get recommended by CR, but also get as many of those stupid little red circles as they can possibly get. This means making more reliable cars and trucks- and backing them up when they do break down. I hate CR, but the entire country reads it.