Chuck
11-21-2006, 08:37 AM
Hybrid Drivers Veer Away From Expectations. (http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/automotive/columnists/chi-0611210117nov21,0,7049255.column?coll=chi-business-hed)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Euro_Prius_II1.jpgJum Mateja - Chicago Tribune - Nov. 21, 2001
Many folks assume that the young, well educated and affluent are the ones willing to pay a premium for a hybrid car.
Autobytel, an automotive Web site, assumed just that and conducted a poll among consumers to prove it.
Oh, how reality differs from assumptions.
For example, most hybrid owners live on the West Coast, right? Californians, after all, are always passing legislation demanding that the air be pure and that smokers be chained to bedposts.
Yet only 16 percent of hybrid owners live on the West Coast versus 21 percent in the Midwest and 31 percent in the Northeast.
So Left Coasters fuss loud and long about clean air, yet East Coasters and Midwesterners put their money on the counter.
You'd also assume youth would be attracted to the gas/electric vehicles because they are easily persuaded to join a cause as early adapters, but more important, because they are going to need to breathe a lot longer than older folks.
Indeed, 43 percent of owners are younger than 45. But that means 57 percent are older than 45. Breathing, it seems, remains an issue at any age.
Autobytel also found that while 24.5 percent of hybrid owners have a college degree, 48.5 percent don't. That shoots down the theory that those most concerned with breathing smooth, not chunky, air are highly educated.
Finally, you'd expect those willing to pay premiums for hybrids would be folks with deep pockets. Yet the majority of hybrid owners/shoppers have a household income of less than $60,000, with 35 percent making less than $40,000.
Among other findings, about the same number of males and females own hybrids, same as with gas-driven cars; and 42 percent are ethnic minorities, with African-Americans at 12 percent, Hispanics at 11 percent and Asian-Americans at 10 percent.
For what it's worth, the poll found more Republicans (40 percent) than Democrats (36 percent) have a hybrid--or soon will.
Hybrid for tykes: If you want to interest your kids in clean air at an early age, the Fisher-Price folks can help with their Power Wheels Mustang.
It seats two and is powered by a 12-volt battery that allows two driving speeds: 2.5 m.p.h. and 5 m.p.h. The sticker? $260 to $300 only at Toys "R" Us.
Mileage pays: The Internal Revenue Service has raised the national per-mile business driving deduction to 48.5 cents, effective Jan. 1, from 44.5 cents for 2006.
This is the amount itemizers can deduct for business miles driven. It's also the amount many companies use to reimburse employees for mileage traveled on business.
"The increase primarily reflects higher gas prices over the past year as well as lower resale value of used cars," said Ted Schuerman, director of research and client service at Runzheimer International.
The Rochester, Wis.-based management consulting firm specializing in vehicle costs has worked with the IRS to determine the deduction since 1980.
Another Ford departure: Marty Collins has left Ford Motor Co. to join the Group 1 Automotive Inc. dealer chain as southeast regional vice president.
Collins, 43, was executive director of marketing for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury and the latest executive to depart since Chairman Bill Ford lured Alan Mulally away from Boeing in September to help lead a corporate turnaround.
Anne Stevens, chief operating officer of Ford's Americas group, and Steve Hamp, Bill Ford's chief of staff as well as brother-in-law, beat Collins to the door.
Ford, it should be recalled, has offered buyout packages to 85 percent of its white-collar employees and hopes to eliminate 10,000 salaried jobs in the next year.
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Euro_Prius_II1.jpgJum Mateja - Chicago Tribune - Nov. 21, 2001
Many folks assume that the young, well educated and affluent are the ones willing to pay a premium for a hybrid car.
Autobytel, an automotive Web site, assumed just that and conducted a poll among consumers to prove it.
Oh, how reality differs from assumptions.
For example, most hybrid owners live on the West Coast, right? Californians, after all, are always passing legislation demanding that the air be pure and that smokers be chained to bedposts.
Yet only 16 percent of hybrid owners live on the West Coast versus 21 percent in the Midwest and 31 percent in the Northeast.
So Left Coasters fuss loud and long about clean air, yet East Coasters and Midwesterners put their money on the counter.
You'd also assume youth would be attracted to the gas/electric vehicles because they are easily persuaded to join a cause as early adapters, but more important, because they are going to need to breathe a lot longer than older folks.
Indeed, 43 percent of owners are younger than 45. But that means 57 percent are older than 45. Breathing, it seems, remains an issue at any age.
Autobytel also found that while 24.5 percent of hybrid owners have a college degree, 48.5 percent don't. That shoots down the theory that those most concerned with breathing smooth, not chunky, air are highly educated.
Finally, you'd expect those willing to pay premiums for hybrids would be folks with deep pockets. Yet the majority of hybrid owners/shoppers have a household income of less than $60,000, with 35 percent making less than $40,000.
Among other findings, about the same number of males and females own hybrids, same as with gas-driven cars; and 42 percent are ethnic minorities, with African-Americans at 12 percent, Hispanics at 11 percent and Asian-Americans at 10 percent.
For what it's worth, the poll found more Republicans (40 percent) than Democrats (36 percent) have a hybrid--or soon will.
Hybrid for tykes: If you want to interest your kids in clean air at an early age, the Fisher-Price folks can help with their Power Wheels Mustang.
It seats two and is powered by a 12-volt battery that allows two driving speeds: 2.5 m.p.h. and 5 m.p.h. The sticker? $260 to $300 only at Toys "R" Us.
Mileage pays: The Internal Revenue Service has raised the national per-mile business driving deduction to 48.5 cents, effective Jan. 1, from 44.5 cents for 2006.
This is the amount itemizers can deduct for business miles driven. It's also the amount many companies use to reimburse employees for mileage traveled on business.
"The increase primarily reflects higher gas prices over the past year as well as lower resale value of used cars," said Ted Schuerman, director of research and client service at Runzheimer International.
The Rochester, Wis.-based management consulting firm specializing in vehicle costs has worked with the IRS to determine the deduction since 1980.
Another Ford departure: Marty Collins has left Ford Motor Co. to join the Group 1 Automotive Inc. dealer chain as southeast regional vice president.
Collins, 43, was executive director of marketing for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury and the latest executive to depart since Chairman Bill Ford lured Alan Mulally away from Boeing in September to help lead a corporate turnaround.
Anne Stevens, chief operating officer of Ford's Americas group, and Steve Hamp, Bill Ford's chief of staff as well as brother-in-law, beat Collins to the door.
Ford, it should be recalled, has offered buyout packages to 85 percent of its white-collar employees and hopes to eliminate 10,000 salaried jobs in the next year.