Stereotypes not true, poll shows.
Autobytel - Nov. 26, 2006
Many folks assume young, well-educated and affluent people are the ones willing to pay a premium for a hybrid car.
Oh, how reality differs from assumptions.
For example, most hybrid owners live on the West Coast, right? Yet only 16% of hybrid owners live on the West Coast, versus 21% in the Midwest and 31% in the Northeast, according to a poll by Autobytel.com, an automotive Web site.
You'd also assume youth would be attracted to the gas-electric vehicles.
Indeed, 43% of owners are younger than 45. But that means 57% are older than 45.
Autobytel also found that though 24.5% of hybrid owners have a college degree, 48.5% don't. That shoots down the theory that those most concerned with breathing smooth air are highly educated.
Finally, you'd expect those willing to pay premiums for hybrids would be folks with big pockets. Yet the majority of hybrid owners and shoppers have a household income of less than $60,000, with 35% making less than $40,000.
For what it's worth, the poll also found more Republicans (40%) than Democrats (36%) have a hybrid -- or soon will.
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