Are Problems a Selling Tool? Prius Purchase Intent Rises With Brake Woe News
By John O'Dell February 5, 2010
You'd think that all the negative publicity about problems with the brake system on Toyota's 2010 Prius would cool hybrid shoppers' ardor, but consumers using our parent, Edmunds.com, seem to be of a different mindset.
Both consideration and purchase intent for the Prius have risen about 10 percent among car shoppers doing research on Edmunds.com since the Prius brake story became news earlier this week.
It looks as though there are a number of people out there looking for bargains, said Jeremy Anwyl, Edmuds.com's CEO.
"When a car or automaker receives bad press, people sense an opportunity" to get a better price through distress sales or incentives, he said. "We saw the same reaction from consumers when Chrysler and General Motors declared bankruptcy."
In the week leading up to Wednesday morning's Prius brake problem headlines, 7.4 percent of shoppers researching compact sedans considered the Prius, according to Edmunds.com data. On Thursday, the consideration level -defined as navigating to Prius-specific pages and spending time on them - rose to 8.7 percent.
Shopper consideration shows that people are interest in a vehicle and is the first step toward purchase intent, which is measured by the amount of focused research - such as pricing and model configuration - a consumer does.
Prius "purchase intent" was at 10.1 percent of compact car shoppers in the week before Wednesday's headlines and shot to 11.2 percent on Thursday.
Edmunds is continuously updating the Prius brake problem at this special page, and you can track news and information about Toyota's unrelated recalls for jammed floor mats and sticky accelerator pedals here.
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