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Car Buyers Check Mileage First

August 23, 2006

• GM Aims High-Mileage Cruze At U.S. Market • GM Offers Employee Prices to Spur Slow Sales • U.S. Consumers Favor Japanese and German Automakers • Automakers Report Huge Drop in Sales • GM Cuts Prices for February • Toyota Sales for 2007 May Surpass GM • New GM Sale May Challenge Bargain Hunters • GM Hangs on as World's No. 1 Automaker • Saturn Outlook Gets High Marks from Consumer Reports • Summer Car Sales Start to Sizzle • Consumer Reports Lists Best New Car Deals • Chrysler Dumps Remaining 2006 Inventory on Used Car Market --- • More about Auto Sales ...

Fuel economy has overtaken reliability as the top factor consumers look for when buying a vehicle, according to a nationwide survey from Consumer Reports magazine.

The survey shows 27 percent of likely vehicle buyers rank gasoline mileage as the top factor in an automobile purchase.

Reliability was the top factor for 25 percent, followed by price at 14 percent and safety features at 12 percent. Five percent reported manufacturer and dealer incentives are the top factor in an auto purchase, and 3 percent said styling.

The results suggest more tough times for the Big Three domestic automakers which depend on truck and sport utility vehicle sales for their profits. Truck and SUV sales were down for the first seven months of the year compared with the same period in 2005, while car sales were up.

The poll was the magazine's first of this size dealing with auto purchases. Past research has shown gas mileage as an important factor in buying decisions, but mileage has never ranked this high, according to Consumer Reports.

Opinion Research of Princeton, New Jersey conducted the poll during the first week of august when gasoline prices were above $3 a gallon. Opinion Research randomly called 1,000 people at least 18 years old and surveyed 526 people who said they were considering a vehicle purchase in the next two years.

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