Info Plant Surveys Awareness of Japanese Cars

Tokyo (JCN) Dec 29, 2005 - Online market researcher Info Plant has announced the results of a survey on the awareness of Japanese automobiles. The survey was conducted of 8,559 i-mode users in Japan (38.8% men and 61.2% women) from November 22 through 29, 2005.

When asked about which domestic make they choose when they buy a car in the future (multiple answers), 74.2% of the respondents gave Toyota Motor (including Lexus) the name of choice, followed by Nissan Motor (45.8%) and Honda Motor (40.1%). By sex, Suzuki Motor and Daihatsu Motor were favored by more women than men (16.6% vs. 11.2% and 19.8% vs. 10.1%, respectively), while Fuji Heavy Industries (maker of Subaru cars) and Honda were chosen by more men than women (15.4% vs. 4.7% and 44.4% vs. 37.3%, respectively).

When asked about what they consider most important when buying a car, 75.1% replied "style and design", followed by "price" (64.8%) and "maneuverability and comfort" (52.1%). By sex, more men than women answered "maker and brand" (34.9% vs. 29.7%) and "maneuverability and comfort" (54.3% vs. 50.7%), while more women than men chose such categories as "style and design" (77.4% vs. 71.4%), "price" (66.7% vs. 61.8%) and "fuel economy" (36.2% vs. 33.7%). In general, the younger the respondents are, the more important "style and design" is.

As to the question of which information source they use most frequently for the car they buy, over 60% said "dealers" (65.8%) and "magazines and books" (61.3%). Also, 42.3% replied "TV commercials", followed by "by word of mouth" (34.2%) and "maker websites" (22.5%). By sex, more men than women relied on "magazines and books" (77.8% vs. 50.8%) and "maker websites" (27.0% vs. 19.6%), while more women than men counted on "dealers" (69.7% vs. 59.7%) and "TV commercials" (49.9% vs. 30.3%).