Public Support (Or Lack of Support) For Government Auto Involvement

AUTO PACIFIC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SURVEY SHOWS PUBLIC WARY
OF GOVERNMENT RUNNING AUTO COMPANIES

More Than Half of Consumers Think Auto Companies’ Bailouts were Bad Idea

TUSTIN, Calif. (June 10, 2009) – A just-completed national survey shows 
American consumers
are skeptical of the U.S. government’s involvement in the auto industry, 
with 81 percent of
respondents agreeing that the faster the government gets out of the auto 
business, the better.
Following General Motors’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy announcement last week, 
automotive research
and analysis firm AutoPacific conducted an online survey regarding 
government involvement in
the auto industry. Highlights from this survey of more than 900 U.S. 
consumers include:
• Eighty-one percent of the respondents AGREE that the faster the 
government gets out
of the auto business, the better.
• Forty-eight percent DISAGREE that having the government in charge of 
General
Motors and Chrysler will result in more fuel-efficient cars and trucks.
• Fifty-four percent DISAGREE that having the government in charge of 
General Motors
and Chrysler will result in much cleaner cars and trucks.
• Sixty-six percent DISAGREE that having the government in charge of 
General Motors
and Chrysler will result in cars and trucks Americans want to buy.
• Fifty-four percent of respondents believe that General Motors should 
have been allowed
to fail, while 58% believe that Chrysler should have been allowed to fail.
“Clearly Americans aren’t thrilled with government involvement in the 
U.S. auto companies,”
said George Peterson, president of Tustin-based AutoPacific. “People 
believe the government
should get out of the auto business as soon as possible. They do not 
have confidence that
government involvement will bring the cars and trucks they want to buy 
to showrooms, nor that
these vehicles will be more fuel efficient. And more than half think the 
companies should not
have been saved by the government.”
Skepticism also surrounds Fiat’s takeover of Chrysler. American 
consumers do not see Fiat as
Chrysler's white knight. Over 47% of respondents believe that Fiat cars 
will not sell well in the
U.S. Almost 43% believe that, bankruptcy or not, and Fiat control or 
not, Chrysler will fail in the
next five years. In contrast, only 19% believe that Fiat cars will be a 
welcome sight in U.S.
dealerships, and only 13% say that Fiat cars will save Chrysler.
About AutoPacific
AutoPacific is a future-oriented automotive marketing research and 
product-consulting firm.
Every year AutoPacific publishes a wide variety of syndicated studies on 
the automotive industry.
The firm, founded in 1986, also conducts extensive proprietary research 
and consulting for auto
manufacturers, distributors, marketers and suppliers worldwide. Company 
headquarters and its
state-of-the-art automotive research facility are in Tustin, California, 
with an affiliate office in the
Detroit area. Additional information can be found on AutoPacific's websites:
http://www.autopacific.com and http://news.vehiclevoice.com.
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Contacts:
Dan Hall, AutoPacific, (714) 838-4234, dan.hall@autopacific.com
Dan Smith, PCGCampbell, (310) 224-4954, dsmith@pcgcampbell.com