Eco Friendly Cars Target a Different Breed of Consumer October 2004

Forget picking the color. Don't even try specifying the trim level. And be prepared to pay a premium and wait 18 months.

It might sound like a car-buying nightmare, but it's a deal that has Triad residents like Dan Habecker joining waiting lists by the dozens.

Habecker is among thousands nationwide clamoring for a Toyota Prius -- the most popular of a handful of gas-electric hybrid vehicles on the American auto market to date.

The Prius is high on demand and low on supply, and would-be owners like Habecker often can't select features and must wait up to a year and a half before they can drive one home.

The Prius is one of three hybrids available in the Triad, along with Honda's Civic hybrid and the Honda Insight. Two more hybrids, Ford's Escape and Honda's Accord, are set to debut after the first of the year.

Local dealerships can't provide exact sales figures, but their estimates indicate at least 900 hybrid vehicles have been purchased locally since 2002. Many local dealerships also have long waiting lists.

"It was slow to catch on," said Joe Hodges, sales manager for Vann York Honda in High Point. "But then it just caught like wildfire."

Gas-electric hybrids post better gas mileage than typical gas-powered vehicles -- with some hybrids getting as much as 60 miles per gallon. But manufacturers charge a premium for the technology that is rarely recouped in fuel savings.

Industry analysts widely agree that hybrid owners are looking for more than pennies saved at the pump.

For Habecker, like many nationwide, it's about scoring up-to-the-moment technology, reducing oil dependence and driving a car that flaunts its "green" factor.

"The Prius looks hybrid. It looks different," Habecker said. "I've always liked fuel efficiency, but you're not going to get your money back, so that can't be the only concern."

Hybrids have been available since Honda rolled out the Insight in 1999, but they received a major boost in 2003 when celebrities like Cameron Diaz and Harrison Ford rolled to the Oscars in the eco-friendly rides.

And hybrids have sustained that momentum as gasoline prices hover close to $2 per gallon and the world oil supply remains unstable.

Hybrids have benefited from their fuel-efficient image, analysts say, despite the fact that they often fall short of the optimal gas mileage advertised.

Gas-electrics are efficient at stop-and-go city speeds when they use electricity, but they burn fuel at the highway speeds.

"I think there is a general perception that you get better gas mileage," said Mike Chung, an analyst for car authority Edmunds.com. "That's really fortuitous now because you see the headlines of oil hitting $50 a barrel."

Hybrid sedans do still average about 40 to 45 mpg, markedly better than the typical sedan, which gets about 20 to 25 mpg.

Greensboro resident David Sullivan is itching to save on fuel and plans to buy a gas-electric Civic as soon as his Volkswagen Jetta's lease is up.

"Fuel efficiency is a big factor," said Sullivan, a salesman who logs more than 600 miles some weeks for work. "And being in the Sierra Club, the environmental factors rank right up there."

Like-minded buyers have fueled hybrid sales at a time when auto sales are lagging industrywide and manufacturers are upping incentives.

U.S. dealers had sold more than 50,000 hybrids through August, outstripping 2003 sales by about 2,400 with four months left in the year.

J.D. Power and Associates, a leading consumer products analyst, estimates that sales will total 87,000 this year and reach 412,000 a year by 2008.

Demand has been so strong for the Prius that Toyota Motor Co. announced Thursday that it will double the U.S. allotment for 2005.

"It's a high-demand car," said Ken Pagliei, general sales manager at Cox Toyota Supercenter in Burlington. "They're sold before they ever touch the ground."

Hybrids claim slightly less than 0.5 percent of new car sales -- more than Land Rover's 0.3 percent and less than Volvo's 0.9 percent.

Many buyers are still wary of what they see as an unproven technology.

The hybrid's long-term reliability is unknown, but owners report the cars are as sturdy and powerful as comparable gas-only vehicles.

"It's just as zippy as it's got to be," said Judy Morton, a Greensboro Prius owner. "There's nothing I want to do with the car that I can't do."

An influx of new models promises to widen the appeal and move hybrids into the mainstream and family-focused markets, experts say.

J.D. Power estimates up to 14 hybrid models will be on the market by the end of 2005 -- a move that is expected to boost sales to 182,000 next year.

"We anticipate that sales are going to pick up," J.D. Power spokesman John Tews said.

Though Ford's hybrid Escape isn't set to hit local lots until January, prospective owners are already asking questions.

Mark Dwyer, general manager at Greensboro's Bob Dunn Ford, reports interest in the hybrid SUV has been "tremendous," and the dealership already has a waiting list a dozen strong.

Edmunds' Chung said such vehicles as the Lexus RX 400h SUV scheduled to appear on lots next year will further push hybrids beyond their small-car niche market.

"I think the real buzz will come with the high-end vehicles," Chung said. "I definitely think this is the wave of the future."

SOURCE: News-Record.com

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