Car Buyers Will Still Strongly Consider American Brands

The biggest winner in the survey — a representative sample of 1,777 adults in households that own at least one car — is Ford. The automaker saw a 17% leap among new-car buyers who say they will consider one of the brand’s models, as compared to last year’s survey. Despite its highly publicized bankruptcy, GM saw a 6% increase from 2008. The loser among the Big Three, however, was Chrysler, which saw a 25% drop.

The top reasons buyers said they’d shy away from American products were — not surprisingly — that the economic conditions of the company worried them and that the companies products did not appeal to them.

The survey also found that only 9% of those interviewed are likely to buy a car in the next year, down from 19% in the same survey last year. This could mean that overall car sales still have a way to go before they rebound to pre-recession levels.

Car Buyers Are Thinking American, with Ford, GM Up, Chrysler Down (Consumer Reports)