During the first 6 months of 2004, online shoppers have flocked to high mileage vehicles such as the Honda Civic, Mazda3, Saturn Ion and the Toyota Prius. Since January, the Honda Civic has gained ground in Autobytel's Consumer Choice overall rankings, from fifth to second, becoming one of the most popular online vehicles in terms of requests. That's ahead of longtime favorites the Ford F-150, Toyota Camry and Nissan Altima. The Mazda3 also broke into the overall Consumer Choice rankings for the first time, right next to its stable mate, the larger Mazda6. The car's modern and aggressive designs, combined with its fuel economy, are likely reasons why the 3 has gained strong interest with online shoppers.
According to a recent survey of Autobytel dealers, 33% said that fuel efficiency outweighed brand, styling, performance, safety and roominess as a consumer buying consideration, and 82% said their customers are more interested in fuel-efficiency and/or fuel-efficient vehicles than they were a year ago. A majority of dealers also said that they're now having a harder time moving SUVs/trucks than a year ago, despite hefty incentives on many of the larger domestics, and 45 percent said that they are adding/will soon add more fuel-friendly vehicles to their inventory mix at the expense of larger trucks/SUVs.
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