Sale of alternative fuel vehicles on the rise:Capgemini survey

Mumbai: A survey over 3,100 consumers in eight countries - Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Russia, the UK and the US - shows that green vehicle ownership continues its upward trend; 41 per cent own a fuel-efficient or alternative-fuel vehicle, up from 36 per cent last year, and 30 per cent plan to buy one.

Fuel economy and environmental impact are the primary reasons for customer preference shifting in favour of alternative fuel vehicles.

The findings are contained in Capgemini's Cars Online 09/10, released today. The study is the 11th annual study of the global automotive industry, which identifies a number of key trends that underscore the importance of understanding consumer buying behaviour in today's turbulent climate.

The top four factors that influence buying decisions remain reliability, safety, fuel economy and price, consistent with previous years.

An increasing focus on environmental issues permeates the study, with 31 per cent of consumers in Western Europe pointing to this as the key reason to own or buy a fuel-efficient or alternative-fuel car, up from just 22 per cent the year before.

In the BRIC countries, this was also borne out:

• In India, 32 per cent indicated environmental impact as a driver
• 90 per cent of Brazilian respondents claimed a strong understanding of green vehicles
• 32 per cent of respondents in China said this was a primary reason for green vehicle decisions Feedback from consumers included the hope that there will soon be 100 per cent clean fuel, no emissions and that the automotive industry would 'get off the oil wagon'.
• However, findings also show that consumers would be reluctant and, in some cases, unwilling to pay a premium of more than 10 per cent extra for fuel efficient or alternative fuel vehicles.