According to a recent study by J.D. Power and Associates, more than 80 percent of consumers feel that the United States is currently facing an energy crisis. Additionally, nearly 80 percent of consumers believe that gas prices will continue to rise. But how will this affect the purchase decisions new-car buyers make? The recently released J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Alternative Powertrain Study^SM offers some insights:

• Only 18 percent of those surveyed believe the perceived energy crisis can be addressed by focusing on small vehicle production with better fuel economy
• The percentage of consumers who considered a hybrid-electric vehicle is up from 50 percent in 2007 to 62 percent in 2008
• Consideration for flexible-fuel (E85) capable vehicles has decreased slightly from 2007 (47% vs. 43% in 2008), while consideration for clean diesel demonstrated the most notable decline, from 23 percent in 2007 to only 16 percent in 2008. The drop in consideration for diesel technology may be, in part, attributed to the substantial increase in the relative price of diesel since 2007
• Nearly 70 percent of consumers say they would prefer that manufacturers invest in existing and emerging powertrain technologies for vehicles across all segments, rather than just focusing their efforts on small cars
• Approximately 30 percent of consumers believe that auto manufacturers should continue to produce a comparable vehicle lineup with a focus on hybrid-electric, clean diesel and flexible-fuel vehicles. An additional 39 percent believe manufacturers should focus on developing emerging technologies not currently available in the market, such as fuel-cell and electric vehicles

The Alternative Powertrain Study also includes an Automotive Environmental Index (AEI), which combines U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publicly available information related to fuel economy, air pollution and greenhouse gases for 2008 model-year vehicles with J.D. Power and Associates’ voice of the customer data related to stated fuel economy. Voice of the customer data is also used to help determine the relative importance of these environmental factors. Once the index scores for each model have been calculated, the AEI then recognizes the top 30 models, based on overall index score. Highlights of the 2008 Automotive Environmental Index are as follows:

• Among the top 30 models in the 2008 AEI, Toyota has the highest number of models (six), followed by Chevrolet, Honda and Nissan, with three models each
• Eight models in the 2008 AEI—including three from Toyota—are hybrid-electric vehicles
• In its first year of inclusion in the study, the 2008 Smart Fortwo makes the AEI Top 30
• Among the AEI Top 30 models, nine are from domestic nameplates, 17 are Asian and only four are of European origin.

The 2008 Alternative Powertrain Study includes responses from more than 4,000 consumers who plan to purchase a new vehicle within the next two years. The voice of the customer components of the Automotive Environmental Index are derived from the 2008 Alternative Powertrain Study and the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Initial Quality Study.^SM—Jeff Youngs

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2008 AEI Subcompact Cars
2008 AEI Compact Cars
2008 AEI Midsize Cars
2008 AEI Multi-activity Vehicles
What To Drive: MPG and the Environment Edition
2008 Initial Quality Study Results