Do Chicagoans select the same vehicles as motorists in the Southwest? Are New Englanders and Floridians different than Midwesterners?
Manufacturers report varied experiences with consumer preferences, but when it comes to choosing models, the market seems more stable these days. With some notable exceptions–led by four-wheel-drive systems for trucks–regional differences aren’t as great as they used to be.
“Bread-and-butter small and mid-size cars, tend to be uniformly popular,” said George Pipas, sales analysis manager at Ford Motor Co. “Typically, cars and trucks come pretty well equipped,” so people throughout the country drive similarly equipped vehicles.
“Regionally, there isn’t much difference” with BMWs, says product information manager Rob Mitchell. BMW specializes in premium passenger cars. But Ken Enders, vice president of marketing for Mercedes-Benz, another luxury brand, sees differences, which he says are traditional.
Lack of product differentiation has helped minimize regional variations.
“I think there’s a need for cars to become more distinctive,” said Alan Childers, Mazda’s Miata/Millenia marketing manager. Unlike the 1950s, when passenger cars looked different from each other, Childers says sedans and coupes tend to look painfully alike. The differences, he added, are more apparent in trucks.
Besides the regional differences in truck choices, there’s also still a disparity between the West Coast, where vehicles generally gather steam first, and the rest of the country.
Regional popularity differences still exist on three levels:
– Cars versus light trucks
– Sun Belt versus Snow Belt states
– California and the West Coast versus the rest of the country
“Trucks are extremely popular in the Sun Belt and in the heartland,” Pipas said. “In the north, a mid-size car is probably the starting point.” But in the Sun Belt, that starting point is more likely to be a truck or an SUV. “Pickups are popular in almost every region of the country, as are SUVs.”
General Motors reports that in the South Central and Western regions all five of its top sellers are light trucks. In the Southeast, one passenger car, a Chevrolet Cavalier, edges into the list. In the North Central region, which includes Chicago, two cars (Cavalier and Pontiac’s Grand Am) make the list. And in the Northeast, three passenger automobiles and two trucks draw the most sales.
DaimlerChrysler affirms that the Northeast is a pretty strong car market, said Dominick Infante, manager of global sales and service public affairs for Chrysler products.
Rural regions, as expected, are strong on practical pickups. Even so, Infante notes that throngs of PT Cruiser orders have come from such areas as rural Georgia. “Demand has been pretty steady and constant” for that hot-seller.
Volkswagen also has found relatively uniform interest around the country for its New Beetle except in the Northeast, which lags well behind. But then, according to corporate communications director Steve Keyes, that region with few big metropolitan areas. Passats perform considerably better in the mid-Atlantic region than elsewhere. So does the lower-priced Jetta, which also lags in the Northeast.
Why are passenger cars hotter than trucks there? Ford’s Pipas suggests that road sizes might be a significant factor. New England’s two-lane highways are narrower, with a small–or no–shoulder. City streets are more European in their layout.
At Mazda, pickups do especially well in the Gulf Coast region (which extends northward to Iowa). Two-wheel-drive models sell with particular fervor, which gives the company high hopes for its new Dual Sport model, blending the appearance of a 4×4 with 2WD. Add four-wheel-drive and Mazda pickups attract attention in the Northeast.
Interest in Mazda’s Miata sports car is almost universal. But, “the volume lies in the Sun Belt,” said marketing manager Alan Childers. In contrast, retractable hardtops for the Miata are “a non-Sun Belt opportunity.”
North-South differences hold true for other makes as well. Where the weather is mostly pleasant year-round, convertibles and sporty models abound. According to Chrysler’s Infante, Jeep Wranglers and Sebring convertibles sell better in “the smile states” (southwest and southeast), especially Florida.
Mustang convertibles also sell better in the South. “It sort of follows the swimming pools,” said Ford’s Pipas. In those areas, the big Mercury Grand Marquis sedan also is popular, thanks to larger numbers of older residents.
Four-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive vehicles show the greatest regional differences. Four-wheel-drive is much more popular in Nissan’s Northeast and Northwest regions (including Colorado). “In the Northeast, they hardly order any two-wheel-drive,” said Scott Fessenden, director of marketing for Nissan/Infiniti. In the Southeast, it’s the reverse.
Southern states are almost exclusively 4×2, said Ford’s Pipas. “It’s more of a question of driving conditions.”
Chrysler’s Infante points out a curious exception. Though Florida is flat, most Grand Cherokees (90 percent) there are 4WD. In Los Angeles, 80 percent of Grand Cherokees have 2WD. Grand Cherokee Limiteds sell well in Florida, suggesting that affluence is a factor In Los Angeles, most of those vehicles are Laredos, or the 2WD base model. The grand Cherokee ranges in price from the Laredo at $27,300 to the Limited at $35,095.
Dodge Durangos follow the more customary pattern. Almost all the Durangos sold in Florida are 2WD. Infante suggests buyers use it more as a work vehicle.
Chrysler sells a lot of AWD Town & Country mini-vans in New England. Chicago, Michigan and Minnesota also are very strong AWD markets.
“Chicago is one of our best 4WD markets,” said Mercedes’ Enders. In the South, he said, 4WD “can be a detriment. People feel that fuel economy may not be as good.”
California continues to be almost a special case when it comes to vehicle popularity. For most of the last half-century, the West Coast has demanded the latest products, including the first example of an automobile that’s rolled off the assembly line.
West Coast tastes also have long preferred imported vehicles. Until recently, imports were hotter on the coasts than in the middle of the country.
Los Angeles is “one of the hottest PT [Cruiser] markets in the country,” said Chrysler’s Infante. “It’s really a third car out there.” Not only is the PT Cruiser “kind of an image vehicle,” but it also serves as a “young family vehicle with a lot of style” for the image conscious L.A. market.
Chrysler also expects the latest version of its mini-vans to do well in Los Angeles, mainly because it’s the latest thing, though Los Angelenos usually favor SUVs over mini-vans. As for Chrysler’s Sebring convertible, Infante predicts that the market will go even crazier despite the competition from the Toyota Camry Solara.
“Chicago is the largest mini-van zone in the country,” Chrysler’s Infante said, citing its suburb-intensive, family-intensive structure. In the city, customers lean toward the less-costly short-wheelbase Chrysler mini-vans, whereas the long versions draw more buyers in the ‘burbs.
Luxury levels also affect popularity. Mercedes-Benz is an example. Its lowest-priced model, the C-Class, enjoys excellent sales in Chicago. But in the Northeast, large cars do well. New York City yields plenty of sales for the higher-dollar S-Class, which Enders attributes to the perception that Wall Street workers lean toward cars that might be chauffeur-driven or at the top of the scale.
At the pinnacle of the Mercedes-Benz dollar scale, Chicago does “a great V-12 business.” Enders believes that like Californians, Chicagoans also “look for the latest and greatest.”
FINDING THE RIGHT CLIMATE FOR OPTIONS AROUND THE COUNTRY
Shoppers still like to drive home loaded vehicles–a particular model that comes well equipped or by consulting the options list. Still, options aren’t as much of an issue as they once were.
“In days gone by, when a base model vehicle had just the bare essentials,” air conditioning was a significant option, said Ford’s sales analysis manager George Pipas. Today, air is basically standard on all Fords, and on all but the low-end models from most manufacturers.
Option preferences typically follow plain, cold logic. The most important option difference, North versus South, is four-wheel- or all-wheel-drive. Volkswagen’s recently introduced 4Motion system, for instance, is being installed on 35 percent of cars, more than the expected 25 percent “take rate” nationwide.
BMW’s new AWD system for 3-Series models sells better in the Central area, including Chicago, than in other regions by 2-to-1. Heated seats are more popular in the Central region, where Xenon headlights also are in greater demand.
Anti-lock brakes also go into more vehicles sold up north, where winter traction is a concern. Traction control systems, limited-slip differentials and anything that appears related to cold-weather driving also are less common in the Sun Belt.
Sunroofs–no surprise–are more popular in the Sun Belt.
Color can kill a sale, too. The “biggest complaint we get,” said Nissan’s Scott Fessenden, “is when a bunch of black vehicles show up in Arizona. They’re a real `no-no”‘ there. “Black leather with black paint [black-on-black] is pretty popular on the West Coast,” though that combination is spreading elsewhere.
Once popular among cash-strapped shoppers, stripped-down models don’t make the grade these days. Jetta buyers, to take one example, “generally like the cars pretty well equipped,” said Steve Keyes, corporate communications manager for Volkswagen/Audi. A Jetta with a manual transmission and manual windows, “from a dealer perspective, is a tougher sell.”
