Today AdNews asked us to answer a few questions about where we see the future of Hybrids in this country. Here’s what we came up with…
Q: Can you give some insight into the varying consumer attitudes between overseas where you worked on Toyota Prius and here in Australia, on hybrid car models? Are the reasons for buying hybrid cars overseas and in Australia different?
I think car attitudes in general are different between Europe and Australia. In Australia we have a long romance with the big 6. For most blokes anything less than 6 cylinders has been seen as a girl’s car and the driving dream is a V8. In fact every Aussie classic I can think of is a 6 cylinder. The Holden red motor is legendary and there are plenty of them still going. This obsession is understandable given that the next major city can be 12 hours away, however clearly in future it will need to change.
In Europe the legacy is very different. A classic European car is more likely to be a Fiat Bambino or a Citroen 2CV. A 12 hour drive would take you across 4 countries and you would be more likely to catch a train. Their cities are denser and subways better established which means a smaller runaround car has always been the norm. People see 2 litres as a big engine. In fact, in Ireland, where we helped launch the Toyota Prius, insurance costs make it almost prohibitive to own any car larger than a 1.6 and only a handful of 6 cylinder cars are even brought into the country each year. Their Camry is a four cylinder model.
So, what you see in Europe is a predisposition to a smaller, more economical car, which makes the Prius quite a powerful car. In fact, the promise is two litre power with one litre efficiency so you’re actually offering people a more grunty car than they’re used to. In Australia, you’re offering a car that is more likely to be on par or with or less powerful than what they are used to driving.
Also, I think attitudes are a little more liberal toward new technology in parts of Europe. Being more environmentally aware, Eurpoeans tend to embrace these new car concepts whereas I think here we are a little more wary. The Smart car is a great example of that. It sells well in Europe whereas here Kahdo is by far the biggest buyer.
Q: Are green considerations on-the-whole an important factor in car buying decisions, or are other factors like speed, handling, and extra-features, more important? Mainly, is it rising petrol prices that is making more people conscious of the benefits of hybrid cars?
That, of course, depends who you’re talking to.
First and foremost there is a massive growth in what we call the ‘conscious consumer’. Already sustainability is a $12 billion market in Australia and that is predicted to grow to $21 billion by 2010. So I think it fair to assume that environmental factors are playing a bigger and bigger part in the decision making process.
At the same time petrol prices are almost unbearable so you would expect them to be a driver. Having said that, when we first launched the Prius in Europe we did so on a fuel saving rather than an environmental platform and were really surprised by how attractive the environmental message was to people. So much so that we changed a lot of the campaign to suit.
I think that the most telling insight is that while the Prius has been a huge success as a hybrid this is yet to be repeated when hybrid engines are put into existing model cars such as the Civic. What this shows is that people know there is an environmental problem and they are looking for ways to not only help but be seen to help. Doing the right thing is becoming a badge of honour and people want to wear it.
Q: Looking at what happened with Saab this year, who got a slap on the wrist from the ACCC for its Every Saab is Green campaign (it claimed planting 17 native trees on behalf of the purchaser of a Saab vehicle would offset the carbon dioxide emissions for the life of the vehicle), do you think that making green claims in auto-marketing can be risky business?
I think that making questionable claims in any industry is risky.
This is particularly so in the environmental field. There is so much at stake and such a groundswell of intelligent, vocal advocates that any claim you make will be analysed, debated and, thanks to the internet, that information will spread fast.
For a brand looking to gain eco credentials that can cut both ways. Tell a lie and your brand will be damaged very quickly. But do something real and tell your story truthfully and you’ll find a willing audience of ready consumers ready to help you spread your story and get behind your brand or product.
Of course that doesn’t mean you have to be perfect. People know change comes in stages and that there is no silver bullet. It just means making a real effort to do the right thing and then being truthful and humble about it. Pretty much the opposite of what SAAB did really.
Q: Where is the growth in hybrid car sales coming from? VFACTS figures show that in 2007 there were 351 new hybrid sales in the SUV non-private segment, a 225% increase on 2006’s 108. Besides the SUV category and hybrids also used in government fleets, what other areas else is growth set to take off?
This possibly goes back to the first question. I think, in Australia at least, the growth will come from offering cars that satisfy that big 6 desire but do so in a hybrid way.
Holden says they will have a hybrid Commodore on the market within 3 years and already, as you say, hybrid engines are sneaking into luxury, city driven, 4WDs.
Research also tells us that the concept of the new ‘conscious consumer’ is poised to become mainstream in which case, in a few years and assuming availability of different models, it’s hard to see people buying anything else.
