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U.S. Vehicle Consumers Remain Unwilling to Sacrifice Current Priorities in Vehicle Purchases for Fuel Efficiency

Posted on: Wednesday, 15 April 2009, 11:46 CDT

Green Attributes of Vehicles Still Lag Far Behind Quality, Brand Strength, Active Safety

DETROIT, April 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite just six months ago paying the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history, only 1 in 10 Americans would be willing today to pay more for an environmentally friendly vehicle, notes Alexander Edwards, president of automotive research for Strategic Vision, Inc. Strategic Vision is a company of clinical psychologists and business professionals with more than 30 years of experience studying how and why consumers make buying decisions and the factors that drive owner satisfaction and loyalty.

Edwards is a featured panelist on a forum entitled "Does Green Matter in a Try-to-Survive Market?" to be held at 9 a.m. EDT, on Tuesday, April 21, 2009, as part of the ATX-Consulting4Drive Executive Business Theater. The event is in conjunction with the three-day annual Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress at Cobo Center. ATX (www.atxg.com) is a leading provider of connected vehicle (or telematics) services to the global automotive industry.

Edwards will detail how American consumers continue to have a long list of priorities for their next vehicle purchase that rank higher than having a fuel efficient vehicle. According to Strategic Vision research, out of 124 attributes cited by consumers for their next vehicle purchase, overall environmental friendliness of the vehicle ranked 53rd, emissions controls ranked 87th, fuel economy/good mileage ranked 120th and fuel efficiency ranked last at 124th.

Despite the low rankings for fuel efficiency and environmental friendliness on consumers' list of importance, Edwards asserts there remains opportunity for automobile OEMs to market green vehicles.

"When customers do not have to compromise on styling, room, power and price to obtain the best fuel economy and environmental friendliness in class, they will make the 'smart, green choice'," he added.

Joining Edwards on Tuesday's panel will be Scott Miller, chief executive officer of Synovate Motoresearch, and Paul Taylor, Ph.D., chief economist for the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA). The session will be moderated by Steve Millstein, president of ATX Group, a leading provider of connected vehicle (telematics) services to global automobile manufacturers.

ABOUT ATX:

ATX Group (www.atxg.com) is one of the world's leading providers of customized, connected vehicle services to global automobile manufacturers. ATX pioneered connected vehicle services in 1996, and today provides innovative safety, security, communication, navigation and information services to vehicle owners through many of world's most distinguished automotive brands, including Toyota, Lexus, BMW, Peugeot, Mercedes-Benz, Maybach, and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

ATX also customizes services to help automobile manufacturers and their affiliated dealerships use telematics data and multiple customer contact channels to reduce costs, enhance vehicle servicing, and more closely manage customer relationships and contacts with the vehicle through its lifetime. ATX operates from Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, and Dusseldorf, Germany.

ATX is a division of Cross Country Automotive Services (www.crosscountry-auto.com), a leading provider of enhanced claims management services to automobile insurance carriers and driver and vehicle assistance services to motorists.

ABOUT CONSULTING4DRIVE

Based in Berlin, Germany, and with offices in North America, India, China and Russia, Consulting4Drive is a strategy and process consulting company that helps automotive industry executives with "Widening Prospects" in the areas of Globalization, Organization and Process Excellence to improve efficiency and competitiveness. The company is a leading provider of consulting services across the automotive value chain in Development, Production, Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Sales, and Service & Marketing. The company also provides unique expertise in bridging the focus of technology with market and customer needs to position organizations for success in the future. Consulting4Drive partners with its customers to provide analysis & market trend studies, strategy and execution to ensure effectiveness.

Customers are global automakers and dealerships, automotive suppliers, and manufacturing companies.

Consulting4Drive is a company of IAV GmbH, one of the world's leading providers of engineering and product development services to the automotive industry.

www.consulting4drive.com.

NOTE: For a full schedule of events taking place at the SAE Executive Business Theater, please visit www.sae.org/congress

SOURCE ATX Group

Source: PR Newswire

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