April 9, 2008

South Lags Behind Rest Of US On Hybrid Car Interest

Fifty-nine percent of car shoppers have purchased or would consider purchasing a hybrid as their next car, according to a survey by Cars.com.

According to the Cars.com Green Index, a ranking of hybrid vehicle searches by market, West Coast shoppers show the greatest interest in going green. San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Sacramento and San Diego make up the top five. In each of these markets, hybrids account for more than three percent of new car searches on Cars.com.

While West Coast cities seem to embrace hybrid vehicles more than their counterparts in the Midwest and on the East Coast, cities in the South lag behind most major cities in the country, with Houston, Oklahoma City, Memphis, Birmingham and Miami rounding out the bottom five.

“Gas prices definitely play a role in hybrid interest, because West Coast cities traditionally have higher gas prices on average than the rest of the country,” said Cars.com editor in chief Patrick Olsen. “The Cars.com Green Index also shows that interest is high in markets that are traditionally concerned with environmental issues, such as Denver and Minneapolis, and those plagued by traffic and congestion, such as Washington, D.C., and Boston.”

Rankings are calculated based on the number of hybrid searches in a market as a percentage of all new-car searches in the market.

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