Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Car Culture

'Hybrid hip' buyers drive a green car to prove they have a social conscience

By Ann Job

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What's the cost of a clearer social conscience?

It appears to be $3,000 to $5,000, the premium automakers are adding to sticker prices on the current batch of gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles.

Some people in Detroit no doubt have a hard time believing that an American consumer who's not a tree-hugger would spend that kind of extra cash to save only a few hundred dollars a year in gasoline.

But the importance of hybrids has gone beyond mere penny-pinching at the gas pump.

For some buyers, it's now about being "hybrid hip" -- fashionably projecting an appreciation for technology and possession of a social conscience when it comes to auto pollution and oil consumption.

Every one of us pays a premium of sorts to buy the vehicle we believe says something important about us. It's what keeps automobiles from becoming commodity products.

Hybrid buyers are no different. They simply seek an image that differs from the "sporty-and-fast" vibe of a Chevy Corvette, the "look-at-me" style of a Hummer H2 or the "I'm cool" attitude of a Chrysler 300C.

Indeed, the buyer demographics of the best-selling hybrid, Toyota's Prius, offer some interesting insight.

The Prius starts at $21,415, including destination charges, but its owners can generally afford much more.

Men who buy the Prius have a median age of 60 and household income of $98,000. Eighty percent are college-educated.

Women buyers, who now account for nearly half of Prius sales, have a median age of 52, live in households with an annual income of $89,000 and 80 percent are college-educated.

"Most hybrid buyers will tell you that they were influenced by doing something good for the environment, doing something to reduce oil consumption," said spokeswoman Sara Pines of Honda Motor Co. As with Prius, buyers of Honda's Insight and Accord hybrid cars have a median age in the 50s.

Perhaps most surprising, though, is that 70 percent of Prius buyers are switching from brands outside the Toyota Motor Co.p. family.

Maybe it's a way for aging baby boomers, known in their youth as the generation with a social conscience, to bring that social conscience to the roads.

It certainly doesn't surprise Yankelovich, a society trend research firm in Durham, N.C.

Yankelovich told Toyota that even today's affluent buyers "want to make a statement about social consciousness," without having to compromise, said Denny Clements, head of Toyota's upscale Lexus brand.

So in a few weeks, the Lexus RX 400h gasoline-electric hybrid will debut with a sticker well over $40,000.

But many hybrid hip buyers are likely to consider it a bargain price for a clearer conscience.

Ann Job is a California-based freelance writer. She can be reached at annjo84@hotmail.com.