Republicans buy domestic, Democrats buy imports.
02-18-2005, 09:08 AM
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Republicans buy domestic, Democrats buy imports.
I find this pretty interesting. By the way the politcal landscape is painted, you'd assume it to be the exact opposite...
Anyway, found it interesting considering the other thread...
Anyway, found it interesting considering the other thread...
Originally Posted by The Car Connection
Mixed Results from Political Survey of Buyers
CNW Marketing Research, Inc., a West Coast firm headed by old Detroit hand Art Spinella, has published a curious report on the political leanings of new car buyers. Basically, the overall results from some 150,000 respondents over a year's time are hardly surprising:
-The split between Republicans and Democrats is virtually the same as the popular vote outcome of the November 2004 presidential election, 29.7 percent vs. 28.7 percent.
-Generally, Republicans favor domestic brands and Democrats like the imports but this reflects the Red Republican (center and south) geographical division versus the West Coast and New England Blue Democratic states, and the fact imports have always been more popular on the coasts.
-The research firm reports the proportion of car buyers classifying themselves "independent" has nearly doubled since first asked in the late 1980s, from about 22 percent up to nearly 42 percent.
Oddly, among the handful of buyers of high-priced super-luxury model Rolls, Bentley, Maybach, and Maserati, the split between GOP and Dems is about even *but few among these few call themselves independent. On the other hand, it is hard to figure why Scion, aimed at the youngest generation buyers, attracts the highest proportion of self-proclaimed independents, 66 percent.
Among volume cars, the one having the largest proportion of Republican buyers is Lincoln (39.3 percent), closely followed by Buick (39.0 percent), Mercury (38.4 percent), Cadillac (37.7 percent), and Chrysler (36.8 percent). More Democrats (42.1 percent) favor Subaru than any other make, followed by VW (39.5 percent), Honda (37.3 percent) and, surprise, Buick (36.9 percent).
Least popular among Republicans are Suzuki, Scion, Saturn, Kia, and Hyundai, probably reflecting youth and entry-level economics. Least favored by Dems are Mercury, Dodge, and, ahem, HUMMER.
Without knowing how the relevant questions were posed and the response rate to the political-*leaning question, it's hard to know what to make of all this. But we thought TCC readers would like to gnaw on these results. And please don't blame us for any resulting altercations. -Mike Davis
CNW Marketing Research, Inc., a West Coast firm headed by old Detroit hand Art Spinella, has published a curious report on the political leanings of new car buyers. Basically, the overall results from some 150,000 respondents over a year's time are hardly surprising:
-The split between Republicans and Democrats is virtually the same as the popular vote outcome of the November 2004 presidential election, 29.7 percent vs. 28.7 percent.
-Generally, Republicans favor domestic brands and Democrats like the imports but this reflects the Red Republican (center and south) geographical division versus the West Coast and New England Blue Democratic states, and the fact imports have always been more popular on the coasts.
-The research firm reports the proportion of car buyers classifying themselves "independent" has nearly doubled since first asked in the late 1980s, from about 22 percent up to nearly 42 percent.
Oddly, among the handful of buyers of high-priced super-luxury model Rolls, Bentley, Maybach, and Maserati, the split between GOP and Dems is about even *but few among these few call themselves independent. On the other hand, it is hard to figure why Scion, aimed at the youngest generation buyers, attracts the highest proportion of self-proclaimed independents, 66 percent.
Among volume cars, the one having the largest proportion of Republican buyers is Lincoln (39.3 percent), closely followed by Buick (39.0 percent), Mercury (38.4 percent), Cadillac (37.7 percent), and Chrysler (36.8 percent). More Democrats (42.1 percent) favor Subaru than any other make, followed by VW (39.5 percent), Honda (37.3 percent) and, surprise, Buick (36.9 percent).
Least popular among Republicans are Suzuki, Scion, Saturn, Kia, and Hyundai, probably reflecting youth and entry-level economics. Least favored by Dems are Mercury, Dodge, and, ahem, HUMMER.
Without knowing how the relevant questions were posed and the response rate to the political-*leaning question, it's hard to know what to make of all this. But we thought TCC readers would like to gnaw on these results. And please don't blame us for any resulting altercations. -Mike Davis
02-18-2005, 09:18 AM
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Re: Republicans buy domestic, Democrats buy imports.
My GF is a Dem and drive a Ford Taurus :blah: I'm an Independant and have owned nothing but Chevys and a Pontiac 
Republicans hate all the same cars I hate.
I love HUMMER. It would be interesting to see how many people that don't like HUMMER can't afford one.
Republicans hate all the same cars I hate.
I love HUMMER. It would be interesting to see how many people that don't like HUMMER can't afford one.
Last edited by Z28x; 02-18-2005 at 02:18 PM.
02-18-2005, 09:22 AM
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Re: Republicans buy domestic, Democrats buy imports.
Originally Posted by Z28x
My GF is a Dem and drive a Ford Taurus :blah:
I'm an Independant and have owned nothing but Chevys and a Pontiac
Republicans hate all the same cars I hate.
I'm an Independant and have owned nothing but Chevys and a Pontiac
Republicans hate all the same cars I hate.
I found it interesting, because I always had the impression that Democrats would overwhelmingly buy domestic, and Republicans would take up most of the imports...
02-18-2005, 09:44 AM
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Re: Republicans buy domestic, Democrats buy imports.
Originally Posted by Darth Xed
Ya, you gotta figure there are exceptions to every rule... I almost blew it off, but then I saw the sample size... 150,000 people is somewhat significant...
I found it interesting, because I always had the impression that Democrats would overwhelmingly buy domestic, and Republicans would take up most of the imports...
I found it interesting, because I always had the impression that Democrats would overwhelmingly buy domestic, and Republicans would take up most of the imports...
I see where you are coming from though, with big labor (unions) having the dems in their pocket, you'd think that a bunch of dems would buy Big 3 products (and they do). Remember, not all dems are driving imports, and not all republicans are driving domestics. Plus, although the union leadership has basically sold out its membership to the Dems, there are plenty of conservative blue collar union members out there whose opinions are basically drowned out by the leadership.
02-18-2005, 09:51 AM
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Re: Republicans buy domestic, Democrats buy imports.
Originally Posted by 96_Camaro_B4C
I've never felt that way at all. Dems like to paint the Repubs (at least of late) as hill-billy, redneck simpletons, and people tend to put Chevy/Ford/Dodge in that camp, while the Honda/Toyota cars are for the intellectuals of the world.
I see where you are coming from though, with big labor (unions) having the dems in their pocket, you'd think that a bunch of dems would buy Big 3 products (and they do).
Remember, not all dems are driving imports, and not all republicans are driving domestics. Plus, although the union leadership has basically sold out its membership to the Dems, there are plenty of conservative blue collar union members out there whose opinions are basically drowned out by the leadership.
Re: Republicans buy domestic, Democrats buy imports.
02-18-2005, 10:10 AM
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Re: Republicans buy domestic, Democrats buy imports.
WRT to the Lincoln, Mercury, Buick thing. If you ever looked around in traffic or at Denny's on a Sunday morning, and observed at at who'se driving all those big Park Avenues, Town cars, Buicks Century, Crown Vics etc... it's older people in their 50,60s and 70s and up 
. No surpise, these folk tend to vote very consevatively. No surpise either that they buy cars that are also very conservative looking. Right there, that explains a signifcant chunk of those numbers.
. No surpise, these folk tend to vote very consevatively. No surpise either that they buy cars that are also very conservative looking. Right there, that explains a signifcant chunk of those numbers.
02-18-2005, 10:11 AM
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Re: Republicans buy domestic, Democrats buy imports.
Originally Posted by ronssito
Most problems in society are the result of Liberal philosophy.
Last edited by Z28Marcus; 02-18-2005 at 10:21 AM.
02-18-2005, 10:15 AM
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Re: Republicans buy domestic, Democrats buy imports.
Originally Posted by Z28Marcus
WRT to the Lincoln, Mercury, Buick thing. If you ever looked around in traffic or at Denny's on a Sunday morning, and observed at at who'se driving all those big Park Avenues, Town cars, Buicks Century, Crown Vics etc... it's older people in their 50,60s and 70s and up . No surpise, these folk tend to vote very consevatively. No surpise either that they buy cars that are also very conservative looking. Right there, that explains a signifcant chunk of those numbers.
. No surpise, these folk tend to vote very consevatively. No surpise either that they buy cars that are also very conservative looking. Right there, that explains a signifcant chunk of those numbers.I can see your point about the age thing and the conservative looking vehicles... but... most Hondas, Toyotas, etc are pretty conservative looking too, IMHO...
But point taken.
Still, you'd think Democrats, particularly the younger ones, would purchase Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge, Saturn, Pontiac....
02-18-2005, 10:17 AM
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Re: Republicans buy domestic, Democrats buy imports.
Originally Posted by ronssito
Most problems in society are the result of Liberal philosophy.
Quite interesting, although I'd like to have seen a bit more indepth look at the results. It'd be interesting to see what party drives what type of vehicle, regardless of what shore it arrived from. I'd put my chips on the whim that Repubs tend to drive trucks/SUVs whereas Dems favor more heavily cars which is consistant with the current crop of redneck-Repubs vs. the Tree Huggers...
-Jason
02-18-2005, 10:20 AM
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Re: Republicans buy domestic, Democrats buy imports.
Originally Posted by Darth Xed
I can see your point about the age thing and the conservative looking vehicles... but... most Hondas, Toyotas, etc are pretty conservative looking too, IMHO...
But point taken.
Still, you'd think Democrats, particularly the younger ones, would purchase Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge, Saturn, Pontiac....
But point taken.
Still, you'd think Democrats, particularly the younger ones, would purchase Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge, Saturn, Pontiac....
75% of our vehlicles are domestic. Among friends and collegues, I estimate it's pretty much a 50/50 split, both ways where folks own domestic and imports. I prefer to buy domestic if I can to support our Economy. The only reason I bought a Honda was because I needed a used car (hence older) for Winter in hurry and couldn't find anything domestic that I liked the look of (in terms of reliability, condition etc.).
02-18-2005, 10:24 AM
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Re: Republicans buy domestic, Democrats buy imports.
Originally Posted by Z28Marcus
We do! 75% of our vehlicles are domestic. Among friends and collegues, I estimate it's pretty much a 50/50 split, both ways where folks own domestic and imports. I prefer to buy domestic if I can to support our Economy. The only reason I bought a Honda was because I needed use car (hence older) for Winter in hurry and couldn't find anything domestic that I liked the look of.
75% of our vehlicles are domestic. Among friends and collegues, I estimate it's pretty much a 50/50 split, both ways where folks own domestic and imports. I prefer to buy domestic if I can to support our Economy. The only reason I bought a Honda was because I needed use car (hence older) for Winter in hurry and couldn't find anything domestic that I liked the look of.I keep going back to the sample size of this poll though... 150,000 people is a lot more than anyone here can relate to on a personal level...
It's hard to argue that those numbers are very far from an acurate representation...
02-18-2005, 10:39 AM
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Re: Republicans buy domestic, Democrats buy imports.
It makes sense really. The big Dem areas of the country are the west coast and the NE. Where are the highest percentage of imports? The west coast followd by the NE.
Most college and people who just graduated from college seem to drive imports (hondas, scions) and the majority of college students are more liberal than the average.
Then once they get out in the workforce and start paying taxes they become independent or republican like what happened to me.
Most college and people who just graduated from college seem to drive imports (hondas, scions) and the majority of college students are more liberal than the average.
Then once they get out in the workforce and start paying taxes they become independent or republican like what happened to me.
02-18-2005, 10:40 AM
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Re: Republicans buy domestic, Democrats buy imports.
two things
1) old people are more conservative and buy more domestics because that is all that there was back in the day and thats the way they like it.
2) young people are more "liberal" for lack of a better word. They are willing to try new things. Younger people also want to be individuals and not drive the same cars as everyone else, that is why you will never see one model car sell 1/2 million a year ever again. A lot of people now a days have no brand loyalty, they just want the best product for the money.
1) old people are more conservative and buy more domestics because that is all that there was back in the day and thats the way they like it.
2) young people are more "liberal" for lack of a better word. They are willing to try new things. Younger people also want to be individuals and not drive the same cars as everyone else, that is why you will never see one model car sell 1/2 million a year ever again. A lot of people now a days have no brand loyalty, they just want the best product for the money.
02-18-2005, 10:44 AM
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Re: Republicans buy domestic, Democrats buy imports.
But wouldn't the whole Democratic creedo "we're the working man's party" almost mandate that they buy American...??? I know we could get back into the arguement that some import vehciles are built in America, but as a general rule, imports are imported, domestics are built here...
Isn't it hypocritical of a Democrat to buy an imported vehicle?
Isn't it hypocritical of a Democrat to buy an imported vehicle?