Half of American Car Shoppers "More Likely" to Buy Fords Because of Bailouts

Ronnie Schreiber
by Ronnie Schreiber

Whether or not the White House pressured or even contacted Ford Motor Company after the company released their recent ad appealing to anti-bailout sentiments we’ll probably never know. We’ll also probably never know if this was all just a symphony of leaks and disclaimers orchestrated by Ford. What we do know, thanks to a Rasmussen opinion poll [Sub. required, some data here], is that Ford had good reason to stoke American consumers’ resentment against it’s domestic competitors because they were bailed out by the government. The poll shows that the bailout is clearly a factor, sometimes an overriding one, in automobile purchase decisions. Not only did nearly one in five recent Ford buyers say that they or family members specifically chose Ford products because they didn’t take a government bailout, about half of all consumers surveyed said that they were more likely to buy Fords than GM or Chrysler products specifically because Ford didn’t get bailed out. [Note: Yes, Ford took Dept. of Energy loans and other government funds, but this survey was looking at people’s opinions, not facts.]

To be clear, this was a political opinion poll of likely voters, not market research, and the questions were worded to provoke a response but the results were pretty consistent.

Nineteen percent of those questioned responded “yes” to the question: Have you or anyone in your family bought a car from Ford because it didn’t take a government bailout? Of people age 18 to 29, that figure rises to 33%.

When asked: Has the bailout and government takeover of GM caused you or anyone you know to avoid buying a GM car?, 25% of respondents said yes.

To “Does the fact that GM took bailout money make you more or less likely to buy a GM car?”, 50% said less likely. I’d really be interested in interviewing some of the 4% that said “more likely”. How does the fact that a company had to be bailed out make its products more desirable? Perhaps that’s a sympathy vote.

To the question: “Ford didn’t take bailout funding. Does this make you more or less likely to buy from Ford?”, 51% said more likely and 12% said less likely. Perhaps those 12% don’t think Ford needs their help.

Either way, the survey results quantify the subjective experience of Chris McDaniel, the F-150 owner who was featured expressing anti-bailout sentiments in the commercial at the center of this brouhaha. Politics aside, this Rasmussen poll shows that Ford would have missed a marketing opportunity had it not exploited those sentiments.

Ronnie Schreiber
Ronnie Schreiber

Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth, the original 3D car site.

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  • CharlesKrome CharlesKrome on Oct 04, 2011

    Am I misreading things or was that poll actually published in July of 2009? All you have to do is look at this year's sales numbers--which show Ford growing sales at a much slower rate than either Chrysler or GM--to see the what buyers "really" think about this stuff.

  • Astigmatism Astigmatism on Oct 04, 2011

    Incidentally, the best part of this whole thing is the comments section below the linked news story: "Helen Raines · United States Army I bought a Mitsubishi. Only the second foreign car I've ever owned. I will never buy American as long as the UAW holds sway. Reply · 4 · Like · Follow Post · Sunday at 1:27pm Cliff Harms Mitsubish In Normal Il has been UAW since 1989. http://www.mitsubishimanufacturing.com/about/history/index.asp Reply · 1 · Like · Sunday at 3:03pm Helen Raines · United States Army Hell, if I had known that, I wouldn't have bought Mitsubishi, either. To hell with UAW. Reply · 1 · Like · Sunday at 3:41pm"

    • See 1 previous
    • SherbornSean SherbornSean on Oct 04, 2011

      I wonder if Helen from the US Army knows who built all those Zeros that killed so many US Army soldiers and US Navy seamen in the Pacific theater many years ago. Or maybe she just liked the color of her Eclipse.

  • Rick T. If we really cared that much about climate change, shouldn't we letting in as many EV's as possible as cheaply as possible?
  • Slavuta Inflation creation act... 2 thoughts1, Are you saying Biden admin goes on the Trump's MAGA program?2, Protectionism rephrased: "Act incentivizes automakers to source materials from free-trade-compliant countries and build EVs in North America"Question: can non-free-trade country be a member of WTO?
  • EBFlex China can F right off.
  • MrIcky And tbh, this is why I don't mind a little subsidization of our battery industry. If the American or at least free trade companies don't get some sort of good start, they'll never be able to float long enough to become competitive.
  • SCE to AUX Does the WTO have any teeth? Seems like countries just flail it at each other like a soft rubber stick for internal political purposes.
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