Pain at the Pump Doesn’t Faze New-Car Buyers

The consensus was sacrifice, the need for Americans to accept that sharing bounty and limiting resource consumption will be necessary parts of their future, if they want to live in peace.

The reality was something different, highlighted by panel discussions, news conferences and automotive executive interviews held in conjunction with the 64th annual staging of the Washington Auto Show, which ends tonight at the Washington Convention Center.

To wit: Not many Americans are willing to sacrifice anything that will in any way lead to their immediate discomfort or inconvenience or upset their sense of entitlement to the better life, especially in the matter of personal transportation.

That may seem at odds with the conventional notion that we are a caring, compassionate people, conservative or otherwise. But take a look at one of the attitudinal markers — an online survey of U.S. consumers’ priority considerations in the purchase of a new car or truck, conducted by the Progressive Group of Insurance Companies.

Washington Post