Eco Car purchasing in Japan
With the termination of the Eco Car subsidy being largely responsible for the recently-announced 1.1% drop in Japan’s GDP for the previous quarter, this seems a good time to look at how the public perceived the scheme through the results of a survey from DIMSDRIVE Research.
Demographics
Between the 21st of October and the 5th of November 2010 7,681 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.9% of the sample were male, 0.7% in their teens, 10.6% in their twenties, 29.9% in their thirties, 32,5% in their forties, 17.6% in their fifties, and 8.7% in their sixties.
From an economic standpoint, the Eco Car scheme was good for opening wallets and getting money circulating, the biggest issue these days in the Japanese economy. From an environmental standpoint, however, a lot of cars were upgraded earlier that they needed be, the life and recycling of the batteries in hybrids is still an open question, and due to the way the scheme was structured, a lot of cars were not really that ecologically sound. A good diesel, such as on a Volkswagen, can outrun most other cars, although diesel does not have a good image in Japan.
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