“Since I live here in LA, look for the cars with the best gas mileage so I’m really focusing on hybrids,” said Mack. “For me to even look at an American car is a lot because I can’t think of the last time I’ve owned an American made car.”
Even more interesting is the fact that Mack is now considering an American vehicle is the fact that she’s cross shopping a Mercury and a Lexus.
“I went over to GM and Chrysler and nothing grabbed me,” she said. “I see the biggest changes are at Ford.”
Keriyna Carter, a 19-year-old attendee, said she was caught by the Ford Fiesta. The car, targeted at Carter’s demographic, has been part of an aggressive marketing campaign by the Dearborn-based automaker, including giving 100 people Fiesta for a year as part of the Fiesta Movement to document their experiences with the car via social networking platforms such as Facebook and YouTube.
“It’s really nice,” said Carter. “It has nice body to it, technology. It seems like something that fits someone my age.”
The Ford booth also included live demonstrations with show attendees featuring some of the Fiesta features such as the hands-free SYNC technology.
Vincent Nguyen, 25, said he wanted to see the Ford Fiesta because of the buzz it’s been generating in the media.
“I liked it quite a bit when they announced it awhile back,” said Nguyen. “It’s gotten a lot of coverage. It’s nice.”
Clearly, the fact that Ford didn’t receive government funds for a bailout has put the automaker in a much better position in the minds of consumers than its Detroit counterparts.
Still, if Chrysler and GM don’t find their own formulas for exciting consumers quickly, the future survival of the carmakers could be in serious jeopardy.
Marcus Amick is a national automotive writer and product analyst.
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