On Wednesday, Kelley Blue Book (kbb.com) announced the results of the latest Kelley Blue Book Market Research survey of new-car shoppers, which detailed the types of auto manufacturer financial assurance and guarantee programs they find most motivating.

Hyundai announced a program earlier this year, called the Hyundai Assurance Program, which successfully increased consumer confidence and spurred new-car sales of the Hyundai brand. Hyundai traffic on kbb.com also saw spikes of 35 percent the week the program made its’ debut.  Taking into consideration consumer opinions, similar programs were announced this week by Ford – Ford Advantage Plan and by General Motors (GM Total Confidence).

New car shoppers were asked how motivated they would be to purchase a vehicle if a manufacturer offered one of the following guarantee options in the event that they were faced with job loss or other serious financial challenges:

• 76 percent of new-car shoppers said they are most motivated by a no-fault return option.
• 75 percent of shoppers said they liked the idea of payment assistance, where a manufacturer covers payments on the car-buyers’ behalf for a specified period of time, as well as deferred payments up to six months without penalties.
• 63 percent of shoppers said they were most motivated by a trade-down plan, which is the ability to trade-down to a cheaper/smaller vehicle to reduce payments.
• 49 percent said they liked a gradual payment ladder, which lowers payments for the first few months, working up to full payment amount over time. 

Paul Johnson, who is president and chief executive officer of Kelley Blue Book and kbb.com, said that taking the risk out of car-buying right now is the key to getting consumers back into dealerships:

“These new assurances offered by the domestic auto manufacturers, new tax incentives and government-backed warranties, as well as our President’s promise that he will ‘not let our auto industry simply vanish,’ should allay fears, diminish the risk and hopefully get shoppers to once again reconsider domestic vehicles.”

Which automotive guarantee motivates you?

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