Hybrid owners (past and current) birth years?

Last bump ... 142 ... excellent!

Merry Christmas!

Analysis begins tomorrow.

SNEEK PREVIEW:

	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4	Column 5
0	age	years	prius %	census %	-lost or +up
1	82.5	1925-1929	0.71%	3.61%	-2.90%
2	...	...	...	...	...
3	17.5	1990-1994	0.71%	8.37%	-7.66%

2000 census vs PriusChat poll

The final will post shortly after the poll closes. <grins>

Bob Wilson

 

Well if we ignore the "self selection" of participants versus random sampling, I don't see having a few non-USA participants really hurts the accuracy that much. <grins>

For good measure, I'll attach the spreadsheet with the USA census data. Our non-USA folks can compare the USA population distribution to their own and see if there is a significant difference in age distributions.

This is a 'fun' poll that may raise some insights about our community as well as 'what the hey?' There are professional polling and marketing companies that make a living from looking at populations and try to spot trends. For example, CNW Marketing comes to mind ... <grins>

There has been no update by CNW Marketing after June 2008 when gasoline prices were running $3-4/gallon. Hummm.

Bob Wilson

 

Ok,

Graphed, it looks like this:

Looks like there is a gap of Prius ownership by the 'middle aged' group. Is there a name for that generation?

I was surprised by the 'gap in the middle age':

	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4	Column 5	Column 6
0	average age	years	prius %	census %	diff. %	lost owners
1	82.5	1925-1929	0.60%	3.61%	-3.00%	-5
2	77.5	1930-1934	0.60%	3.88%	-3.28%	-5
3	72.5	1935-1939	4.22%	4.40%	-0.18%	0
4	67.5	1940-1944	7.23%	5.48%	1.75%	3
5	62.5	1945-1949	11.45%	7.16%	4.29%	7
6	57.5	1950-1954	12.65%	8.18%	4.47%	7
7	52.5	1955-1959	15.06%	9.14%	5.92%	10
8	47.5	1960-1964	10.24%	9.24%	1.00%	2
9	42.5	1965-1969	5.42%	8.35%	-2.93%	-5
10	37.5	1970-1974	7.83%	7.89%	-0.06%	0
11	32.5	1975-1979	12.05%	7.72%	4.33%	7
12	27.5	1980-1984	9.04%	8.23%	0.80%	1
13	22.5	1985-1989	3.01%	8.36%	-5.34%	-9
14	17.5	1990-1994	0.60%	8.37%	-7.76%	-13

The lower and upper age groups are probably income limited. The younger ones don't have the income for a new Prius and the older ones are likely on fixed incomes. It is a pattern I would expect regardless of vehicle. But the 'middle aged gap' was a surprise.

Any ideas about what happened to those born 1962-1972?

• +5-12 years - kindergarden through grade school
• +12-15 years - middle school
• +15-18 years - high school
• +18-22 years - college

We've often heard skeptics claiming Prius owners are "making a statement" but perhaps it is more accurate that the missing Prius owners are the ones "making a statement." Of course it is possible the Prius may be a vehicle whose profile does not appeals to those raising a family.

It might be interesting to see a Prius commercial where a parent is driving the car with some tweens and one of the kids says,"Cool Daddy, you're getting great mileage! Can I have $10 for the mall?" ... Fade to "Prius, the car that leaves you with change for the mall."
​

I am encouraged by the younger bump of owners. In 5 years when we do this poll again, it will be interesting to see if the young group continues to expand and the 'middle age, dead band' continues to age ... to move up the scale. Also, we should have the 2010 USA census in about a year. This data will be perfect to compare against this poll but I suspect we won't see a big change.

Bob Wilson

ps. I'm in the 60-65 bucket.

 

As an experiment, could you try having a child seat in the car, behind the driver seat, for a month or so? Perhaps a baby bottle with water in the passenger door water bottle holder?

See if having a child seat behind the driver seat meets the ... maternal aspects.

Thanks,
Bob Wilson