ROME – What are the main criteria for choosing a car for Italians? What do they pay attention to most? The answer comes from a research conducted by Facile.it and MiaCar, on a representative sample of our “automotive” population. The survey, entrusted to the research institutes mUp Research and Norstat, immediately highlighted the first two criteria, in order of importance: price and consumption.
Thus it is highlighted that dreams and passions, when it comes to choosing the car to buy, give way to rationality. From the survey – carried out on a representative sample of the adult national population – it emerged that the first characteristic to which attention is paid is the purchase price; nearly 1 in 2 drivers said they chose the car based on cost. Women (51.4% vs 48.4% of the male sample) and the over 65s (56.4%) were more attentive to the budget, less interested were the respondents in the 45-54 age group (41.8%) and young people under 24 (44.4%).
The criteria for choice
Always with an eye to the wallet, the second criterion with which the car is chosen is that of fuel consumption; 37.2% of respondents stated that they were looking for a car with reduced consumption. Men (38.6% vs 35.6% of the female sample) and those under 24 (40.7%) pay more attention to this characteristic; at the territorial level, on the other hand, residents in the South and in the Islands (41.1%).
“Italians have always been attentive to household expenses and the survey confirms that even when they have to change cars, they do so paying great attention to costs”, explains Diego Palano, General Manager of Facile.it. “For this reason, in collaboration with MiaCar, we have launched a new section on Facile.it dedicated to the sale of new and zero-km cars; the goal is to offer users not only the possibility to save on the purchase of a vehicle, but also a complete assistance service, which starts from the car and extends to financing and insurance “.
In third place among the elements that guide Italians in choosing a car we find the vehicle brand; 32.7% bought the car on the basis of the car manufacturer, a feature that seems to be of particular interest to those under 24, among whom the percentage even reaches 40.7%.
Aesthetics are not among the first criteria but in any case 1 in 4 motorists consider it important; in this case, women (27.3%) and, once again, those under 24 (37%) are more attentive to the appearance of the vehicle.
The costs of maintaining a car, in addition to petrol, can be high: on this men and women seem to agree so much that 18% of respondents said they had chosen the car by carefully evaluating this aspect. On the other hand, the sensitivity towards other characteristics is different: men are more interested in the technological safety equipment of the vehicle (21% vs 15.3 of the female sample) and in the power of the engine (16.1% vs 9.2%), while women prefer small vehicles (19.5% vs 11.1% of the male sample).
Only 14.2% of respondents indicated passenger compartment space as one of the most important criteria when choosing a car, while even fewer, 13.8%, look at the size of the boot, a percentage which however rises to almost 20. % in the range of respondents aged between 35 and 44 years.
How Italians inform themselves
The survey carried out for Facile.it and MiaCar also focused on where Italians get information before buying a car: in the first place there is the Internet, used by more than 6 out of 10 respondents. In particular, they consult the sites of car manufacturers (38.5%), information sites (27.6%) and advertising sites (15.4%); only 9%, on the other hand, do so via social networks.
In second place are dealers and dealers, places where 57% of motorists gather the information they need before buying a vehicle. 21% of Italians ask for advice from relatives or friends while a little less, 17.3%, document themselves through specialized magazines.
Once you have a clearer idea, where do you actually buy the car? Dealers and dealers are confirmed as the main place (66.5%), but there are many, more than 5 million, who have identified the car to buy thanks to an online ad (14.4%), while 12.6 % did it through private individuals.
But be careful because it is not always about love at first sight. Rather; before finding the right vehicle for their needs, Italians take, on average, more than 2 months and even one in five need more than 3 months.
The fastest in choosing are the over 65 who, on average, take about 1 month and a half, the slowest, on the other hand, are the under 24, for whom, normally, not even 3 months are enough.
“Buying a car online can be an effective strategy not only to save money, but also time”, explains Lorenzo Sistino, CEO of MiaCar. “According to the data from the Facile.it-MiaCar observatory, decision-making times for those who buy on the web are much shorter. Transparent and already discounted prices avoid long negotiations and, together with the wide range of cars, allow users to find and buy the vehicle, on average, in 37 days, even if 49% only need 3 “.
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