Think the auto bailouts are still unpopular? Fifty-four percent (54%) of Americans say they are less likely to buy a General Motors car because the federal government is the automaker’s majority owner.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just nine percent (9%) say they are more likely to buy a GM car for that reason, while 33% say the government’s majority stake in the company has no impact on their purchasing decisions. (To see survey question wording, click here).
Twenty-seven percent (27%) say they or someone they know has avoided buying a GM car because of the bailout and government takeover. Fifty-three percent (53%) say that’s not true for them, but another 21% are not sure.
A year ago, 17% favored a boycott of GM products.
The bailout story has been helpful to one of the Big Three U.S. automakers. Ford did not seek a government bailout and 55% of Americans say they are more likely to buy a Ford car for that reason. Ten percent (10%) say they’re less likely to do so. Thirty percent (30%) say Ford’s decision not to ask for a bailout has no impact on whether they buy a car from the company or not.
In fact, 18% say they or someone they know has bought a Ford car just because the company did not take any bailout funding. Sixty-nine percent (69%) say that isn’t their experience. Thirteen percent (13%) aren’t sure.
The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on September 29-30, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Fifty-three percent (53%) of Americans still think the federal government bailout of GM and Chrysler was a bad idea. Most adults were opposed to the taxpayer bailout of the two auto companies right from the start.
The bailouts are one of the reasons why 65% of voters remain at least somewhat angry at the current policies of the federal government, with 40% who are Very Angry.
The majority of adults across virtually all demographic groups say they are less likely to buy a Ford because of the company’s new ownership. Government employees and African-Americans are among the only exceptions. But even 53% of government employees say they are more likely to buy a Ford because the company didn’t take a bailout.
Seventy-four percent (74%) of Republicans and 51% of adults not affiliated with either party say they are less likely to buy a GM car because of the government ownership. Just 37% of Democrats agree.
Interestingly, however, a plurality (45%) of Democrats say they are more likely to buy a Ford because it didn’t take a taxpayer bailout. Seventy-two percent (72%) of Republicans and a plurality (45%) of unaffiliateds share that view.
Republicans and unaffiliated adults are more than twice as likely as Democrats to know someone who already has not purchased a GM car or has a family member or friend who has chosen not to buy one because of the government’s role in the company.
Similarly, Republicans and unaffiliateds are more likely than Democrats to have purchased a Ford or to know someone who has because the company didn’t seek a bailout.
Still, in a separate survey in early June, 48% of those who planned to buy a new or used car in the next year said they are at least somewhat likely to buy either a Ford or a vehicle made by General Motors. Those findings included 20% who were Very Likely to buy a Ford and 26% Very Likely to buy a GM product instead.
Most voters (57%) have more confidence in the judgment of a member of Congress who voted against the bailouts than on one who voted for them.
Fifty-one percent (51%) believe the government as the majority owner of GM has a conflict-of-interest when it comes to regulating competing automakers, as in the recent case of Toyota’s safety problems. Twenty-five percent (25%) think the government was criticizing Toyota in the spring to help GM.
