Japan Premium Car Survey
May 3, 2008
- 7.2% of households own a luxury brand vehicle.
- The main impressions of luxury brand vehicles were "High level of safety", "Premium image", and "Quiet engines".
- The brands with the image most associated with "luxury brands" were Mercedes Benz, BMW, Ferrari, and Porsche.
- Lexus took 9th place in brand recognition
- Survey target: registered users of the internet community 'MyVoice'.
- Survey method: Web based survey/questionnaire.
- Survey time period: 2006 March 1-5.
- Sample size: 16,184.
Q. "In your household do you own any luxury vehicles (total cost including tax of more than ¥40,000,000)?"
- 7.2% of households have a luxury brand vehicle.
Q. Do you have an interest in luxury brand vehicles?
- Just over 1/3 of respondents had a medium to strong level of interest in luxury vehicles.
Q. Please choose the options which best represent your view of luxury brand vehicles (You may choose more than one option).
- The top three images of luxury vehicles in Japan were: Safety - 45.5%, Premium image - 42.2%, and Quiet engine - 41.5%.
Q. Please choose the option(s) which apply to you regarding purchasing and purchase information (You may choose more than one option.)
- When it comes to luxury brand vehicles, the vast majority of respondents turn to magazines and articles on their vehicle of interest (17.9%), while 16.3% will go to either a luxury brands website or the makers website.
Q. Please choose the brands and makers which present an image of being a luxury brand.
- Mercedes Benz came out on top with more than 80%, while BMW, Porsche, and Jaguar all had about 60%.
Q. Do you know much about the Lexus brand?
- Awareness of Lexus ("I own a Lexus", "I know of the logo and the car", "I've seen a Lexus") was approximately 90%.
Q. Describe your impression of or desire for luxury brand vehicles.
- Male, 39 "Someday I'd like to have a Crown. In a word, they're just fantastic'."
- Female, 23 "When the James Bond car came out I really wanted it. Whenever I see it I just think it's so cool"
- Male, 35 "I think of F1 and other motor sports when I think of luxury cars"
- Female, 29 "When I saw a special report on TV about the Lexus I really thought I'd like to drive one sometime. The Lexus is quiet and without much vibration, and is just really spectacular"
- Male, 22 "After playing the video game 'Gran Tourismo' I really wanted a high end vehicle"
- Male, 47 "I wanted one after watching the anime Circuit Wolf"
- Male, 25 "I remember the Toyota Celsior ads had such a high class image."
- Female, 41 "I saw the commercials on TV and thought 'aren't they just so environmentally friendly and efficient'."
- Female, 28 "After seeing some amazing luxury cars at a motor show I quite wanted one."
- Female, 29 "When I happen to see them out in the street I just think how cool they are"
- Female, 34 "From when I was a child and saw a cartoon called Super-car boom"
Source: Translated from MyVoice.