(October 21, 2014) RHINEBECK, N.Y. — New research from Phoenix Marketing International, a global marketing services firm, has released the results of a recent study that focused on vehicle on demand and car sharing services such as Uber, Lyft, ZipCar and Cars2Go. The research revealed that as awareness levels continue to increase, consumers are more likely to rethink the purchase of a car.

“Vehicle on demand and car sharing services have been making headlines as they continue to disrupt consumers’ needs,” said Dennis Syrkowski, president, Automotive for Phoenix Marketing International.

“Our study revealed that 12 percent of automotive shoppers agreed that the availability of these services has impacted their plans to purchase a new vehicle. While that number may be considered small by some, it should raise a red flag for the automotive industry as they think about how to hold on to market share by incenting consumers in new and creative ways.”

In addition to the 12 percent figure, 9 percent noted they would consider not buying their own vehicle based on the availability of these services. Single men were more likely to admit having their vehicle purchasing decisions impacted by these increasingly ubiquitous services.

The new data also shows that awareness of car sharing is becoming fairly widespread, with 63 percent of consumers recognizing these services. Respectively, awareness of vehicle on demand is close behind at 60 percent.

Geography was found to play a key role in consumer awareness. For instance, in Los Angeles and Chicago, consumers were twice as likely to be aware of, and have used, a vehicle on demand service, versus a car sharing service. Comparatively, in New York awareness and usage of both type of services was even. Interestingly enough though, even with widespread awareness, nationwide usage is still relatively low — with only 14 percent of people having tried vehicle on demand and only 8 percent having tried car sharing.

“These new and disruptive offerings are changing the landscape for the automotive industry,” continued Dennis. “However, these new business models also have an uphill battle as they continue to challenge local and federal laws and face powerful taxi and automotive lobbyists. This story is an interesting one, continually unfolding and far from over.”

About Phoenix Marketing International

Phoenix Marketing International is a premier global marketing services firm providing its clients with tailored, unique insight into their customers and markets via a wealth of existing proprietary data. Coupled with custom research products and the latest qualitative and quantitative techniques, Phoenix has extensive research experience across the Automotive, Financial Services, Healthcare, Converged Technology and Media, Restaurant, and Travel/Leisure sectors.