(October 28, 2014) RHINEBECK, N.Y. — Phoenix Marketing International, a global marketing services firm, has released findings around the unprecedented volume of automobile recalls revealing that the more than 60% awareness of vehicle recalls negatively affects the perception that consumers have on safety and brands.

Additionally, awareness of the recalls was somewhat higher among consumers who were in the market for luxury vehicles, when compared to those in the non-luxury segment. Truck shoppers were least aware of the recalls.

“Recalls have been a part of the industry landscape for many years and have become a more common occurrence,” said Dennis Syrkowski, president, Automotive for Phoenix Marketing International.

“However, this most recent wave seemed to overwhelmingly impact consumer’s perception of vehicle safety, as these recalls covered critical items like seatbelts, airbags, and most notably, an ignition switch defect that could result in an engine shut-off rendering the vehicle’s steering, brakes and airbags inoperative.”

When asked which brands had recently announced a recent recall, Chevrolet, Toyota and Cadillac were mentioned by a sharply higher proportion of consumers compared to other brands. GM was most often cited overall, but this is likely due to GM being the corporate parent for the Chevrolet, Saturn and Pontiac brands which were associated with the large scale ignition switch recall.

Brand impression was also affected. As consumers entered the market to begin looking for their next vehicle, the impact of recalls on their willingness to consider a brand, easily knocked several brands suffering from recall attention, off their shopping lists.

Among non-luxury brands, Chevrolet was most impacted, with close to one half of automotive shoppers indicating they were somewhat to much less likely to consider Chevrolet. Around a third cited a similar sentiment for Toyota.

About Phoenix Marketing International

Phoenix Marketing International is a 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.