Blog

With the mid-term elections coming in November, AutoPacific thought it would be interesting to see which auto brands leaned to the left or right.  An internet survey was conducted in July, 2014 to identify the political persuasion of drivers who would consider brands sold in the United States.  Each respondent identified whether they were aligned with the following political categories:  Communist, Socialist, Democrat, Green, Independent, Libertarian, Republican, Constitution, and Tea Party.  These were sorted into Liberal, Independent and Conservative.  The Liberal grouping includes Communist, Socialist, Democrat and Green.  Independent is Independent.  The Conservative grouping includes Libertarian, Republican, Constitution and Tea Party.

Pre-Conceived Notions About Brands and Politics  Years ago, AutoPacific asked the political persuasion question in a survey.  The responses from many were rude, to say the least.  Now with the Internet it seems folks are more willing to share their leanings.

You might expect that there were some notions about the brands in our heads when we started this exercise.  Are Volvo and Subaru the ultimate Liberal brands?  Are Lincoln and Cadillac the most Conservative?  Which brands appeal to people who consider themselves Independent?  Are Tesla considerers Green?  Go below the fold to find out.

Conservative Leaning  The overall sample tends to lean towards the Conservative end of the spectrum.  The most Conservative brands are Land Rover (57%), Lexus (51%), Lincoln (51%), Acura (49%), GMC (49%).  The least Conservative brands are Volvo (28%), Tesla (29%), MINI (31%).

Independents – The Thinkers  Volvo (30%) considerers are the most likely to consider themselves Independent.  Subaru (29%), Fiat (28%) and Jeep (28%) also lean more strongly Independent.

Tesla and MINI the Most Liberal  The top Liberal brands are Tesla (39%), MINI (38%), Volvo (36%), smart (36%).  The least Liberal are GMC (24%), Jeep (24%), Acura (25%), Dodge (26%), Infiniti (26%), Lexus (26%).

The Far Right – Tea Party  When we look at more detail on the “right” 14% of Lincoln considerers identify with the Tea Party.  Other high identification with Tea Party are Mitsubishi (13%), Land Rover (10%), Chrysler (9%), Dodge (9%).  The least likely to identify with the Tea Party are:  Fiat (2%), Jaguar (3%), Volvo (4%), Tesla (4%), MINI (4%), Mercedes-Benz (4%).

The Far Left – Communist and Socialist  When we look at more detail on the “left” 2% of Mitsubishi and Scion considerers identify with Communist.  3% of Tesla considerers identify as Socialists along with 2% of Scion and 2% of Volvo considerers.

An interesting side note may be that only 4% of Tesla considerers identify with “Green”.