The world has fully gone green, if only because people are being driven by a) the high price of fuel, and b) green is the red-hot social cause of this decade.
So when it comes to cars, which U.S. cities do you think have the most eco-friendly car buyers?
You wouldn’t have been far off if your choices included a number of California towns. According to a recent rundown by Cars.com, six of the top 10 greenest car buyer cities were in California. Two others were in Wisconsin, and Oregon and Ohio hoisted the other two.
In order, the greenest of the green were:
San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, Calif.
Madison, Wisc.
Monterey-Salinas, Calif.
Portland, Ore.
San Diego, Calif.
Green Bay-Appleton, Wisc.
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto, Calif.
Chico-Redding, Calif.
Zanesville, Ohio
Being from Ohio, I’m trying to figure out the Zanesville thing, too.
As you can guess, there was also a list of where the least green car shoppers live – we’ll call them the browns. In order, this group includes:
Odessa-Midland, Texas/N.M.
Laredo, Texas
Fairbanks, Alaska
Albany, Ga.
Bluefield-Beckley-Oakhill, Va./W. Va.
Glendive, Mont.
Helena, Mont.
Columbus-Tupelo-West Point, Ala./Miss.
Casper-Riverton, Wyo.
Baton Rouge, La.
I see a lot of pick-up trucks on that list of cities, so it’s little wonder they came out brown.
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You can always find great ideas anywhere, even at the competition.
For instance, a sharp finance manager at a Massachusetts car dealership boosted the company’s sales of tire road hazard warranties during a recent renovation at the dealership. Seems workmen there left a lot of nails and screws and nuts and bolts on the ground.
The manager grabbed a glass jar and made a nice desk display for himself, and with a little salesmanship (“You probably won’t make it off this lot without damaging your tires.”) then watched the dealership’s road hazard sales penetration rate jump to 78% of all new and used car sales – up from 51% prior to the construction project.
So you know: the dealer’s three-year road hazard plan sells for $495; a five-year plan goes for $695.
