It turns out that for new car buyers, quick acceleration and optional extras are far more important than low CO2 emissions.



The results from our poll of 1,982 UK motorists found that price is the top concern in a new vehicle, followed closely by number of seats and fuel economy.



Of the tiny 1% of respondents who claimed CO2 emissions would be the first thing they looked at, two thirds (67%) stated this was due to the ‘money-saving element’ such as cheaper road-tax that came as a bonus. Only one in ten of those respondents (11%), were concerned about the impact on the environment.



When asked, ‘If you were to buy a brand new car, what is the first thing you would look for in a vehicle?’ and told to select from a multiple choice list, 21% selected ‘price’. Of these, 52% said they wouldn’t buy a car if it was even slightly above their budget.



Founder of carbuzz, James Hind explains, 'We wanted to discover what the first thing is that people look for in a vehicle, due to the fact that a large part of our newly launched website is devoted to finding the perfect car based on your personal requirements. Our ‘Car Chooser’ tool allows you to input your budget, number of seats desired, MPG and filter results to refine your search.'



'Though we weren’t hugely surprised by the results, it’s still shocking that people are more concerned about optional extras such as air-con and cup holders than low CO2 emissions. Many people are still only just coming around to the ‘green is good’ idea, and aside from the money-saving aspect people just don’t seem to see the benefits.'





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