BBC Radio 5Live diesel car research

Survey of diesel car drivers in Britain for BBC Radio 5Live on reasons behind car purchases.

Of those who currently drive a diesel car, nearly half (46%) say that they would buy one again. One in six (16%) would buy a petrol car and 12% would buy hybrid. A quarter (25%) said they do not know what type of car they would buy next time.
Of those diesel car drivers who would not buy one again, roughly half say the reason for this is possible future taxes on high emission cars (52%) or the environmental impact of them (45%).
Fuel economy is the most important factor in the decision of what car to buy for diesel car drivers (59% say this). Overall, it is the most important individual factor for both diesel car drivers who would buy diesel again (57%) and diesel car drivers who would not (61%).
However, whereas fuel economy is the single most important factor in the decision of those who would buy diesel again, there are a variety of different factors in the decisions of those who would not. For example, the cost of possible future taxes on high emission cars is roughly twice as important in their decision of what type of car to buy next as it is for those who would buy a diesel car again (52% v 24%).
Amongst those who currently drive a diesel car but would not buy one again, the environmental impact is a more important factor in their decision than for those who would buy diesel (45% v 16%).

Date Published: 01/02/2017

Categories: Consumer | GB | Media

Client: BBC Radio 5Live

Methodology

ComRes interviewed 4,088 GB adults (of which 918 are diesel car drivers) online between 25^th and 29^th January 2017. Data were weighted to be demographically representative of all GB adults. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.