June 7, 2010—Two-thirds of consumers said the acceptance of federal bailout funds last year by Chrysler and General Motors (GM) has not impacted their purchasing decisions, according to a recent Cars.com survey.
Patrick Olsen, editor in chief for Cars.com, said that while there are still some consumers who “hold a grudge” against the two manufacturers for taking bailout money, GM and Chrysler have greatly benefited from bad publicity around competitor Toyota’s accelerator sticking issues.
“While there's no doubt there is still some fallout from the financial struggles of GM and Chrysler, it has likely been mitigated by all of the issues that Toyota has had," Olsen said. "In fact, 30 percent of consumers still feel that Toyota hasn't addressed the safety issues with their cars and 51 percent feel Toyota has addressed some, but not all of the issues."
