Are Shoppers Still Affected by GM, Chrysler Bailouts?

CHICAGO — About a year after the automakers respectively filed for bankruptcy, there is still a large chunk of shoppers who are put off about the bailout money given to General Motors and Chrysler, but for most consumers, those bailouts don't appear to play a role in whether they would buy from either of these two automakers, according to Cars.com.

The website's data indicates a third of consumers aren't as willing to put GM and Chrysler on their shopping list due to the bailouts, and two-thirds claimed their willingness to consider those brands has not been affected.

Moreover, the recent recall issues at Toyota seem to have taken some of the heat off GM and Chrysler, both of which enjoyed double-digit sales gains in May.

Specifically, GM said sales of its four core brands climbed 32 percent year-over-year, while Chrysler reported a 33-percent year-over-year upswing.

However, their Big 3 rival Ford appears to still be gaining a lot of favor for not taking bailout money. Cars.com indicates that even though 53 percent of shoppers claim this doesn't affect which brand they purchase, almost half (47 percent) said they would lean toward Ford instead of GM or Chrysler when considering vehicles.   

"Obviously, Toyota's issues have definitely had a big impact on the market and definitely helped their competitors, GM in particular," explained Patrick Olsen, Cars.com editor-in-chief Patrick Olsen.

"However, while it's clear that some consumers still hold a grudge against GM and Chrysler, a vast majority don't factor the bailouts in their buying decision and that clearly can be seen in overall sales and leads generated through Cars.com over the last year," he added.

Olsen continued: "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. 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."