Heated Seats Tops List Of Most Desired New Car Features
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Heated seats are the number one most sought-after feature among car buyers, according to a recent study conducted by market research firm AutoPacific that was cited by Kelley Blue Book.
The study, dubbed the Future Attribute Demand Study, surveyed roughly 90,000 recent new-car buyers, asking them to rate their interest in more than 100 car features and characteristics. Feedback indicated buyers want heated seats more than any other feature, followed by blind spot monitoring, front and rear parking sensors, all-wheel drive/four-wheel drive, lane departure warning, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, a power front passenger seat, LED accent lighting, ventilated or cooled seats and driver’s seat position memory, in that order.
Many of these popular features are quickly becoming standard equipment on some vehicles – especially active safety technology like blind spot monitoring, parking sensors and lane departure warning. Many vehicles that come with an infotainment screen also feature Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard – including most General Motors vehicles.
While the majority of the most in-demand features are highly practical and have applicable real-world uses, the least popular features were mostly unnecessary gimmicks that serve little actual purpose. Leading the way was fully autonomous, hands-free driving without a steering wheel, which was tied with infotainment gesture controls. In-vehicle shopping features were the third least popular, while electronic engine noise enhancement and augmented reality head-up displays rounded out the bottom five.
This study appears to indicate the majority of new-car buyers value practical equipment that improves their ownership experience as opposed to gimmicky features that serve little purpose other than drumming up marketing hype. While features like an augmented reality head-up display may get views on YouTube, it seems most car buyers would rather see that money spent on standard heated seats and more standard active safety features.
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autonomous driving is the least favourite and I can see why… if there is an accident who gets the ticket..the driver ? or the car ?…
Autonomous driving will be good for tons of people like drunks, liars, careless people alls they have to do is once they hit someone just keep going and blame it on the car.
In the few trials conducted where results are made public, women are the most cautious about AV, but after driving an AV, they are very positive. The opposite for men – men think it’s “cool”, but after driving an AV for a time, they find AV boring. Men tend to want to drive the car, women are quite content to let the car do the driving. It makes sense (based on my personal experience).
I would be interested to see how many people want electric cars. Not hybrids just pure battery-powered.
Mini surveyed people on whether they would consider an EV. Approximately 40% of young people (Millennials + Generation Z) said they are considering an EV within the next 5 years. That’s a lot, but it’s not as much as I expected.
According to this dubious study the autonomous driving is allegedly the least wanted feature. That got to be a premier crackpot study. Tesla proves it without a doubt. Tesla frequently increases the price of FSD (Full Self-Driving). It started at $3,000. Currently it sells for $10,000 and the price is still going up several times a year. Yet it is in high demand as most Tesla buyers are buying FSD, even when it is still far from autonomous driving. I am not surprised GM is touting this crappy study. GM is not capable in four year to implement in their vehicles their Super Cruise, which BTW is already made obsolete by Tesla’s FSD.
You are so wrong, Tesla group is very small. I don’t know anyone that wants autonomous driving. Most want heated seats and steering wheel, nice stereo. A decent sized screen 8-10 inches is fine and surround cameras. Tesla market share is growing but still small and the few that want the FSB is probably less than 1% of all car buyers. Also GM’s Super Cruise has been rated higher than anything Tesla has. I can see either being usefull in highway driving, but daily driving most would rather steer themselves.
Only a small fraction of Tesla drivers purchase FSD. Too expensive and the repeated delays have lowered Tesla’s credibility. Teslarati.com has mentioned this several times.
This study is incomplete. In warmer territories such as Center and South America and the Caribbean where I live, heated seats are not needed. Cooled seats are a better feature.
Well now the super Tesla’s are being recalled due to cracking rear suspension, so the super Tesla’s are not defect free.
There has not been accidents reported in a Super Cruise equipped GM vehicles so far, only dumb people that still believe that a FSB is actually an auto pilot link in an airplane; Tesla is all pure marketing and an Full Size iPad in your center screen.
For the heated seats discussion is funny though.
When I was little I remember the day that vinyl seats (yes vinyl is the way the seats started in high volume back in the late 20’s) gave way to velour seat covers. And there was no extra pay for velour. And there was no need for a seat heater because your butt would “heat up” the seat perhaps within 3-4 minutes, mainly due to the car heating system and your body heat.
As Raymond says, then come the hot days or the Ecuador-ian climate countries where again, you would need cooled seats. You need cooled seats because you are sitting in the now “fake leather” aka vinyl that heats up like a pan in the sun. You need heating seats because the vinyl almost get frozen in winter (you feel that they will crack).
An now people is willing to pay for vinyl seats like if it was leather, depending on the car, from $1,500 USD to $2,000 USD (yes, you have some leather – seating surfaces only) and on top of that, willing to pay more to heat up the vinyl and even more to cool down the vinyl.
If cloth seats would be available in any trim level, lots of people in the world would order them and forget about the other two features. This is cost on top of cost on top of cost. Chips and more chips and more chips and added weight to the vehicle and increased fuel consumption.
Plus the ultra high environmental cost of tanning leather (the small pieces that go in the seat set).
Pure waste all along.
You want another material that is far better thermally balanced? Suede
By the way, where is the never missing sunroof, moonroof? A panoramic piece of glass that either heats up or freeze the interior of the vehicle even more? More chips / modules. More waste.
Another vote for heated AND ventilated seats. Even in the South, it can get cold and heated seats are great. Summers are long though, so I use the ventilation much more often. Self drive, thanks but no thanks. I don’t want to hit a fire truck.
self driving hell yes I can then have 10 beers instead of my usual 6 before deciding to head for home.