The primary purpose of AJAC's Car of the Year Awards program is to provide consumers with sound, comparative information on which to base their new vehicle buying decisions.
In 2002, the Nissan Altima was our choice for Canadian Car of the Year. Nissan made a concerted effort to promote winning those awards in its marketing and advertising programs.
To determine both buyer awareness of the Canadian Car of the Year Awards, and what impact winning those awards had on consumers decisions to purchase those vehicles, AJAC engaged the firm of Thompson Lightstone and Company Limited to conduct a survey of Nissan Altima buyers.
The survey was conducted according to professional standards and structured so as not to bias the responses.
The results of that survey are conclusive. The Canadian Car of the Year Awards are definitely important to, and an influence on, Canada's new car buyers.
Specifically:
- Almost seventy percent (69.6%) of those who purchased or leased a Nissan Altima in the past 12 months indicated that they were aware that the Altima won the AJAC Car of the Year Award.
- Of those, 93.3% (64.8% of all customers) said they were influenced to purchase a Nissan Altima to some extent because it was the "Canadian Car of the Year".
- 47.5% of those who were aware of the award said its purchase influence was "strong to extremely strong".
- That strong/extremely strong influence was greater among women (57.1%) than men (43.1%).