New car shoppers value fuel over cool

Oil prices were near record levels last week, our friends at OPEC were counting their cash and La Canada resident Alex Hartunian was shopping for a Prius.

"It's definitely not a cool-looking car," he decided as he examined a 2008 model selling for $27,848 at a Toyota dealership in Pasadena. "But people are talking about oil going to $100 a barrel. That's just nuts."

I was curious to see what effect skyrocketing oil and gasoline prices were having on car buyers. I also wanted to see what the view from the trenches was after General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, reported a $39-billion quarterly loss.

Hartunian, who is 35 and single, wasn't sure about the Prius' styling. It's not exactly a babe magnet. But Hartunian was pretty certain a Prius was the way to go, given its estimated 48 miles per gallon in city driving.

And he was sure of this much: He didn't want an American car.

"We don't make good cars," Hartunian said with a shrug.

There it is. True or not, that's a belief shared by many U.S. drivers, and it's hammering domestic carmakers.

Asian brands, led by Toyota, Nissan and Honda, now account for slightly more than 41% of the U.S. market, and that percentage is rising. GM, Ford and Chrysler account for just over 51% of the domestic market, and that percentage is falling.

Eighteen-year-old Caroline Wilmoth drives a 2007 Toyota Scion tC, which sells for under $20,000 and gets about 23 miles per gallon in the city. She told me that when she went shopping for her first-ever new car she didn't even consider a U.S. brand. "I heard that Toyota, Nissan and Honda were the best cars you could buy," Wilmoth explained.

I'd like to say I found plenty of people at domestic dealerships who could refute that sentiment. But that would be a lie.

Maybe it was the time of day (morning). Maybe it was the day of the week (Thursday). I don't know. All I know is that when I stopped by various American-vehicle showrooms in the Pasadena area, I couldn't find a single customer on hand to chat with. Not one.

Nick Nielsen, the sales manager at a Buick and Pontiac dealership, made no secret of his displeasure as we chatted in his all-too-quiet workplace.

"The car market is terrible, if you want to know the truth," he said. "Across the board."

At his dealership, Nielsen observed, sales were down about 40% from a year ago. And they were down last year as well.