Vehicle shoppers making gas mileage a top priority
Detroit – Fuel economy is about even with reliability as the top factors shoppers are considering when buying a vehicle, according to a nationwide poll taken for Consumer Reports magazine.
The telephone survey, taken Aug. 3-7 as gasoline prices remained around $3 a gallon, showed that 27 percent of likely vehicle buyers ranked gas mileage as the top factor in an automobile purchase.
Reliability was the top factor for 25 percent, followed by purchase price for 14 percent and safety features among 12 percent, according to the poll taken by ap Research Corp.
On the surface, the poll results appear to indicate further trouble for the Big Three domestic auto manufacturers, which rely more on truck and sport-utility vehicle sales for their profits.
But Rebecca Lindland, an auto analyst at Global Insight Inc., said her company’s research shows consumers often say one thing when polled and then do something else when it comes to making a purchase.
Americans, she said, are loath to give up the storage space and seating of an SUV and switch to a sedan.
27% Fuel economy
25% Reliability
14% Price
12% Safety
7% Performance
Source: ap Research Corp. poll of 526 people for Consumer Reports; margin of error 4.5 percentage points
DENVER
Occupancy, room rates up in Denver
Metro Denver hotel-occupancy rates and average room rates continued to climb in July, compared with the same month last year, but statewide occupancy rates were flat, according to the latest Rocky Mountain Lodging Report released Tuesday.
For metro Denver, average hotel-occupancy rates in July rose by 1.1 percentage points to 78.1 percent. Average room rates grew by $11.44 to $103.38.
Statewide, occupancy rates were flat compared with July 2005, at 75.4 percent. Average room rates increased by $7.61, to $113.94.
DENVER
KCNC offers news, weather via cellphone
KCNC-Channel 4 announced Tuesday that viewers will be able to access up-to-the-minute news, video, traffic and weather information from their cellphones.
Through the CBS Television Stations Digital Media Group, the station has partnered with CBC New Media Group’s News Over Wireless and Weathernews Inc. to extend its digital media initiative into the wireless space.
BROOMFIELD
MWH Global wins bid for Florida expansion
Broomfield-based MWH Global has been awarded a $40 million design-build contract by Lee County Utilities to expand the Gateway Wastewater Treatment Plant in Fort Myers, Fla.
DENVER
Small businesses can share regulation tales
The Small Business Administration’s National Ombudsman’s Office will hold a regional regulatory-fairness board hearing Sept. 26 in Denver so small-business owners can discuss without fear of retaliation their concerns about federal regulatory-compliance practices.
The hearing will occur at 8:30 a.m. at the SBA’s Colorado District Office, 721 19th St., Suite 426. To testify, contact Amy McDowell at 303-844-2607, ext. 209, or by e-mail at amy.mcdowell@ sba.gov.
CHICAGO
UAL promotes official over flight operations
United Airlines parent UAL Corp. promoted Sean Donohue to senior vice president of flight operations and onboard services.
His responsibilities include training, scheduling and technology for pilots and flight attendants, including oversight of United’s Denver training center; flight-deck and flight-attendant operations; and food-and-beverage operations.
His previous positions at United include vice president-customer experience, vice president of operational services for United Express and Ted, and Denver-based vice president for sales for the western U.S.
WASHINGTON
Shuttle’s successor
to be called Orion
NASA announced Tuesday that its new crew exploration vehicle will be named Orion. The vehicle is being developed by NASA to carry a new generation of explorers back to the moon and later to Mars.
Lockheed Martin is competing against a Boeing/Northrup Grumman team for the contract to build the vehicle, which will succeed the space shuttle as NASA’s primary vehicle for human space exploration.
CENTENNIAL
Adam Aircraft gets new funding boost
Centennial Airport-based Adam Aircraft announced it has completed a $93 million round of Series F funding led by a new investor, venture-capital firm DCM.
Adam Aircraft plans to use the capital to accelerate certification of its A700 AdamJet and ramp up production of its A500 plane.
WASHINGTON
Builders shun condos, shift to apartments
U.S. homebuilders and developers have soured on condominiums, but their views of the market for apartment rentals are the most optimistic on record, according to two surveys released Tuesday by the National Association of Home Builders.
The quarterly surveys indicate that builders and property owners are reacting quickly to price signals by shifting their attention from the overbuilt and overpriced condo market to rental units, where prices have been soaring amid strong demand.
WASHINGTON
Lockheed Martin PAC penalized for official
Lockheed Martin Corp.’s political action committee agreed to pay a $27,000 penalty because its former assistant treasurer filed false reports to cover up his embezzlement, the Federal Election Commission said Tuesday.
The Lockheed Martin Employees’ PAC filed false reports detailing its contributions and expenditures based on information submitted by the PAC’s assistant treasurer at the time, Kenneth Phelps, according to the agreement between the FEC and the Lockheed PAC. Phelps was fired in 2004, Lockheed spokesman Tom Jurkowsky said.
SAN FRANCISCO
Blockbuster cleared to pursue Netflix
A federal judge ruled that Blockbuster Inc. can pursue allegations that Netflix Inc. fraudulently obtained patents for online video rentals and is trying to monopolize Web-based movie rentals.
