- Over 19,000 licensed drivers weighed in on their next car.
- Heated seats top the most-wanted feature list at 47 percent.
- Safety systems like night vision trailed simpler comfort features.
New vehicle buyers are demanding more on-board luxuries, and they’re happy to pay extra for them. The new study from AutoPacific revealed that heated seats top the list of the 15 features most wanted by new vehicle shoppers, beating out other features you may expect to be in greater demand.
The study, which quizzed more than 19,000 licensed drivers across the US who plan to buy a new vehicle within the next three years, reveals that 47 percent want heated seats. This placed heated seats above front and rear parking sensors, which were among the most in-demand features during last year’s study. This year, 45 percent of new vehicle buyers want parking sensors.
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Other popular features include rearward automatic emergency braking (44 percent), a power front driver’s seat (43 percent), lane change assist (43 percent), night vision (43 percent), and adaptive cruise control with active lane centering and stop and go, also at 43 percent. Other key features wanted by buyers include Auto Park (41 percent), wireless charging pads (41 percent), and a dash camera (40 percent).
The same study also set out to determine the top 10 must-have features for new vehicle buyers, among those who actually want such features. In this list, all-wheel drive came out on top with 41 percent of people who want AWD describing it as a must-have, while 39 percent described it as highly desirable. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto were also described as a must-have by 37 percent, a power front passenger seat was a must-have feature for 36 percent, and 33 percent described blind spot cameras as a must-have.
What About Self-Driving Cars?
Other questions asked by the study aimed to determine how comfortable motorists currently feel about autonomous driving technologies. Of the respondents who were surveyed, 56 percent said they agree or strongly agree that they trust advanced car safety systems that can automatically prevent accidents.
In addition, 62 percent said they agree or strongly agree that they feel comfortable letting a vehicle perform driving tasks like lane centering and parallel parking.
