Summer Cruisin'

Toronto, ON - A new Ipsos Reid survey conducted on behalf of BFGoodrich Tires finds that Vancouver (27%) tops the list of major Canadian cities Canadian drivers would most like to "cruise" around. Other contenders include Toronto (12%), Montreal (12%), Halifax (10%), and Calgary (8%).

And, given the choice between five types of cruising tunes, classic rock is the most popular choice at 32% who say it would be their top musical pick to cruise to. Top 40 (18%), country (16%), and classical (15%) would tie for second, and heavy metal would be third at 8%.

• Young adult drivers are more likely than others to pick top 40 tunes (31% vs. 14% of others) or heavy metal (17% vs. 4%) to cruise to;
• Middle-aged drivers are more likely to pick classic rock (45% vs. 24% of others); and,
• Older drivers are more likely to pick classical (32% vs. 8% of others) or country (25% vs. 11% of others).

Sometimes after cruising, drivers like to "park" for some romance. At 50%, the beach tops the list of four possible places to park for a "romantic roadside rendezvous". This compares to 27% who think a lookout point would be the best place to park, 11% who would choose a park, and 5% who would park in their driveway.

• Women are more likely than men to say the beach would be the best place to park (58% vs. 43%), while men are more likely to think a look out point would be (32% vs. 22% of women).

Finally, the survey also reveals that when selecting tires, safety (60%) is deemed a more important feature to drivers than aesthetics (2%), warranty (6%), value (13%), and performance (17%).

• Women are more likely than men to say safety is most important when selecting tires (69% vs. 52%), whereas men are more likely than women to say performance (20% vs. 14%) or value (17% vs. 8%).

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid/BFGoodrich poll conducted from April 4 to April 6, 2006. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 882 Canadian drivers 18 years of age or older was interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 1773.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult driving population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to Census data.

For more information on this news release, please contact:
Jennifer McLeod
Senior Research Manager
Ipsos Reid
416.324.2900
[email protected]

Ipsos Reid
Ipsos Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader, the country's leading provider of public opinion research, and research partner for loyalty and forecasting and modelling insights. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos Reid employs more than 300 research professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in the country, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and online panels. Ipsos Reid's marketing research and public affairs practices offer the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada, all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, Ipsos Reid offers syndicated information or custom solutions across key sectors of the Canadian economy, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, automotive, retail, and technology & telecommunications. Ipsos Reid is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.

To learn more, please visit www.ipsos.ca.

Ipsos
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