An empirical analysis of household choice among motor vehicles ( transport research).

Presents an econometric model explaining the make, model and vintage composition of individual household motor vehicle holdings. Views the household as yearly evaluating its current holdings of vehicles and updating these as desired. A multinomial logit model probabilistically describes each household's choice among vehicle alternatives. The empirical analysis is based on a random sample drawn from a nationwide rotating consumer panel. Two models are estimated, one explaining vehicle choices in households holding a single vehicle, the other explaining the composition of holdings in two-vehicle households. Among findings, one prominent result is that each household has an optimal vehicle seating capacity which varies directly with household size. Most aspects of vehicle performances have little effect on choices but, counter-intuitively, sluggish vehicles appear strongly preferred to quick ones. Vehicle price, operating costs and transactions costs are all important determinants of vehicle utility but the influence of price and operating cost varies considerably among socioeconomic and demographic groupings. - Authors