Import owners surf 'net' more often

In its recently released 1996 Car Media Report, J.D. Power and Associates found that 11% of new-car principal drivers surveyed have used the internet during "the past 30 days." Almost 6% said they had surfed as recently as "yesterday." While those cyberspace usage rates may seem pretty modest, the more intriguing finding came when the responses were broken down by vehicle segment. "European upper-middle" drivers registered the highest usage in the last month (17.6%), followed by "import small sporty" (17.2%) and "European luxury" (15.6%). No category of domestic vehicle owners reported a usage rate above the 11% average.