What do car brand representatives actually drive?

[scratchpaddy]

Today, I went to the big new car show they have every Thanksgiving weekend at the Phoenix convention center.



Every brand in the show (not Rolls Royce, that was just a dealer teaser display outside) had at least one brand representative to talk up the cars and answer questions. After being asked several times if I had any questions, I came up with one: "What do you drive?"

Most of the time, the response was a pause and a nervous smile, followed by, "Well... I actually drive a <other brand>..." Only the Porsche lady refused to say what she drove, beyond the fact that it wasn't a Porsche. Everyone else was fairly open about it. Subaru was the only brand which every salesperson actually drove, but I expected that. Subaru owners are very loyal.

I was surprised to find out that many of these people, in the business of selling cars, don't actually own a car themselves. Most of them come from corporate headquarters in city centers across the country, places where cars are more of a liability than a convenience, like New York City. Nearly all of them were not local, and I even met one salesman who grew up in the same Atlanta suburb I did.

Here are most of the responses I got:

Acura: Acura TL
Audi: Honda Accord
BMW: BMW i3 & BMW X3
Buick: '67 El Camino, recently totaled, she gets by without a car now.
Cadillac: Toyota Camry
Chevrolet: Silverado 2500 & several other GM products; I gave him the "most loyal salesman" award
FCA: GMC Canyon
Ford: Ten cars ("I'm a car guy"), all GM products except for a '15 Prius which he despises and is about to trade in for a Ford Fusion Hybrid, not a Focus RS, sadly :(



GMC: No car
Honda: Honda Accord (duh)



Hyundai: No car
Infiniti: No car



Kia: Chevrolet Malibu
Lexus: No car



Lincoln: No car
Mazda: Mercedes CLS



Mercedes: No car
Mitsubishi: Chrysler 200



Nissan: Two '89 Honda CRX's, Scion xB, and many pairs of shoes ("If you have any questions about shoes, let me know")
Porsche: No comment
Subaru: Subaru Forester/Subaru WRX STi
Toyota: Lexus IS (same company, at least)
Volkswagen: Ford Focus



Volvo: Honda Civic ("I couldn't afford a Volvo")