Miios/Uscale Study: Dealerships Remain the Most Important Sales Channel for E-Cars

Low Brand Loyalty, Technology, Availability and Price More Important

The largest study of its kind for the German-speaking region, conducted in November and December 2022, also reveals major changes in the motivation for car purchases. Only about one in four remained loyal to their usual car brand when buying an electric car. 77 percent of the study's respondents stated that they not only changed the vehicle model but also the vehicle brand when switching from internal combustion engines. Instead of loyalty, the first criterion was technical enthusiasm, followed secondly by availability and thirdly by price.

"The low brand loyalty is both an opportunity and a risk for manufacturers and dealers. With the right design of financing, leasing, and insurance offers, brand loyalty can be rebuilt," commented Axel Sprenger, Managing Director of UScale GmbH from Stuttgart, on the study results.

The data service provider regularly surveys electromobilists and examines the experiences with all touchpoints in the e-mobility ecosystem. The feedback results in customer KPIs, which are metrics used to manage customer retention for companies. Overall, the study confirmed that electric car owners have a higher net income than internal combustion engine owners.

Utilize Instead of Own is the Motto - Low Company Car Rate

The proportion of those who want to finance or lease the next private electric car is growing, confirming the mindset of better utilizing vehicles than owning them. The proportion of company cars was notably low at 15 percent in the survey, which can be attributed to the still limited penetration of electric vehicles in company fleets.

"For insurance providers, the sales channel via car dealerships remains a significant challenge," says Niklas Haupt, Managing Director of MiiOS.

Car dealers do have direct contact with car buyers but often do not leverage the potential opportunities with insurance. Additionally, the business is shifting towards all-inclusive offers, such as car subscriptions. This trend is expected to intensify given the specific customer expectations for electric cars, and from Haupt's perspective, this provides insurers and financial service providers an opportunity to bring dealers and customers together with a perfect solution.

The current study offers customers, for the first time, the opportunity to analyze customer behavior by brand due to the extensive data scope. The data is accessible online via a dashboard and is presented in user-friendly reports.