Cars are now regarded as the same as “white goods” and consumers' brand loyalty in the UK is at its lowest ever point, a panel of the industry’s used car chiefs has said.
Speaking during Autocar Business’s Live webinar, Heycar CEO Karen Hilton said cars are being purchased because customers “need one” and are being mentally grouped into the same bracket as dishwashers and fridges.
“Cars are being seen a bit like white goods,” she said. “You need one and we are probably not caring very much about the badge on the front.”
She added that this could be because we’ve “no feeling to get behind a brand” in the UK, such as Skoda in Czechia or Peugeot, Renault or Citroën in France.
“We’re at our least loyal point that we have ever been [as a country],” Karen added. This means consumers are “ripe for the picking”, and new brands – especially in the EV sphere, where cars are seen as “things” – such as those coming from China could capitalise on this.
This view of the way we as a country currently see cars was backed by Martin Miller, especially with electric cars. The founder of used electric car seller EV Experts told the webinar that customers see them as “pieces of technology”.
However, Tesla is the electric car maker that does hold a “brand loyalty”, although he added: “We are seeing a lot of customers coming along and test driving a Tesla and then leaving with a [Jaguar] I-Pace or [Ford] Mustang Mach-E.
“People are seeing them for what they are: pieces of technology.”
Autocar Business Live: why car dealers are more important than ever
In Autocar Business's latest Webinar, Karen Hilton, CEO of Heycar, Jacqui Barker, global OEM director at Keyloop, Nigel Hurley, CEO of CarShop, and Martin Miller, owner of EV Experts, discuss how used car dealers and OEMs can overcome the current challenges facing the used car market.
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