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The findings of the latest EY Mobility Consumer Index (MCI) survey suggest that becoming customer centric is only partly about providing an enhanced digital experience. The physical dealership remains a powerful draw for consumers, who continue to place a high priority on the human factor when buying a car. This heightened focus on customer centricity is also an important factor in identifying and accessing emerging value pools in the automotive ecosystem. These value pools represent emerging and adjacent avenues for revenue and profitability growth. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and dealers need to align their customer-centric strategies to maintain sustained growth in the long term.
Now in its fourth year, the EY MCI report has become known for its detailed analysis of the mobility patterns and car-buying intentions of 14,500 consumers in 20 countries across the globe. Our results show that the dealership retains a crucial role for buyers of both electric vehicles (EVs) and internal combustion engine (ICE) cars, particularly in terms of experiencing a new car physically and for assurance that they have made the right vehicle choice. The relationships that consumers develop with dealer staff are important to them and drive loyalty. Even the more digitally savvy cohorts of EV buyers still like to have dealership staff on hand to answer questions about what remain relatively novel and fast-changing products in the minds of consumers, especially compared with the familiarity many feel toward ICE vehicles.
At the same time, the use of digital channels for some parts of the buying journey is on the rise, particularly for stages such as pre-sales research and information gathering, and aftersales support.
Consequently, the overall picture is more complicated and nuanced than the prevailing narrative suggests — beneath the overarching digital transition trend lie many different groups of automotive customers whose preference is for a varying combination of digital and physical channels.
The challenge for both OEMs and dealers alike is how to become more truly customer centric through providing the omnichannel buying experiences that consumers actually want, while simultaneously maximizing long-term value for their own businesses by accessing novel as well as existing value pools.
This article will look at four key themes inherent to that challenge, as revealed by the MCI report:
1. Navigating the EV vs. ICE buyer divide
2. Reassure the enthusiasts, convince the skeptics
3. Shifting gears: OEMs transform sales models
4. Finding your place in the emerging value pools