Is your OEM keeping pace with the demands of selling electric vehicles? Whether your brand is taking an all-in approach to EVs, or like VW, offering a blended approach of ICE and EV, there’s much to consider.
As the automotive world reimagines its product offering based on fluctuating customer demand, each OEM must plan for the ambitious target of reaching 100% zero emissions by 2035 for new stock. With just over a decade to go, the shift to EVs is picking up momentum, and it’s time to start preparing your dealerships for the accelerated pace of this transition. As infrastructure and technology develop, OEMs should revisit all the steps in their value chain and work closely with all stakeholders, especially dealerships, to ensure consumers are ready for the journey ahead.
We spoke with IT Consultant James Woodward (ex-Lotus, ex-JLR) about this disruptive time for the industry, and he stressed the importance of data for making the right decisions:
Here, we’ll focus on how data can be tracked at the dealership level to ensure the necessary developments are made in the following key focus areas:
Staff Training & Education
How prepared are your dealerships to educate consumers about transitioning from ICE to EV? Motortrader.com suggests there’s still uncertainty:
“Research shows that 18% of car dealers have not received formal training and say they have gaps in their knowledge while 10% suggest staff are nervous about answering potential buyers’ questions about EVs.”
Unsurprisingly there’s been a rise in EV automotive training courses, ensuring the retail team has the confidence to support customers by explaining the fundamentals of EV driving and understanding the current EV market. Choose an EV automotive training programme that works for your organisation (look at the NFDA’s Electric Vehicle Approved accreditation scheme) and set a KPI to ensure key members of the team complete the training.
Encourage dealerships to monitor sites like the Electric Vehicle Association (EVA) to stay updated with the latest market trends and developments. Ensuring your dealerships receive regular EV automotive training updates can help keep their knowledge current and relevant.
Infrastructure
Dealerships need to invest in future-proofing their showroom spaces with charging infrastructure and display set-ups highlighting the key benefits of EVs. Some dealerships are looking at giving customers a virtual reality driving experience on-site, giving a consistent approach to educating the customer. Define what you want this experience to look like for your brand and set goals for the dealerships.
Inventory, Service & Maintenance
With fewer moving parts, maintenance checks for EVs are generally less complex than for ICE vehicles and can be carried out less frequently. However, aftersales departments will need to equip their workshops with specialist insulated tools, PPE, workshop equipment, and charging points. There will be a greater focus on diagnostic work including electronics, calibration, and update checks. Supporting your dealerships with specific EV automotive training for their service teams can ensure they are well-equipped to handle these new requirements. Implement a realistic action plan for updating service facilities. A clear inventory management strategy is also essential to ensure stock reflects customer demand and market availability.
Marketing & Sales
Your central marketing team has likely developed a suite of campaign materials to help dealerships educate the customer about the benefits of going for an electric vehicle. How can you ensure this, coupled with a branded and engaging showroom experience, is followed through by the dealerships? Part of the Area Sales Manager’s role is to communicate what sales and marketing materials are available to the retailers, look at regular EV automotive training sessions for the sales team to bring campaigns to life for them and subsequently monitor their implementation. This can be tracked through KPIs and visit planning.
Customer Engagement & Education
When considering the purchase of an electric vehicle consumer attitudes are mixed depending on age, life stage, affluence, and where they live. Concerns include lack of range, limited charging infrastructure, and initial costly investment. We spoke with Ed Jones, National Operations Manager at Audi UK who warned:
“It’s essential to simplify the customer journey and clearly project the benefits of EV ownership to every customer.”
He emphasised the Importance of an engaged network to help spread an understanding of the benefits, such as:
- Long-term savings on cost-of-ownership
- The growing range of electric vehicles
- Lower emissions and energy efficiency
- The rapid growth of the EV charging infrastructure. According to Heycar, at the end of February 2024, there were 57,290 EV charging points in the UK, and 3,613 new public electric car charging stations were added to the network during the first two months of the year.
Metrics should be recorded in terms of customer satisfaction to ensure dealerships communicate all key benefits effectively.
Financial Considerations
With the higher upfront costs of electric cars, we’ll see a higher uptake of financing options. OEMs should fully train the dealerships to support the customer in understanding the financial implications of transitioning to electric. The retail team should be able to educate customers regarding government grants or salary sacrifice options, to help them purchase the vehicle or charging point more affordably. Communicating best practices to the network and setting expectations will help boost overall performance.
Navigating this changing landscape and supporting your network of dealerships will take time; you can streamline this process by having a comprehensive business performance management tool in place. In 2021 Capgemini noted -
“The majority of OEMs are only at the beginning of their software-driven transformation, with a small cohort of “frontrunners” establishing a strong early lead: 71% of OEMS have only reached the stage of identifying use cases and, overall, only 15% are what we would call highly mature frontrunners.”
Using software will drive actions to the right places to impact KPI performance, so OEMs can increase profitability.
