The need to save money on motoring costs was given as the primary reason for recently buying a new car for almost half of 1,000 motorists surveyed by research company Incite, although finance was rarely cited as a motivating factor.
According to Incite, 46% of those who had purchased a new car in the past six months did so for reasons of cost; such as running a more economical car, cited by 18% of respondents, or costs of repairing an old car becoming too expensive, cited by 21% of respondents.
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A car’s fuel economy has been vaunted as a selling point in both new and used markets over the past two years, ranging from Jato Dynamic’s report to Experian Automotive’s findings on fuel-efficiency popularity among consumers.
Meanwhile, in July this year, vehicle valuation firm CAP warned rising CO2 tax thresholds could make thousands of cars too expensive for consumers to be worth continued use.
Finance and loans
More than half of respondents – 58% – said their purchase was triggered by the ‘desire’ for a new car, however, only 4% reported being motivated by the end of a finance term or loan.
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By GlobalDataOf the 30% to say a change of situation had prompted the purchase of a new car, 6% said this was due to the end of a lease.
Meanwhile, 17% of respondents said their purchase was stimulated by advertising, recommendation by friends and direct contact with dealership staff.
Manufacturers and finance providers in the UK have been keen to utilise and enhance good word of mouth regarding car purchases with Mitsubishi reporting 90% of its customers would recommend the brand’s dealerships to a friend, Kia operating a "genuine" and "unfiltered" customer review website, and ACF Car Finance collating more than 1,000 customer reviews of its products.
Writing in Motor Finance in August last year about the importance of dealer contact with customers, Paul Bennett of Chrysalis Solmotive outlined the importance not only of staff making contact with consumers on finance deals, but of the correct timing to do so to ensure customer retention.
Mainstream and premium
According to Incite, which is part of the St Ives Group, the average time taken to make a new purchase was around four months, with ‘low-cost’ and ‘mainstream’ consumers only visiting a dealership when settled on which car to buy.
The findings chime with the views of Mark Squires, chief executive of Benfield Motor Group, who reported in November 2012 that the average car customer was making 1.3 dealership visits after 18 website visits. Karl Werner of MotoNovo, went further in August when he said customers were increasingly using the web to research purchases and may be dissuaded from using a dealer if their online experience was not satisfactory.
Alternatively, purchasers of ‘premium’ vehicles appear to visit a dealership halfway through their purchasing process, and then seek confirmation of their choice by further research.
richard.brown@timetric.com
