Dealer. Consumer Attitude Survey

Transcription

1 Dealer Consumer Attitude Survey Autumn 2017

2 Contents Introduction.. 3 Regional breakdown Experience at the dealership. 5 Safety Actual cost vs perception... 7 What is the perception of franchised dealers?... 8 Reasons for choosing franchised dealers... 9 Trust Awareness of franchised dealers offering Use of the internet Emissions or cheap running costs 13 Conclusion

3 Introduction The National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) is pleased to present the fourth issue of the Consumer Attitude Survey which was commissioned to research market opinion and explore perceptions towards franchised dealers, independent garages and non-franchised national chains amongst car owners. The study, executed by Public Knowledge, polled 1,000 consumers across the UK in a 15-minute online survey between 9 and 21 June Public Knowledge considers the results statistically significant with a confidence level of over 99%. The previous wave of the survey was carried out in December The survey was undertaken with five major objectives: Explore current market perceptions of franchised dealers and their competitors Understand current consumer aftersales behaviour Examine factors influencing consumer aftersales decision making Determine consumer opinions of the aftersales offering at franchised dealerships Assess awareness and understanding of the franchised dealership aftersales offering In this issue of the Consumer Attitude Survey, we have explored perceptions of franchised dealers and awareness of their offering, analysed consumers views about safety, examined the consumer dilemma of vehicle emissions versus running costs, and reviewed the use of internet. The research is allowing the NFDA to build trends that we hope will be of benefit to all in the industry. Sue Robinson Director, National Franchised Dealers Association 3

4 Regional breakdown The survey is seen as representative of the UK consumer with an even gender split of 51% female and 49% male. The breakdown in location is also reflective of the UK population as shown in figure 1. Figure 1 Scotland, 8% Northern Ireland, 3% North West, 11% North East, 4% Yorkshire, 8% East Midlands, 7% West Midlands, 9% East Anglia, 9% London, 13% Wales, 5% South West, 8% South East, 14% 4

5 Experience at the dealership Satisfaction levels at franchised dealerships remain high with 79% of customers saying they were satisfied with their last experience. This figure is unchanged from the previous survey. Looking at responses from regular users of franchised dealers, satisfaction levels increase significantly to 93%, which is six percentage points higher than six months ago. Thinking about your last experience at a franchised dealership please indicate on a scale of 1-5 how satisfied you were with your overall experience? Figure 2 50% of consumers state that having a customer lounge when they get their car serviced is either important (33%) or very important to them (17%). There is no particular gender difference, but customer lounges are more popular amongst younger generations and regular franchised dealer users. As figure 2 shows, comfortable seating, coffee, tea and water, and newspapers and magazines being available, are the main features that consumers expect to find in a waiting area. On a scale of 1 to 5, how important is it to have a customer lounge when you take your car in for a service or other aftersales car care? Figure 3 5

6 Safety Franchised dealerships remain the safest option in consumers minds. Franchised dealers are seen as the safest across all categories of respondents, including those who have not had a recent experience at a franchised dealership. However, the percentage of those who have used a dealership in the past two years and see them as the safest, is significantly higher than for those who have not had a recent experience at a dealership (77% vs 43%, figure 5). From a safety viewpoint, which of the following companies do you think it would be safest to get your car serviced by? Figure 4 Figure 5 (P2Y: Past 2 Years) 6

7 Actual cost vs perception Although franchised dealers value for money perception is lower than others, the average price paid for the last service is similar to other providers. Please select how much it cost for your last service. Please consider your main vehicle when answering. Figure 6 Although franchised dealers are still not perceived as the best value for money, consumers opinions have shown a slight and steady improvement across the past three surveys (68% 69% 71%). Please can you indicate, on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is strongly disagree and 5 is strongly agree, whether you believe your last service was good value for money? Figure 7 7

8 What is the perception of franchised dealers? Franchised dealerships continue to stand out for professionalism, knowledge, and reputation. The terms used to describe franchised dealers have remained the same year-on-year. The perception of each of the terms has seen a slight improvement on last year s results. Which of the following words/phrases would you use to describe each of the companies below? Figure 8 Positively, the perception of franchised dealers improves dramatically across all categories if customers have used a dealership in the past two years. Figure 9 8

9 Reasons for choosing franchised dealers The top five reasons for choosing franchised dealers remain unchanged from the last survey: franchised dealers are seen as specialists in the type of car, customers trust them, they rely on the quality of the service provided, and consider them knowledgeable and specialists for the type of work needed. Encouragingly, nearly all values have grown since the previous survey. In particular, perception of friendliness, feeling welcome as well as cost and value related options have risen significantly. Why do you use franchised dealers over other service providers available? What are the benefits to you? Figure 10 The top three factors which would convince customers to use a franchised dealership for aftersales car care in the future are price related. What would convince you to use a franchised dealership for aftersales car care in the future? Figure 11 9

10 Trust Trust in franchised dealers has increased or remained unchanged compared with the previous survey across all engine types. Notably, more than 50% of consumers would trust franchised dealers the most to get their hybrid (54%) or electric car (56%) serviced, with the remaining half split between the others. For the vehicle engines shown below, which of the following companies would you trust the most to carry out a service? Figure 12 10

11 Awareness of franchised dealers offering Awareness levels of the franchised dealers offering show a general improvement compared with the last survey. Franchised dealers continue to dominate in areas such as buying a new car, manufacturer recalls and warranty work. Although overall awareness has improved, approximately a third of the respondents still do not associate franchised dealers with low value work such as fitting new parts including windscreen wipers and new tyres, or changing brake pads and discs. Which of the following do you think that you could do at each of the companies below? (1,000 respondents) Figure 13 Figure 14 shows that respondents are significantly more familiar with the services offered by franchised dealerships if they have used one in the recent past. Used franchised dealership Past 2 Years (716 respondents), not used franchised dealership Past 2 Years (284 respondents) Figure 14 11

12 Use of the internet Half of all respondents have researched online at least one of the car maintenance services listed, this figure is unchanged from previous surveys. Interestingly, three quarters said that they would potentially book services online in the future. Overall, the usage of internet is significantly higher amongst the younger age groups. In the past, have you used the internet to research any of the following for your car? In the future, would you consider using the internet to book your car in for any of the following? Figure 15 The two main features customers researched on the internet across all categories are cost and location, with reviews and reputation also being an important factor. You said you have used the internet to research [ ], which of the following describes what you researched? Figure 16 12

13 Emissions or cheap running costs? Cheap running costs remain more important than low polluting emissions in the minds of consumers when buying a car. However, there was a slight increase in respondents who considered low emissions as the most important factor compared with the previous survey. Those who only use franchised dealerships are more likely to believe that low polluting emissions are more important. Please indicate your answer on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is low polluting emissions are most important and 5 is cheap running costs are most important. Figure 17 Price and other cost related reasons seem to be the main factors which could persuade customers to replace their current vehicle with a more enviromentally friendly one. What would encourage you to replace your current car with a more environmentally friendly car? Figure 18 13

14 Conclusion This is the fourth issue of the NFDA Consumer Attitude Survey, which was launched two years ago. The survey gives a revealing insight into the franchised dealer aftersales offering by giving trends on consumer perception of the sector. The survey shows that franchised dealers continue to be seen as professional, knowledgeable and able to offer good customer service. Encouragingly, perceptions improve significantly if a consumer has used a franchised dealership in the past two years. The survey shows that franchised dealers remain the safest options for most of the consumers (67%). Also the majority of those who do not regularly use franchised dealers believe they are the safest. Trust in franchised dealers remains high too. Notably, over half of respondents would trust franchised dealers the most to get their hybrid (54%) or electric (56%) car serviced. One of the most revealing findings of this edition of the survey surrounds the perception of good value for money compared with the actual price paid for the last service. Data showed that although franchised dealers are not perceived as being the best value for money, the average price paid for a service at a franchised dealership was similar to the one paid at an independent garage or a non-franchised national chain. There has been a gradual, positive improvement across the past three surveys with more consumers considering franchised dealers good value for money. The questions around consumer experience at the dealership revealed some interesting data with 50% of respondents stating that customer lounges are very important or important to them. The data also showed that overall levels of aftersales satisfaction in the UK are high. Finally, the survey explored how consumers choose their aftersales provider. Results revealed that people select franchised dealers for aftersales work primarily because they are seen as: car specialists, trustworthy, able to provide high quality service, knowledgeable and specialists for specific types of work. The four issues of the Consumer Attitude Survey have started to reveal trends in the industry over the past two years. The data is gathered with the specific aim of helping dealers understand the consumer market in the UK and helping them target specific areas to maximise their ability to better service the customer. We look forward to presenting our next issue of the Consumer Attitude Survey in Spring The National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) represents franchised car and commercial vehicle retailers in the UK. For more information, please visit: For all media enquiries, please contact: gabriele.severini@rmif.co.uk 14

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