Automotive dealers: Powering up your electric marketing

For the last few months I’ve been talking about the automotive service gap which is coming due to the reduced new car sales over the last couple of years. One area that has exacerbated this gap is the rise in sales of electric vehicles, because these require significantly less servicing than traditional vehicles.

Did you know that in 2021 pure electric vehicles represented 13% of total car sales compared to only 8% pure diesel?

The growth of pure electric vehicles has been phenomenal, and this is reflected in the latest SMMT data for Jan 2022:

The challenge of pure electric vehicles is that they require owners and users to think differently. Generally once someone has converted to a battery car and they fall in love with the torque, they tend to prefer them over combustion engines. However, due to the mindset change required with a pure electric vehicle, you also have to think differently when marketing the product.

In marketing-speak we’re still at the early adopter stage and this requires a significant amount of education. To help car dealers with this learning curve, our latest eBook covers the top tips you need to know to market EV vehicles.

New car supply continues to be tight. However where manufacturers have got stock this is flying out of the door. The used market is subdued but margins are still buoyant. Due to the tightness of the market, Autotrader have yet to show any stock for 2022 plate.

Headline Autotrader figures

• 2021 stock, MoM 0.2% increase, YoY 48.9% decrease
• 2020 stock MoM 2.9% decrease, YoY 39.4% decrease
• Total market MoM 0.4% decrease, YoY 15.4% decrease

Top 5 brands by market share of 2021 stock

• BMW 11.3%
• VW 11.2%
• Audi 9.9%
• Ford 6.5%
• Toyota 6.1%

Good luck with plate change and feel free to contact me if you want to discuss your EV marketing strategy.