Opinion poll
Car buying survey: price beats quality
What drives brand choice when buying a car? A survey shows the price is clearly ahead in Germany – this is by no means the case everywhere. And there is bad news for electromobility.
When buying a car, Germans are particularly concerned about the price. In a recent survey, 62 percent named it as one of the most important criteria for choosing a brand, according to the consulting firm Deloitte. The second-placed product quality, on the other hand, only comes in at 53 percent.
Apart from the Germans, only the Japanese put price above product quality in the survey, which was also carried out in other countries. In the United Kingdom, both are on par, but in China, India, South Korea, the USA and the Southeast Asia region, respondents attached greater importance to quality. This is particularly clear in China and India, with gaps of 25 and 19 points respectively.
There is a wide range of how expensive the next car should be: in Germany, 10 percent of respondents aim for a price of less than 10,000 euros, and another 11 percent aim for a range between 10,000 and 14,999 euros. The range of 15,000 to 29,999 euros is the goal of 29 percent of those surveyed. 28 percent are between 30,000 and 49,999 euros. Another 12 percent are aiming for 50,000 to 74,999 euros, three percent even aim for the range above.
Combustion engines are gaining popularity again
However, the survey brings bad news for electromobility: Only 14 percent of those surveyed said they would prefer a purely battery-operated electric vehicle for their next car. Compared to other countries and regions, this is the second highest figure behind China at 27 percent, but the number has largely stagnated in the past two years. In contrast, purchase intentions for pure combustion engines have increased significantly. Currently 53 percent say this, a year ago it was 49 percent and two years ago only 45.
What is striking in the survey is that Germans appear to be particularly afraid of range. Only 20 percent of those surveyed would be satisfied with less than 400 kilometers. This is the lowest value among the countries – although the USA and UK were not taken into account here because the range expectations there were queried in miles and are therefore not comparable. In contrast, 27 percent of respondents in Germany want a range of 600 kilometers or more – the highest value of all comparable countries.
Biggest concerns are range and price
It all goes well with the fact that when asked about the biggest concerns when buying a purely electric car in Germany, range and price are in the top two places. Apart from Germany, this is only the case in the United Kingdom. The third concern in Germany is a lack of charging infrastructure.
Easily available charging stations and cheaper vehicles are crucial factors for the ramp-up of electromobility, says Harald Proff, global head of the automotive sector at Deloitte. “In order to get more electric cars on the road in this country, they have to become more attractive. A broader range of small and medium-sized vehicles is needed and the infrastructure needs to be expanded more quickly.”
For the survey, which Deloitte has been conducting regularly since 2010, 31,000 consumers were surveyed in 30 countries last fall, 1,500 of them in Germany.
dpa
Source: Stern
