There’s been a lot of talk recently about how car manufacturers and retailers can sell BEVs in sufficient quantity to meet the UK government’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate. While the BEV market share in August reached 22.6%, the highest since December 2022 (when BEVs commanded 32.9% of all new cars registered), many manufacturers are falling short of this year’s 22% threshold, particularly on a month-by-month basis. Fines for many are looming.
Robert Forrester, CEO of Vertu Motors, one of our clients, recently stated: “To avoid these fines, manufacturers are constraining the ability for their dealers to supply petrol cars in order to try and keep to the government targets. Car manufacturers are being forced to discount EVs to such an extent that they’re making losses, and that is not a good thing for business.”
The issue remains that a high proportion of the private car buying public are not yet ready to switch to electric propulsion. They’re being put off by the higher purchase price of EVs, while others are still concerned about range anxiety, thanks to the UK’s patchy public charging infrastructure. These issues mean it can be difficult for sales executives to promote the benefits of BEV ownership.
Rather than relying solely on sales and marketing teams to promote new and used EVs, dealers can think outside the box by involving their aftersales departments. Reaching customers as they come in for a service can be a critical moment to encourage EV uptake, and digital self-service kiosks can be used to drive these sales.
We recently carried out a nationwide survey that revealed that 65% of aftersales customers are open to hearing about new or used vehicles when they check their vehicle in for servicing or MOT. This highlights an untapped vehicle sales opportunity for dealers within the aftersales journey, with many customers receptive to relevant new and used car offers.
To demonstrate the potential of how digital check-in can benefit retail teams, during 2023, over 95,000 customers requested vehicle valuations on their current vehicles when interacting with our digital check-in solutions. This enabled sales teams to provide part-exchange valuations and discuss new and used vehicle sales. With the potential for an influx of EVs to hit the used market as fleet deals draw to a close, self-service solutions can also enable dealers to advertise those EVs currently in stock.
For those customers who already own an EV, dealers can promote additional products and services that may be of interest to them, such as service plans, charging services, or tyre and wheel alignment checks to generate additional revenue. Last year, Tjekvik software provided over 100,000 requests for service plans.
While the ZEV mandate continues to raise challenges for manufacturers, their dealers should consider adopting technology to provide their sales teams with a helping hand to promote and electrify BEV sales.
