BUSINESS

Buyers Trust Legacy Brands More

May 23, 2022

A new survey shows that most car buyers trust legacy car brands over “startup” EV brands like Rivian and Tesla.

More than 35% of those who responded to the survey said they would prefer to buy an EV from an established car brand (and, presumably, their local dealers), while just 24% of the prospective EV buyers surveyed said they’d consider one of the newer EV-only brands when they purchase their first electric car.

Granted, the legacy car brands should be pretty wary of the fact that nearly one-quarter of e-curious Americans is considering a startup brand at all– but the fact that 76% of those surveyed were against the idea (or, at least, didn’t seem to care one way or another) seems to speak loudly against the narrative being put forth on many EV news outlets that buyers don’t want to shop at their local dealers.

Regardless, those surveyed placed dependability, good value for money, the latest safety technologies, inexpensive maintenance, and innovative features and technologies on their “top 5 features” list, but only 5% to 31% of respondents felt any electric carmaker was delivering on those five attributes.

“While brands such as Tesla and Rivian continue to make headlines as the fresh entrants into an industry dominated by decades-old multinational corporations, many consumers have taken notice of the strides familiar auto brands have been taking to market—and improve—their electrified offerings,” said KC Boyce, vice president with the Automotive & Mobility and Energy practices at Escalent. “The idea that a new player to the automotive market will remain the leader as more and more established brands expand their EV offerings is far from a certainty.”

It seems like the major car brands still have a long way to go when it comes to getting people to understand how far EVs have come, which is just one of the reasons that experiential events like Electrify Expo are so important for both manufacturers and consumers alike– that’s a topic Jo Borras and his guest, BJ Birtwell, explored in the most recent episode of the Electrify News Podcast. You can check that out for yourself, below, then let us know how you think car brands should and could be reaching out to the general public in the comments section at the bottom of the page.