Posted on May 18, 2012, at 2:00 am
 J.D. Ney A majority (76%) of new-vehicle shoppers in Canada who indicate having a highly satisfying experience while visiting an auto manufacturer’s website (score of at least 976 on a 1,000-point scale) say they are much more likely to visit that brand’s showroom for a test drive, according to our 2012 Canadian Manufacturer Website Evaluation Study.
As might be anticipated, among shoppers who have a less satisfying online experience (score of 500 points or below), only 14% say they will visit a dealership for a test drive. These study results indicate that there is a strong correlation between a satisfying online shopping experience leading to a visit to a dealer showroom and the likelihood of a vehicle purchase.
It’s encouraging this year that auto brands and their websites made significant advances in satisfying new-vehicle shoppers in Canada. The industry average rises 37 points to 821 from 784 in 2011, with increases across all four factors examined. Scores for Site speed and Appearance factors increased the most, based on analysis from some 3,078 new-vehicle shoppers who indicate they will be in the market for a new vehicle within the next 12 months. Continue reading ›
Posted on May 17, 2012, at 11:11 am
 Mohit Arora Dealers in India expect to generate more than one-third (34%) of their revenue this year from sales of parts and accessories, auto insurance, and commissions on loans, which is an increase from 22% in 2011, based on analysis from our 2012 India Dealer Satisfaction with Automotive Manufacturers Index Study.
Finding new revenue opportunities is a way to manage risks of a slowdown in the auto market since the growth rate of passenger-car sales in India this year has been the weakest since the 2008-09 fiscal year, when sales were hurt by the global financial crisis.
On a more positive note, this year’s study finds that overall dealer satisfaction with automakers has increased 71 points to 820 (on a 1,000-point scale) from 749 points in 2011. According to the study, satisfaction improves across all nine measures,* with the largest improvement in support from the manufacturer—the factor with the most weight in our index. Continue reading ›
Posted on May 16, 2012, at 2:00 am
 Marvin Zhu In 2011, China’s automakers shipped nearly 850,000 vehicles from different harbors in China to other world regions. Exports were up 50% from the previous year and contributed US $11 billion (69.55 billion RMB) to the country’s trade balance, which was an increase of 57% from 2010.
While most of the Chinese home-grown brands are suffering to some extent from declining market share in the domestic market, surging exports might help local automakers to counter this decline, according to Marvin Zhu, senior automotive analyst with LMC Automotive.* Recently, he wrote about how China’s local automakers are making inroads in other countries’ auto markets in China Automotive Monthly, published for J.D. Power Asia Pacific. The article is excerpted:
Some Local Companies are Already Overseas Players
“Chery, China’s largest local carmaker, recorded sales of 642,000 units in 2011, down 6% year over year. Its export volume reached 160,000 units, which amounted to one-fourth of the company’s total sales. Last July, Chery set up a US $400 million (2.54 billion RMB), fully-owned factory with a complete production line in Brazil. It became the Wuhu-based carmaker’s 17th overseas plant. While this growth and investment is happening internationally, the company announced it would drastically reduce its investments for ongoing R&D projects for the local market. Continue reading ›
Posted on May 14, 2012, at 2:00 am
 Jenny Gu Earlier this year, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released its list of approved vehicles for government purchase. The list caused quite a stir because all 412 models included are from China’s domestic brands. International media have been critical of the list, and some have even said it violated WTO principles. Jenny Gu, senior analyst with LMC Automotive,* which has a strategic alliance with J.D. Power, points out that the policy is in line with public opinion in China, and does not violate WTO principles.
A few excerpts from Ms. Gu’s perspective in a recent issue of China Automotive Monthly—Market Trends about the reality and ramifications of the new policy are highlighted:
“This policy is in line with public opinion, whereby government purchases require greater scrutiny and more cost controls. After all, it seems unreasonable to use taxpayers’ money to buy luxury cars for a small group of public officials. However, to become a supplier of official vehicles in China, a company does not need to be a Chinese brand, but the three conditions are difficult for foreign brands to meet:
• Vehicles sold for official purposes, such as tax collection or criminal investigation, must have an engine size of 1.8 liters or below.
• These vehicles must cost no more than 180,000 yuan (US $28,571).
• The manufacturer must have spent no less than 3% of their core revenue on research and development in China in the past two years.
“The first two conditions block luxury brands such as Audi and BMW, which typically have large engine-displacement, expensive vehicles. However, it is the third condition that all foreign brands struggle to meet. Continue reading ›
Posted on May 11, 2012, at 2:00 am
 David Sargent Recently, Automotive News and German trade newsletter Automobil Produktion reported that German luxury automaker BMW and South Korea’s Hyundai Group are discussing a possible tie-up or alliance to develop and produce engines, where both automakers would share costs equally.
Of course, any engineering tie-up can be a smart move in principle as it allows automakers to share development and purchasing costs. The benefits are generally greatest for high-cost items, such as engines, and also where the shared parts are “invisible” to customers, and engines would generally also qualify here. Continue reading ›
Posted on May 9, 2012, at 2:00 am
 Mohit Arora The curtain has fallen on a highly successful 2012 Beijing Auto Show, which was attended by senior executives from many of the world’s largest automakers. After some reflection, here are a few key takeaways that Indian automakers can collect from the Beijing Auto Show:
Go Local
International automakers made it loud and clear during the auto show that they are listening to Chinese consumers and are producing cars for the Chinese market.
For example, Aston Martin and Jeep are two of many brands that decided to go for the most obvious and blunt visual approach to wooing Chinese consumers—by deploying a Dragon emblem on their latest model offerings, hoping to tap into Chinese affinity for the most powerful symbol in the Chinese zodiac.
While using the Dragon emblem might be considered flattering, automotive marketers need to be careful. Chinese consumers are increasingly becoming more global and sophisticated in their tastes, and leveraging the revered dragon could be considered pandering by some. In short, the key is to “go local” with marketing knowledge, without going provincial. Continue reading ›
Posted on May 7, 2012, at 8:28 am
 Jeremy Bowler Although only 25% of auto insurance customers say they shopped for a new insurer during the past 12 months, which is down 8 percentage points from 2011, some 43% of these shoppers switched auto insurance providers, according to our 2012 U.S. Insurance Shopping Study.
This year’s switching rate among shoppers, which is up 3 percentage points from 2011, is the highest since we first began measuring retention in 2008. Our Insurance Shopping Study evaluates consumer shopping and purchasing behaviors and overall satisfaction among buyers who recently purchased auto insurance.
It’s likely that the increase in the proportion of shoppers actually switching insurers means that fewer price-checkers are gathering quotes, which may be a direct result of lower savings derived from switching. In fact, our findings indicate that the typical savings derived from switching has declined from an average of $412 in 2010 to an average of $359 during the past 12 months.
At the same time, customer retention rates are rising even though auto insurance companies are spending more money to entice customers to switch insurers. This is noteworthy since industry-wide advertising expenditures rose 12% in 2011 from 2010, based on analysis of data performed by Dowling and Partners, LLC. Continue reading ›
Posted on May 4, 2012, at 2:33 pm
 April was another month of growth for the U.S. auto industry in 2012. Strong end-of-month retail sales and higher fleet sales helped continue the trend of sales gains, based on data collected and analyzed by J.D. Power with LMC Automotive.*
Retail sales reached 908,685 units in April, which was 9.3%** higher than last April and translated to a seasonally adjusted selling rate (SAAR) of 10.3 million units, which was lower than a year ago and last month due to fewer selling days this year. Fleet sales were strong in April, climbing 40% from a year ago. Continue reading ›
Posted on May 2, 2012, at 9:24 am
 U.S. light-vehicle sales were anticipated to be challenging last month because Easter and Passover holidays fell in April this year, which meant there were three fewer selling days compared with April 2011.* However, in early reports from J.D. Power and LMC Automotive,** total deliveries were up 15% from the same month a year ago on a selling-day-adjusted basis.
J.D. Power expects that 1.182 million cars and light trucks were delivered last month, which translates to a 14.4-million-unit seasonally adjusted selling pace (SAAR) compared to 13.2 million units in April 2011. Continue reading ›
Posted on May 2, 2012, at 2:00 am
 Mike VanNieuwkuyk Although it’s still being developed and tested* and is one of the most expensive emerging technologies, Autonomous Driving—the mode where vehicles drive themselves— garnered a surprising level of interest among the 23 emerging technologies and features evaluated in this year’s 2012 US Emerging Technologies Study, which is based on responses from more than 17,400 vehicle owners.
Before price is revealed, some 37% of vehicle owners are interested in this new technology, which allows an onboard computer in the vehicle to take control of acceleration, braking and steering, without human interaction. When respondents learn that the estimated market price is $3,000, 20% of respondents still say they “definitely would” or “probably would” purchase the self-driving technology in their next vehicle.
Vehicle owners are nearly as likely to select fully autonomous driving, as they are to select separate, semi-autonomous driving technologies, such as Emergency Stop Assist ($800), Traffic Jam Assist ($800) or Speed Limit Assist ($800), according to our study results. Continue reading ›
|
|
|
