Reflections of a petrolhead.

As a confirmed petrolhead and someone who has been around the car industry for a huge part of my life, I am delighted, inspired, bewildered and disappointed all at the same time, when comes to the direction the industry is going in.

Of course I know I'm a dinosaur, so it really intrigues me to see how younger people interact with cars, automotive brands and the whole customer journey that (hopefully) results in the purchase of a car. Last week Archie one of our resident 'Gen Z'ers, put together a few notes for our blog about his recent car buying experience. It makes very interesting reading for anyone in the car industry....

From my perspective, having watched his journey I had a few observations:

1. Young people can still get incredibly excited about the process of buying their new car and brand content, earned, owned and bought still plays a huge part in that.

2. Young people don't all want expensive SUVs. Small hatchbacks are still a great entry to ownership. It's sad that Ford UK has ceased production of the Fiesta, the very car Archie has purchase.

3. Car prices seem to be getting ridiculous now. Another UK mainstream brand has launched an electric hot hatch this week. The kind of thing I would have aspired to when I first started driving in 1988. The price? £41,000! That amount in 1988 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £140,661.16 today.

4. It feels like PCP finance, technology and the trend for bigger cars has led to everything becoming premium, everything being filled with excessive tech and cars being potentially priced out of reach of many people. I'm not sure how long that can continue before people say enough is enough. Well done to brands bucking that trend like Dacia.

5. Archie bought a 'nearly new', used model with the reassurance of it being from a main Dealer like many young drivers. But what will the future of used cars be like in 3-5 years and beyond when everything is a huge SUV with an ageing battery and tech that is obsolete? It feels like a ticking time bomb.

I think Archie made an awesome choice with a Ford Fiesta ST. I would have loved that in my day, in fact I'm quite tempted by one now. A Performance Edition in bright orange of course...

If you work within automotive, be it a retailer or at brand level, we’d love to understand your view and talk to you about the future of auto retailing. Why not schedule a FREE 30-minute assessment today here? It will be well worth your time.

Or alternatively read more about Local Marketing on our blog page "Local Thinking': https://www.weareacuity.com/local-thinking-our-blog

#marketing #technology #retail #automotive