The art selling of electric cars
Taking into account the current market situation, it will still take some time for electric cars to substantially influence the mobility landscape. Nevertheless, car manufacturers and sellers are already taking steps to get involved in e-mobility. Why? To be able to lead the development in the sector off course. And to be able to take credit for it.
But it is important that car traders realize that it is necessary to change their approach it they want to sell electric cars. This article will help you understand just how significant the difference is, between a good e-mobility approach and today's conventional car sales process.
Electric mobility: leasing, buying and car sharing
This year, consulting firm Oliver Wyman released a study on electric mobility that could be ground-breaking for the sales strategies of car traders. The firm insists that instead of just selling the vehicle, it should also become a priority to strengthen the infrastructure and operations management. And they would be right.
E-mobility is different from traditional car sales, because among other things, private charging systems and public charging stations are also part of the equation. And as this infrastructure costs money, it could scare off potential customers of electric cars. That is why these things should be offered in different forms: buying, renting and leasing.
For instance, a car trader could sell an electric vehicle with battery or make a leasing agreement. As I mentioned before, purchasing electric cars is still very expensive and a technically sophisticated battery can be a high risk for the customer. Too high of a risk. Therefore, a monthly allowance for the battery bundled with a power supply, for example, makes sense. That way anything that affects the battery is up to the manufacturer.
E-mobility requires new partnerships
For electric cars, different agreements on power supply and charging stations could be combined, to lead to full-service solutions in which all relevant areas are covered by a lease rate. To tie all these packages together, car traders will need e-mobility partnerships with power companies, company management specialists or fleet operators.
Emerging car sharing concepts such as 'Car 2 Go', offered by Daimler, or BMW and Sixt, who offer 'Drive Now', are formulas that are especially made for electric cars. Because these zero-emission vehicles are mainly suited for short trips, a car-sharing model is perfect!
According to Oliver Wyman, already 76 of these partnerships were announced in Europe, 43 in the Asia-Pacific region, and 30 in the US The main reasons for high figures in Europe is the pressure to reduce emissions, the high rate of innovation in e -mobility and the high awareness of the positive effect on brand image.
How to find the best e-mobility partnerships?
Since the state is generally important for the development of e-mobility infrastructure, governments are currently the most common partners. However, the entire sector is still in its development phase, as are the partnerships.
Because the e-mobility is so new, it is still not clear which sales, leasing or rental solutions are best for who, and which partners are most suitable. Long-term relationships haven't been built yet. At the moment traders are using a trial and error method to find partners. It will probably take a few years and the introduction of more electric vehicles on the market, before it will be known which solutions meet customer needs most effectively.
This experimental phase is considered really important by Oliver Wyman. Because, car traders need to think up a clear strategy and build partnerships depending on their customers and their region. Why is that so important? Because at this point, consumers still need some convincing. Switching to electric cars is a big step, not just financially but mentally. That is why we, as car traders need to work at giving them information and the easiest solutions. Lowering the barriers is key.
