EV survey reports healthy relationship building
The relationship between dealers and manufacturers in the electric vehicle sector is reported to be on the rise.
This is according to the Electric Vehicle Dealer Attitude Survey, conducted by the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) .
This is the second edition of the survey which was launched six months ago. The main objective of the survey is to understand retailers’ views on the approach to the electric vehicle sector of both manufacturers and the government.
As this is a fast-developing area and one which not all manufacturers have entered, the survey included all the manufacturers that took part in the first edition and added any manufacturers that met a minimum response rate of 20%.
The overall average score was 6.79 out of 10*, up from 6.47.
Toyota topped every question of the survey and had the highest average score, with an impressive 9.35 points out of 10. Kia and new-entry Mercedes followed with 8.35 and 7.50 points respectively. Hyundai, Volvo, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Audi and BMW had ratings above 6.0, demonstrating a certain degree of satisfaction from their dealer networks.
At the other end of the table, Renault, Volkswagen and Peugeot were the only three manufacturers with average scores below 6.0. Despite the low scores, all three manufacturers saw their score improve. In the case of Peugeot, this was quite significant, with an increase from 2.75 to 4.09 points.
‘It is positive to see increasing retailer satisfaction levels with their manufacturers’ approach to the electric vehicle sector, as the NFDA Electric Vehicle Dealer Attitude Survey shows”, said Sue Robinson, director. ‘Despite generally high levels of satisfaction, the survey shows that a number of retailers have concerns surrounding their return on investment in equipment and training, and supply availability.
‘For the second time, retailers gave the highest average score to their manufacturers’ proposed plug-in hybrid and pure electric product range for the next two years. NFDA encourages manufacturers and retailers to consider the findings of the survey and collaborate to address any potential issues that may have an effect on the market.’
