Although about 44% of automotive customers say they are ready to buy an electric vehicle (EV) as their next vehicle, 46% remain unsure, while 10% say they will definitely not buy an EV, according to technology and consulting firm Accenture Song venture and business building EU auto lead Jens Wages.

He was speaking at ‘The Future of Auto Retailing in SA Thought Leadership Roundtable’ in Johannesburg on August 23, where he revealed that, although customers were increasingly open to the possibility of an EV future, a “chasm” still remained in migrating the automotive market towards more sustainable options.

“As we are moving to the early majority, people are hesitating. Is it the right moment to buy? Is the infrastructure there? Is it the right product for me at this time? These are the kinds of thoughts that make them keep their current cars longer. We have to help people to bridge this chasm, and it’s going to take longer than we originally expected,” he said.

Wages pointed to a recent study conducted by Accenture in France, which showed that 54% of people who bought EVs over the past two years were disappointed in their purchase and disillusioned because it did not live up to the promises they were sold on.

“Maybe the promise was that they would save a lot of money by charging their vehicles with electricity, which was cheap. Unfortunately, there was an invasion [Ukraine], and energy prices have risen. These promises didn't come true. Also, some didn't get the experience they had hoped for in the vehicle. So more than half of the people in France are regretting having gone there, and that's a bad number,” he said.

He said this was a reflection of an industry that was telling customers what they needed rather than letting customers dictate what it was they wanted.

Wages said the adoption of AI technology could play a major role in supporting the automotive sector in both gathering and delivering more comprehensive data to customers in a way that better suppored their ability to find what they were looking for.

“Conversational AI is something that will help us in the next years to really give people the feeling that we're listening, that we're caring, that we're coming up with the right solutions,” he said.

naamsa | The Automotive Business Council CEO Mikel Mabasa agreed that the rise of AI technology provided opportunities to boost the new vehicle sales market, including the uptake of EVs.

“Many of us have asked very interesting questions: is the current construct of our retailing network still relevant? Is the bricks and mortar of our dealership network that we are so very proud of still the best way to sell vehicles in South Africa?” he posited.

He said that the South African automotive industry had watched with “very keen interest” the emergence of online platforms that had been developed in the space on the back of AI capabilities to support the sales process and better support customers.

“Many customers that we survey also confirm that 90% of the time, before they make vehicle purchasing decisions, they have already done research online in one form or another,” he said.

Wages said that, with more robust AI-powered information hubs or virtual showrooms, customer trust in automotive sellers could potentially be improved.

He said that this was crucial, as research currently showed that only 30% of people thought that the automotive industry, on a global scale, had their best interest at heart.

“This makes, unfortunately, auto bottom of the list, behind banks – where a lot of people think they will be taking money out of their pockets – and behind the energy sector – which just raised their prices, at least in Europe, to nearly double after the [Ukraine] invasion,” Wages said.