BearingPoint study: Tesla still dominates online sales of new vehicles

Seeing that especially the Covid-19 crisis during the last year has massively impacted how Automotive OEM are looking at their sales processes, we made a study at BearingPoint looking at the online offerings of different OEMs. This is a summary of what we found out:

  1. Online Sales definitely are a trend in the industry:
    More and more manufacturers are establishing online channels and are now represented in the most important markets. A closer look reveals regional differences. For example, there are many online store offerings in China and the UK with high service maturity. 11 of the 13 manufacturers surveyed in China were operating an online store at the time of the study. This places China ahead of the UK (8) in terms of the number of online stores.
  2. US market is hardly served by the OEMs:
    In the US, one of the largest car and online sales markets globally, the number of online stores for new vehicles is disappointing at only four. Germany, also with four online stores, is also only average though recently with an upward trend. France (with two online stores) and Italy and Spain (only one online store each) bring up the rear. According to BearingPoint’s analysis, OEMs do not consider these to be markets with high online sales maturity.
  3. Tesla still is the leader towards online direct sales:
    In comparing the major automakers, only one manufacturer operates online stores in all the markets evaluated, even in Spain and Italy: Tesla. Tesla is not only present everywhere, but the electric car manufacturer also performs best in all analyzed markets. Tesla is successful with its revolutionary sales model because the US manufacturer understands how to meet customer expectations and be where the customers are. And these days, that is online.
  4. Volume and Premium OEMs are on par with regard to online stores:
    According to BearingPoint’s study, online stores’ maturity does not correlate with the segment in which the OEM operates. The study found that both volume and premium manufacturers offer high-quality online stores. In other words, volume manufacturers are not behind premium manufacturers with their offerings. While both segments have their strengths in different areas, there are still some white spots on the map where none of the OEMs serves as a leading online offering.

To get more insights, download the study at www.bearingpoint.com.

Stefan

Stefan is working in the Automotive Industry for 16 years now, currently as a Senior Manager at BearingPoint Management and Technology Consulting. He is experienced across different functions and processes and knows the OEMs' as well as the suppliers' business. Driving his first PHEV, he recently became an e-mobility enthusiast.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *