The brand Polestar – the luxury branch of Volvo – therefore ordered a investigation with the organization Globescan in order to know a little better the habits and the state of mind of the Belgians during the purchasing process of one car. As a reminder, the Sino-Swedish manufacturer has adopted the Tesla model in the sense that there is no Polestar dealership in the world. Everything is done online while the brand also offers long-term rental formulas, but no purchase. A separate model.
During the investigation, 1,000 Belgians were questioned and it appears that 52% of them judge the process buying a car stressful. In addition, 48% of respondents say they fear the phase of negotiation with the seller. A situation which can be understood given the amounts involved, but which also tends to indicate that a trust therefore does not seem to be really established between seller and buyer.
Do not sell electric cars?
To further his investigation, Globescan therefore sent fake buyers through 40 concessions covering 20 different brands (37 in Flanders and 3 in Wallonia). Their instructions: buy an electric car.
The results are in any case surprising since 33 dealers did not offer an electric model to buyers while 24 of them (60%) even went so far as advise once morest such acquisition.
For Polestar, this attitude is indicative of sales models and of profitability exceeded: the electric vehicles being only few present in dealerships, sellers would first offer those that are available while they would not push for the purchase of an electric car either, because maintenance is less frequent and less expensive, which erodes the marge from the garage.
The purpose of the survey is probably (a bit much) to value the sales system put in place to Polestar. We will not throw stones at them knowing that the habits change and that trade on internet keeps growing. More boring, on the other hand, is l’attitude from some dealers towards their customers.
Indeed, a priori, between the seller and the buyer, a trust is necessary. In this context, it is therefore mandatory that the seller listen carefully to the needs of the end customer and advise him validly and in all objectivity. No ? Could this mode of operation therefore brake the transition to the electric car? Certainly not, because nearly 60% of the Belgian market consists of company cars or professional, therefore deductible. And there, there will soon be no choice.
