February 25, 2023

Research Suggest Chinese Car Brands Will Lead In EV Shift


Global research from behavior experts SKIM Group has uncovered the scale to which some of the world’s most iconic automotive marques are struggling to keep up with the pace of the Electric Vehicle (EV) revolution in the eyes of car buyers.

In a 2022 online poll of 2,373 respondents, SKIM Group assessed new car buyers of their perception of a carmaker’s ability to survive in the shift to electrified powertrains. The rankings suggest that faith in some iconic car brands is languishing behind rivals. Toyota was the only brand over twenty years old that made it into the top ten, with big names like Peugeot, Mini, and Renault sitting at the bottom of the pile.

EV–only brands perform strongly, particularly those from China or with Chinese–backing unsurprisingly, thanks to their ability to offer competitive pricing and leading technology. However, legacy OEMs from Europe are judged to be struggling the most. North American car makers are assessed as being split between the new, Californian brands doing extremely well, like Rivian and Tesla, while historic Detroit names like Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Ford perform poorly.

The research already shows an intriguing split between what people are buying and what brands they believe will be thriving in the years to come. For example, BMW is only placed in fifteenth based on perception, but EV owners rate them much higher, in the top three, in fact, of popular EV brands. On the flip side there’s some striking warning signs for some of the world’s best–known brands, with around one in ten people expecting Mini—another BMW Group brand—to do badly.

The overall Perception league table combines scores of brands across four categories to create the SKIM Perception Score league table. Firstly, a Success Score judges the makers which buyers perceive will be doing well or extremely well by 2030. Secondly, an Innovation Score ranks the brands that people believe to be most innovative in general. Finally, the EV Leadership score rates brands seen to be ‘EV Leaders’ and finally, the Sustainability Score marks how well brands are seen to be progressing towards Net Zero goals.

Unsurprisingly, disruptors like Tesla top the combined SKIM Perception Score league table of new entrants into the market with a positive score of 70 percent. Almost two out of three (60 percent) car buyers who are considering an EV for the first time believe that Tesla will “do extremely well” by 2030.

Tesla tops the list overall, but missed out on the top spot of the Success Score league table, as EV trail–blazer BYD placed joint first with newcomer NIO with 69 percent of car buyers believing they are the best–placed brands to be a success by 2030. XPeng finished just ahead of Musk’s brand in third place (62 percent).

At the other end of the spectrum, the findings make uncomfortable reading for several legacy car manufacturers, including some of the world’s most iconic car marques such as Mini, Renault and Cadillac. Buyers were especially skeptical of legacy OEMs, with only 23 percent perceiving Cadillac is doing well. In fact, say 3 out of 4 people thought Cadillac could be out of business by 2030.

Sustainability is a key element of purchase consideration and the polling shows that EV–only brands are far outperforming legacy OEMs in the perception of consumers. Toyota was the highest–ranking legacy manufacturer in the league table of sustainable car brands but only came in 8th with 40 percent of respondents saying they believed it to be extremely sustainable. BMW was 10th with 35 percent and Audi in joint 13th place with Fisker, where 34 percent of respondents believed them to be sustainable. XPeng topped the list with 65 percent of respondents stating it is a sustainable brand.

SKIM Perception Score
  1. Tesla – 70 percent
  2. NIO – 62 percent
  3. BYD – 62 percent
  4. XPeng – 59 percent
  5. Rivian – 55 percent
  6. Lucid Motors – 53 percent
  7. Polestar – 51 percent
  8. Audi – 46 percent
  9. Toyota – 45 percent
  10. Faraday – 45 percent
  11. BMW – 45 percent
  12. Mercedes – 43 percent
  13. Fisker – 42 percent
  14. Volkswagen – 38 percent
  15. Volvo – 37 percent
  16. Byton – 37 percent
  17. Hyundai – 36 percent
  18. Ford – 35 percent
  19. Porsche – 34 percent
  20. Kia – 33 percent
  21. DS Automobiles – 26 percent
  22. Chevrolet – 25 percent
  23. Mini – 23 percent
  24. Cadillac – 22 percent
  25. Peugeot – 22 percent
  26. Renault – 22 percent
Success Score (Perceived as ‘Doing Well’ or ‘Extremely Well’ by 2030)
  1. BYD – 69 percent
  2. NIO – 69 percent
  3. XPeng – 62 percent
  4. Tesla – 60 percent
  5. Rivian – 58 percent
  6. Lucid Motors – 55 percent
  7. Polestar – 52 percent
  8. Faraday – 49 percent
  9. Fisker – 47 percent
  10. Toyota – 44 percent
  11. Byton – 41 percent
  12. Audi – 40 percent
  13. Hyundai – 40 percent
  14. Volkswagen – 40 percent
  15. Mercedes – 38 percent
  16. Kia – 35 percent
  17. BMW – 35 percent
  18. Ford – 35 percent
  19. Volvo – 34 percent
  20. DS Automobiles – 27 percent
  21. Porsche – 26 percent
  22. Chevrolet – 26 percent
  23. Peugeot – 24 percent
  24. Mini – 24 percent
  25. Renault – 23 percent
  26. Cadillac – 23 percent
Innovation Score (Perceived as being ‘Innovative’)
  1. Tesla – 79 percent
  2. BYD – 68 percent
  3. NIO – 66 percent
  4. Mercedes – 65 percent
  5. Audi – 65 percent
  6. BMW – 64 percent
  7. Polestar – 64 percent
  8. Rivian – 62 percent
  9. Lucid Motors – 58 percent
  10. Toyota – 58 percent
  11. X–Peng – 58 percent
  12. Porsche – 53 percent
  13. Volvo – 51 percent
  14. Ford – 48 percent
  15. Hyundai – 48 percent
  16. Volkswagen – 48 percent
  17. Faraday – 48 percent
  18. Fisker – 47 percent
  19. Kia – 46 percent
  20. DS Automobiles – 37 percent
  21. Mini – 37 percent
  22. Byton – 36 percent
  23. Chevrolet – 34 percent
  24. Cadillac – 31 percent
  25. Renault – 31 percent
  26. Peugeot – 31 percent
Sustainability Score (Perceived as having ‘Strong Sustainability Credentials)
  1. XPeng – 65 percent
  2. NIO – 60 percent
  3. Tesla – 56 percent
  4. BYD – 54 percent
  5. Rivian – 49 percent
  6. Lucid Motors – 45 percent
  7. Polestar – 42 percent
  8. Toyota – 40 percent
  9. Byton – 38 percent
  10. BMW – 35 percent
  11. Faraday – 35 percent
  12. Fisker – 34 percent
  13. Audi – 34 percent
  14. Volvo – 32 percent
  15. Hyundai – 31 percent
  16. Kia – 29 percent
  17. Volkswagen – 29 percent
  18. Mercedes – 26 percent
  19. Ford – 26 percent
  20. DS Automobiles – 24 percent
  21. Chevrolet – 22 percent
  22. Porsche – 20 percent
  23. Mini – 18 percent
  24. Peugeot – 18 percent
  25. Cadillac – 17 percent
  26. Renault – 15 percent
EV Leader Score (Brands perceived as being a ‘Leader in Electric Vehicles’)
  1. Tesla – 86 percent
  2. BYD –56 percent
  3. Lucid Motors – 55 percent
  4. NIO – 53 percent
  5. X–Peng – 51 percent
  6. Rivian – 51 percent
  7. Faraday – 49 percent
  8. Polestar – 48 percent
  9. Audi – 45 percent
  10. BMW – 44 percent
  11. Mercedes – 43 percent
  12. Toyota – 40 percent
  13. Fisker – 38 percent
  14. Volkswagen – 36 percent
  15. Porsche – 34 percent
  16. Ford – 32 percent
  17. Volvo – 32 percent
  18. Byton – 31 percent
  19. Hyundai – 27 percent
  20. Kia –22 percent
  21. Cadillac – 18 percent
  22. Chevrolet – 18 percent
  23. DS Automobiles – 17 percent
  24. Renault – 17 percent
  25. Peugeot – 16 percent
  26. Mini – 15 percent

3 comments:

  1. it's an insult to be placed under Faraday. a controversial company that has not delivered any vehicle yet and full of BS

    ReplyDelete
  2. The rapid development and manufacturing of lower cost batteries for EV in China will lead its dominance in the EV industry.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Obviously the Chinese automakers are dominating. Just hoping their quality will improve over time.

    ReplyDelete

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