22 August 2022

OEM investment in electric vehicles, including extensive retailer training, means franchised retailers are better prepared to capitalise on the EV future than independents, Auto Trader insight director Nick King told retailers last week during an NFDA session at the British Motor Show.

Surprisingly, in a survey of 341 retailers, almost 1 in 4 say they plan never to sell EVs.

This knowledge gap, which is growing all the time, means it will take independents time to catch up – giving franchises a huge opportunity to grow market share as the EV marketplace expands.

Indeed, the shortage of used cars, caused by 2m fewer new cars entering the marketplace, will compound this effect, said Mr King. “There will be a 30% drop in three- to five-year old used cars in 2025; add in the expected 20% of cars available in 2025 being EVs, and it means those who have not brought into EVs will see the stock mix of cars they can go after is halved.”

He also revealed stats that showed it took 50 days to turn an EV in May 2021; today, this has fallen to just 20 days. “Used car buyers are enormously fuel-sensitive; when fuel prices go up, we see a huge spike in EV searches.”

Tags: electric cars, EV, franchise