What the latest Cox Automotive insights reveal about consumer perception – Michelle Krebs & Vanessa Ton

Cox Automotive recently published the Kelley Blue Book Q4 Brand Watch Report. The study covers both luxury and non-luxury segments. Today on CBT News, Michelle Krebs and Vanessa Ton join the show to discuss findings from the report. Krebs is the Executive Analyst for Autotrader and Vanessa Ton is Senior Research Manager for Cox Automotive. Krebs explains that the study is a consumer perception survey that reveals shopping data that determines how particular auto brands are performing.

Krebs begins the conversation by pointing out factors that stood out to her as she conducted the study. For the first time ever, shopping consideration for pickup trucks surpassed consideration for sedans among consumers. SUVs still dominate the industry as two-thirds of all shoppers consider buying an SUV. Ton adds that the rise in pickup trucks is due to fall off of cars and pandemic-induced incentives. People continue to gravitate towards trucks because it’s an all-purpose vehicle that answers the needs of the consumer. 

Ton then goes into the rise of driving comfort. While usually a low factor of the study, more consumers were focused on the comfort of the driving experience in fourth quarter of 2020. Ton then adds that affordability was also a major point of consideration for consumers amid the ongoing pandemic. Among automakers, Toyota stood out in the non-luxury segment for a multitude of reasons. These include reputation, durability, technology, and prestige and sophistication.

On the luxury side, Tesla was the darling of 2020. However, the brand is starting to fade in comparison to other luxury brands. Krebs warns that Tesla should watch out for Porsche in 2021, as the luxury automaker continues to rise in Cox Automotive studies. Krebs said that earlier studies predicted that Tesla would lose some of its initial momentum in the EV space as more automakers entered the market.