The auto industry is starting to undergo a massive switchover from ICE autos to EV autos, and there’s no shortage of people to tell you EVs are going to have a big impact on the industry. What’s less clear is how that implementation will occur. Many people expect direct retail from manufacturers to expand, but fewer people ask what customers want and like.

Escalent is an analytics advisory company that focuses on business disruptions and transformations. The company conducted a survey, May 5-June 16, 2021, of 1,248 new-vehicle buyers from a global database. Those who responded were selected based on age (18-80), gender and location, and the survey’s demographics were weighted to reflect actual vehicle sales based on the vehicle segment. The survey was done on an opt-in basis as part of a panel.

What were the results? It wasn’t the slam-dunk for direct retail you might have expected. The majority of those surveyed (57%) prefer traditional car buying. Only 20% prefer direct retail. If you think the older segment skewed that result, think again: 94% of those less than 30 were satisfied with dealerships. Overall, 87% were satisfied.

What about a hybrid buying experience? Again, the preference was for being in-person at the dealership for at least part of the transaction:

• 75% for purchases
• 60% for financing
• 85% for taking delivery versus home delivery
• 79% for repairs and services versus having a technician come to a customer’s home

The obvious takeaway is that most people, including younger customers, want to conduct business at the dealership. In particular, 63% want to take EVs for a drive before buying them. Test drives got a higher approval rating than any other source of information. However they are less interested in getting information from a dealership salesperson; 31% said a salesperson would be a primary information source.

The 2021 Global Automotive Consumer Study, conducted by Deloitte, confirmed these survey results. Approximately 71% of customers want to buy their autos in person, and 64% are uncomfortable buying 100% online. When asked why they preferred going to the dealership, 75% said they wanted to see their vehicle before buying it, and 64% thought a test drive was necessary. Only 38% wanted to negotiate in person and face-to-face.

That doesn’t mean they wanted to spend a lot of time there. They didn’t want to be at the dealership for more than an hour. That’s probably why car buyers also preferred doing online research and paperwork, including the financing portion. They wanted transparency and time while evaluating decisions such as buying extended warranties.

For decades, consumer pain points have included the following:

• Disliking long waits
• Evaluating financing options while under pressure
• Meeting too many people
• Having too much paperwork

Those pain points were a fact of life before the pandemic. Less than 2% of all vehicles were sold online. The pandemic changed that: 30% of U.S. new car sales in 2020 were sold online. But there’s a difference between doing something because you have to and doing something you want to. People like going to dealerships. But they don’t want to be there for hours.

Buying a vehicle by using a hybrid process gives customers convenience and speed. It also allows them to see their vehicle in person and test drive it before making a final decision.

As a dealer, the key to understanding these survey results is reducing the pain of buying a car and increasing the convenience. Seeing a car and taking it for a drive is not a pain point and can only be done in person. People are always going to want that part of the auto-buying experience. But there’s a great deal that can be done to make other parts of the experience more pleasant than they’ve been in the past.

Dealerships aren’t going away. However, changing business practices to include better selling methods won’t go away, either. And that’s a good thing.