Are Electric Luxury Vehicles on the Brink of Technological Evolution?

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The future of luxury automotive is shaped by the ACES (Autonomous, Connected, Electric and Shared Mobility) trend. Luxury OEMs will need to update the customer retail experience, embrace connectivity and HMI (human-machine interface) innovations to differentiate their brands and rethink their car designs to enhance the in-car customer experience.

Frost & Sullivan’s recent analysis, Future Trends in Luxury Electric Vehicle Market in North America and Europe, 2016–2025, finds that the luxury EV market is expected to grow from 130,000 units to 1.8 million units by 2025, with a CAGR of 28.3%. Plug-in Hybrid EVs (PHEV) will hold a major share of 59.8%, although long-range, battery-only EVs (BEV) will be a growing trend. Also, autonomous driving functions will unlock inductive charging functions for optimal operation of the car, and the first application is expected to arrive in luxury electric vehicles by 2019.

"Among performance, innovation, energy efficiency, luxuriousness and ease of ownership, a strong brand positioning message is required in at least three of these parameters for the EV brand to be successful. The segment also needs targeted marketing to women and baby boomers," said Pooja Bethi, Research Analyst.

Negative consumer perception, improper retailing, and lack of value additions offered by luxury cars have negatively impacted the growth of EV sales. Thus, OEMs are exploring newer ways to engage consumers and improve the in-car experience, such as:

• Customer-centric retail design to enhance in-store customer engagement;
• Establishment of strategic decision and supplier partnerships;  
• Provision of superior value-added services as a package for luxury EVs.

"Luxury EV OEMs face an absolute need to design an innovative e-retailing business model that will create a personalised and non-invasive selling experience for the consumer while offering unique in-car value additions that establish brand differentiation," said Bethi.

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