Target markets, dealer education, and range anxiety: How Audi is hedging its e-tron bet
[Dec. 17, 2019]
When Audi designed its 200+ mile range full electric e-tron SUV, the customer target was calculated, realistic, and aggressive. "We didn't want to specifically make this car one that targeted only current [electric vehicle] buyers because the pool is just so small," Audi's e-tron manager Matt Mostafaei explained on a recent episode of the Wheel Bearings podcast. "I would say it's been a success in terms of conquesting buyers from not only within the brand who are buying ICE vehicles, but also outside."
The e-tron went on sale in the U.S. earlier this year, and since then Audi has gathered interesting statistics on its electric SUV buyers. "The split between current Audi owners and competitor ICE vehicle owners is almost exactly 50/50," Mostafaei said. "So...50% of e-tron buyers are coming from the Audi family, but we're also conquesting 50% from outside."
The $74,800 all-wheel-drive e-tron's range is 204 miles, but Audi’s marketing extends beyond that distance. To that end, Audi promotes that customers can add 54 miles of range in as little as 10 minutes at a 150 kW DC charging station. That 54 miles, Audi says, covers 90% of single-trip journeys.
Range anxiety is a real thing that needs to be addressed when promoting mass market EVs, and Mostafaei noted that Audi is experiencing exactly that. "The number one actual rejection reason that we're seeing for customers who don't want to buy the e-tron is the range figure," Mostafaei admitted. "But then...one of the big things that we're seeing from customers who have purchased the e-tron is that they're saying 204 miles is completely enough for what [they] need.” If they need to go on a longer trip, Mostafaei explained, customers realize they can charge up quickly at a 150 kW Electrify America station.
“I think it's a matter of getting the customer to experience the car, which is still sometimes somewhat of a struggle. But once they do actually experience it and live with it, they see how much better it is to just wake up with a full 204 miles every morning; to never have to go to a gas station, to be able to do everything from the comfort of your own home and see that 204 miles is really more than what they need."
Conveying that story to potential customers, Mostafaei pointed out, relies heavily on Audi's dealers. "What we did when we launched [the e-tron] is we took our dealers through the most extensive training probably they've ever gone through for a new vehicle launch. We took them over to Germany to actually experience the car well before it launched here in the U.S., and do a real three or four day crash course of all things e-tron and all things electrification to get them ready to be able to actually talk to customers. And then beyond that, we also have a team here, boots on the ground in the U.S., that takes these cars once they arrive in the U.S. to dealerships, train the dealers again, refresh their memory on everything they learned in Germany, and really make sure that they're ready to sell it."
At the dealership, Audi's subsequent research has shown positive returns. "There's actually a quote [in Audi’s research] that a customer that went into the dealership interested in a Q8 ended up getting the e-tron, which is exactly the story that we want," Mostafaei said. "This is exactly the story that we want because we positioned the e-tron to be the electric alternative to the Q8 as far as size, price, [and] packaging, and to hear that a customer actually went in interested in a Q8 and left with an e-tron is exactly what we wanted.”
To hear more, check out episode 133 of Wheel Bearings.
(Photos courtesy Audi)
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