78% of UK buyers would buy an electric car

A new study into the future of automobile production by Marketing Weekly claims that eco cars are still its future, even though UK consumers have not been particularly active in that area of the market. They’ve suggested that the reason may lie in the focus of their advertising.

The study revealed that most consumers were confused by the details concerning how green the cars were, as consumers did not find them informative and straight-forward enough. However, sales could be encouraged by shifting the focus to price, figures suggest.

When asked what the key factor when buying a new car was, 87% of the over 1,000 respondents said it was the price and almost 80% chose fuel consumption, obviously another financial concern. Overall, interest for eco cars is not lacking, as 78% of respondents would consider buying one, but less than half would agree to pay a premium for it.

The study supports a previous call from the government that producers and dealers should include information about price to promote sales of eco vehicles.

The researchers commented that focus on sustainability not only causes a very small number of consumers to respond but may actually put them off from buying “green” cars. In fact, potential car buyers are currently much more interested in cost.

Online advertising gives brands the opportunity to create very specific messages for the audience, so car manufacturers should consider making more precisely targeted ads, the authors of the study point out.