Survey reveals insights into Britain’s new and used car buyers
Myths about ‘miserly Scots’ and financially cautious retired people have been squashed by revelations in one of the biggest surveys of car buying behaviour ever conducted in the UK.
According to Autovia, Britain’s leading publisher of automotive advice and information, Scottish drivers and retired people are more likely to buy their car new than anyone else.
More than 7,000 new car buyers and nearly 9,000 used car owners who all bought their car in the past two years took part in the research, by Autovia’s Driver Power, Britain’s most comprehensive survey into car ownership experiences and attitudes.
The latest Driver Power insights also reveal that Welsh drivers buy a higher proportion of used cars than anywhere else and that women aged 56 and over form the biggest individual segment of new car customers.
Autovia’s Driver Power research is statistically rigorous and carefully weighted to provide automotive professionals with essential insights to help planning and decision making in a market currently disrupted by the twin problems of the pandemic and a related shortage of essential electronic components.
Another surprising finding in the latest research is that online buyers are more likely to recommend their car supplier to someone else than those who buy from a traditional dealer. And more than one in ten online car buyers see no need to speak to a real person at any point in the purchasing process.
British drivers’ love of cars is also revealed by the fact that more than one in ten customers over the past two years were buying an additional vehicle rather than simply replacing their existing car.
- Retired people are most likely to buy new
- Women aged 56 and over form the biggest segment of new car buying customers
- Scots are more likely to buy new than drivers in England or Wales
- Wales is proportionately the biggest market for used cars
- 11% of cars bought in the past 2 years were an additional vehicle, not a replacement
- 13% of people turned down the offer of a test drive before buying their car
- Women are most likely to remain loyal to their original supplying dealer
- 11% of online car buyers don’t want to speak to a real person
- People who buy online are more likely to recommend their supplier than those buying from a dealer
- 55% of all cars were purchased outright, with savings or a bank loan
Steve Fowler, Editor-in-Chief of Autovia, said: “What’s fascinating about this latest data from our Driver Power research is the picture it paints of Britain’s relationship with the car and which factors determine the typical buyer’s choices.
“For example, retired people are often relatively affluent after building investments and savings, so it is perhaps no surprise that they are most likely to go straight for the undeniable satisfaction of buying a brand new car. And it seems that the Welsh preference for used cars probably reflects the country’s relatively lower level of affluence than Scotland and England.
“These facts, along with our still unpublished insights, will be instrumental in helping automotive professionals serve all their customers better by understanding more clearly how priorities differ between people and regions.”
