Pub. 1 2019-2020 Issue 2

16 Consumer Marketing Efforts Need to Expand to Support Increased Sales of ZEVs. According to Cox Automotive, the average consumer now spends up- wards of five hours researching their vehicle purchase online before they ever step foot into a dealership. xii When you couple this with J.D. Power find- ings that 53 percent of vehicle shop- pers on the internet start the shopping process knowing the exact make or model they want, it is absolutely vital that consumers are educated about the availability and benefits of ZEVs and PHEVs before they arrive at their local dealership to sit in their chosen car, check out its features in person, and take it for a test drive before sign- ing the vehicle purchase contract. CARB research has shown that one of the household factors associated with a positive valuation of ZEVs and PHEVs is a dealership visit. xiv That being said, in 2017, new-vehicle shoppers who did online research considered an average of just 2.4 vehicles, down from 2.6 in 2013. And this online research means that consumers are only visiting an average of just 1.6 xvi to 2.3 xvii dealer- ships before purchasing a vehicle (depending on your source), down from five dealership visits just 10 years ago. xviii Consumers mostly use dealer websites for details about specific vehicles on the lot, while third-party sites are consulted for information to help shoppers decide which vehicle to buy. xix When you consider the data points above and add additional study findings that dealers have less than a 30 percent chance of changing a customer’s purchase decision once that person is on the lot and dealer websites are ranked last on the list of sites prospective vehicle purchasers visit first, xxi it is clear that all stake- holders need to support public edu- cation campaigns by organizations such as Veloz, which is a nonprofit formed to accelerate the shift to elec- tric cars through public-private col- laboration, public engagement, and policy education innovation. CNCDA was one of the founding members of Veloz, and we are fully supportive of their new “Electric for All” campaign. California Dealers Are Committed to Selling ZEVs. Almost 50 percent of new ZEV sales are in California, and we want to see California continue leading the nation in ZEV sales numbers. According to a past CARB report to the Legislature, ICE vehicles 15 years and older now account for at least 17 percent of the fleet, but are responsible for about 60 percent of the smog- forming emissions from cars. Since about half of all cars on California’s roads survive at least 15 years (and one-quarter to at least 20 years), xxiii it is vital that dealers are there to serve as the lynchpin between CARB, ve- hicle manufacturers, and consumers. A good salesperson sells a product that he or she is confident in and can stand behind. Despite some fantastic ZEVs to choose from, with so many unanswered questions as to range, vehicle capability, charging, avail- able financial incentives, available HOV stickers, etc., it makes a good salesperson’s job extremely difficult. As each of these aspects improve, we are confident that more and more customers will walk into their local dealership with a few ZEVs in mind that they’d like to test drive. For every new zero-emission ve- hicle purchased by a consumer to replace his or her older gasoline- powered car, the air gets cleaner and the state gets a little bit closer to meeting its ambitious ZEV goals. Accordingly, it is in the best interests of both new car dealers and the pub- lic at large for stakeholders to stop pointing fingers about the reasons behind slow ZEV sales and realize that the best way forward is to figure out, together, how we can make sell- ing ZEVs good business. 3 i Past Governor Jerry Brown Executive Order B-48-18, which called for five million ZEVs on the road by 2030. ii California New Car Dealers Association California Green Vehicle Report. Released February 2019. iii www.volvocars.com . Accessed 3/5/19. iv www.chevrolet.com . Accessed 3/5/19. v “When Will Electric Vehicles be Cheaper than Conventional Vehicles?” by Nikolas Soulopoulos. Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Dated 4/12/17. Accessed 3/5/19. vi Past Governor Jerry Brown Executive Order B-48-18, which called for five million ZEVs on the road by 2030. viii Tesla does not have a ZEV obligation since all vehicles it manufactures are battery-electric. ix California Air Resources Board 2017 Midterm Review, Appendix B, page B-86. x California Air Resources Board 2017 Midterm Review, Appendix B, page B-87. xi California Air Resources Board 2017 Midterm Review, Appendix B, page B-53. xii I.e. California Air Resources Board 2017 Midterm Review, Executive Summary, page ES-46. xiii 2016 Car Buyer Journey study, commissioned by Autotrader and conducted by HIS Automotive. xix J.D. Power 2017 New Autoshopper Study. xx California Air Resources Board 2017 Midterm Review, Appendix B, page B-73. xxi J.D. Power 2017 New Autoshopper Study. xvi The Road to 2020 and Beyond: What’s Driving the Global Automotive Industry? McKinsey & Company, 2013. xvii J.D. Power 2017 New Autoshopper Study. xviii The Road to 2020 and Beyond: What’s Driving the Global Automotive Industry? McKinsey & Company, 2013. xix J.D. Power 2017 New Autoshopper Study. xx 2016 Car Buyer Journey study press release. http://press.autotrader.com/2016-03-21-For-Dealers-Online-Presence-Key-to-Influencing-Car-Shoppers. xxi J.D. Power 2017 New Autoshopper Study. xxii California Air Resources Board Report to the California Legislature: Accelerated Light-Duty Vehicle Retirement Program, February 2009. xxiii Id.