How a Dealer Contact Management Solution Can Assist OEMs in the Ever-Growing EV Market

EVs On the Rise

With historically high gas prices, EV sales have soared, and it's expected to reach 670,000 by the end of 2022. Market consultant AutoPacific projects that EV sales in America will reach one million by 2024 and two million by 2026. While Tesla leads the pack, other automakers, including Kia and Hyundai, have caught on to the EV trend, showing high registrations.

Dramatic advancements in technology and infrastructure have also reduced customer concerns that were lowering demand.

According to analysts at AutoPacific, before 2021, less than 4% of new-vehicle shoppers considered an EV for their next purchase. In the last two years, this number has more than doubled to 11%. This growth of EVs presents an important opportunity for dealerships. However, to capitalize on this opportunity, OEMs need to ensure their dealerships are ready to handle this market shift.

Accommodating Change

As dealers scale up to sell EVs, they need to be prepared for the unique needs of these vehicles and their buyers. The market for EVs and ICEs differs greatly in terms of both sales and after-sales operations. Dealerships must have professionally trained salespeople who can effectively communicate the benefits of EVs to potential buyers. One of the most important things OEMs need to do is make sure their dealership staff is aware of the various incentives available for EV buyers, such as tax rebates and subsidies.

Dealerships also need to have service personnel who are trained in how to work on EVs, as well as having the necessary infrastructure in place to charge them.

And finally, dealerships need to market their EVs effectively. This includes advertising in print and online media outlets. It is important that dealers make it easy for customers to find information about their EVs.

With the new challenges that EVs bring, it is beneficial for OEMs to have a solution that makes it easy for sales and after-sales field managers to work collaboratively with their franchise partners to ensure their dealerships are making all the accommodations necessary to successfully sell and service EVs.

A Solution to Adapt to New Trends

Having an industry-focused dealer contact management and field operations solution, such as Optimum Info’s IKON, allows OEMs to see the big picture as well as a bird’s eye view of their dealership network. Through structured contact meetings, Field Managers can ensure alignment between company strategic initiatives and their dealership’s operational efforts.

IKON is a flexible cloud-based solution that helps OEMs assess the EV readiness of their dealer network by:

How IKON Can Address Key Questions:

A Real-World Example: How IKON Helped an OEM Ensure Their EV Readiness

A large automotive company uses IKON to ensure their dealerships comply with their EV standards.

One feature of IKON that the company consistently uses is the dealer assessment feature set on a recurrence to capture and analyze dealership trends and shortcomings on a month-to-month basis.

IKON helps group assessment results by region, allowing for regional comparisons. For example, the company can address climate-specific challenges, such as the need for more charging stations in colder regions where batteries run out quicker due to the cold.

The company’s dealerships sell both EVs and ICE vehicles, and IKON conveniently allows them to run separate assessments for each. With IKON, field managers can survey their dealers to identify deficiencies and analyze overall results.

Adaptation is Crucial

As OEMs continue to make tremendous changes to their business due to the rise of EVs, it is imperative that they ensure the EV readiness and alignment of their franchise network. A dealer contact and field operations management system such as IKON can not only assist OEMs in ensuring the EV-readiness of their dealers amidst the growing EV market but also helps OEMs track and analyze the progress of their dealerships over time.