Skip to main content

Driving dynamics ‘vastly influence car purchase decisions in Europe’

Driving dynamics play a huge role in the purchasing decisions of vehicle owners in Europe. While safety and reliability are top priorities, driving dynamics-related capabilities such as manoeuvrability and ride quality rank high in importance among consumers looking to buy a car. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, European Consumers’ Attitude towards Driving Dynamics Technologies, finds that urban male customers are willing to pay a higher than average price to upgrade driving dynamics technologies. Wo
April 24, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Driving dynamics play a huge role in the purchasing decisions of vehicle owners in Europe. While safety and reliability are top priorities, driving dynamics-related capabilities such as manoeuvrability and ride quality rank high in importance among consumers looking to buy a car.
 
New analysis from 2097 Frost & Sullivan, European Consumers’ Attitude towards Driving Dynamics Technologies, finds that urban male customers are willing to pay a higher than average price to upgrade driving dynamics technologies. Women with higher than average income are most often prepared to pay a premium for safety features.
 
“Consumers across car segments agree on the top features required for an improved driving experience,” said Frost & Sullivan Automotive and Transportation Program manager Prana T Natarajan. “Secure handling, road-holding, and control over braking and steering are significant cogs in the wheel of consumer expectations.”
 
E&F segment car owners value steering handling more than smoothness of drive and powertrain features more than fuel or price. Smaller vehicle segment consumers too show interest in and willingness to pay for all-wheel drive (AWD) functionalities.
 
The inclination to pay drops significantly with the increase in price of steering, suspension and AWD technologies. Most consumers in Europe give more importance to value for money and hence look for optimally-priced solution packages.
 
“Technology providers must deploy appropriate pricing strategies to accelerate adoption rates,” suggested Natarajan. “Bundling is likely to be an effective way for driving dynamics solution suppliers to maximise profits on installed systems and attract potential consumers in Europe.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Continental and BMW Group partner on automated driving
    February 27, 2013
    German automotive supplier Continental and BMW Group are pooling their development capacities to define the long-term prerequisites for series introduction of highly automated driving on European freeways. The two companies have signed an agreement to jointly develop an electronic co-pilot for this purpose, with the aim of paving the way to automated driving functions beyond the year 2020. “Automated driving is a key element in future mobility. It will significantly enhance safety, comfort and efficiency on
  • Infrastructure and the autonomous vehicle
    December 12, 2014
    Harold Worrall ponders the effect of autonomous vehicles on transportation infrastructure. For the last century the transportation industry has been focused on the supply of infrastructure to support the ever growing fleet of vehicles and the greater number of miles covered by each vehicle. Our focus has been planning, funding, designing, building and maintaining roadways. Politicians, engineers, planners, financial managers … all of us have had this focus. We have experienced demand growth since the first
  • Regulating rural road use
    June 20, 2016
    David Crawford looks at problems facing indigenous communities and those unfamiliar with driving in rural areas. While it is well known that the fatality rate for road crashes in rural areas is higher than in towns and cities, some groups suffer far more than others. For instance, the rates of death and serious injury from vehicle accidents is much higher for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI and AN) populations living in rural tribal lands than for any of the country’s other ethnic populations. Crashes
  • Vision technology: the future in focus
    November 23, 2018
    Just a few years ago, terms such as ‘embedded’ and ‘polarisation’ were buzzwords. But now they are real and present examples of vision technology in action – and, Adam Hill finds, the ITS industry is waking up to a number of possible applications Every aspect of the intelligent transportation systems industry moves quickly – but developments in camera technology change with a rapidity which can appear quite bewildering. And with ITS providers constantly searching for an edge against fierce competitio