Blue Yonder,the world leader in digital supply chain transformation, today announced the findings of its 2024 Consumer Automotive Personalisation Survey, which provides insights into the preferences of prospective car buyers across the U.S., UK, France and Germany.

More than 40% of respondents who are looking to buy a car in the next year across the surveyed markets felt personalising vehicles is important when making a buying decision, marking it a key consideration alongside delivery speed and cost.

“Tailored builds are becoming increasingly important to car buyers across the consumers, with this desire growing alongside the demand for speed of delivery and price,” said Salim Shaikh, Corporate Vice President, Automotive Industry Strategy, Blue Yonder (pictured left). “For manufacturers, this signals a need to refine their approach to offer a balance between customisation, affordability and speed of delivery. To win, manufacturers need technology solutions that allow them to offer this balance.”

Personalisation is Essential

Across all markets, 43% of overall respondents feel that having personalisation options is extremely or very important. American buyers place a higher emphasis on tailoring their vehicles, with 52% sharing this sentiment as compared to respondents from the UK (41%), France (41%), and Germany (36%).

In addition, 92% of overall respondents are willing to pay extra for personalised features in vehicles, with 38% willing to pay 6-10% more and 32% willing to pay up to 5% more. However, despite this willingness, there was a difference by generation. Baby Boomers show less interest in paying extra for features, with 82% of Boomers prepared to pay an additional cost, as compared to 90% of Gen X, 95% of Millennials, and 94% of Gen Z.

Manufacturers Have Room to Improve

When it comes to personalisation options, 57% of overall respondents felt manufacturers are providing good or excellent services in catering to personalisation requirements. Still, 40% believe they are only average, below average, or poor in catering to personalisation.

“Manufacturers still have room to improve given the significant proportion of respondents who answered this question with average or below,” said Shaikh. “The most-demanded personalisation features are for colour choices, safety features, and driver assistance, but the development of individually configurable technology features will drive increased customer expectation for personalisation in the future. Manufacturers who fail to embrace this trend risk jeopardising their future if they are not agile and responsive to meet customers’ dynamically changing needs.”

Speed of Delivery Matters 

The vast majority (85%) of overall respondents feel 1-6 months is an acceptable delivery time for personalised vehicles. Across markets surveyed, the bulk (80%) of respondents also said they would definitely or somewhat compromise on vehicle features or personalisation options to shorten car delivery time.

“Given we know the demand for personalisation is nearing half of all car buyers, the response on compromising personalisation for delivery time shows that these two priorities are not mutually exclusive. Consumers shouldn’t have to choose between personalisation and speed but rather manufacturers need to offer them personalisation at speed – and at an acceptable price point,” noted Shaikh.

Sustainability and EV Attitudes Differ Between U.S. and European Consumers

Despite the growing emphasis on sustainability across industries, just 25% of overall respondents see sustainability and EV options as a primary factor in their purchase decision. The U.S. is an outlier, with only 19% of respondents in the region saying sustainability and electric vehicle (EV) options are a main factor in their buying decision as compared to the UK (29%), France (28%), and Germany (26%).

Interest Rates Influence Buying Decision

Interest rates are a critical consideration, with 86% of overall respondents saying they would definitely or are somewhat likely to compromise on personalisation options to lower the cost due to high interest rates, demonstrating the financial burden of personalisation remains a limiting factor in its adoption. Americans are the most concerned about interest rates, with 38% saying they would delay buying a car due to high interest rates compared to 36% of UK respondents, 25% of German respondents and 23% of French respondents. Interest rates’ influence also varies by generation; Gen Z buyers show the highest sensitivity (90%) followed by Millennials (85%), Generation Xers (75%) and Baby Boomers (57%).

“As consumer preferences continue to shift, automotive manufacturers must focus on refining their personalisation offerings while addressing profitability at the same time,” Shaikh continued. “There are solutions available that can help manufactures strike the right balance between customisation, affordability and rapid delivery; these solutions will be key for manufacturers to stay competitive in today’s market.”

Additional Resources: 

• To learn more about Blue Yonder’s work with automotive companies, including end-to-end capabilities for volume planning, feature and mix planning, forecast order generation, parts requirements planning, order slotting and sequencing, configure-to-order, transportation capacity planning, and logistics fulfilment visit blueyonder.com   

• Check out the infographic on key survey findings 

Research Methodology 

The Blue Yonder Consumer Automotive Personalisation Survey was fielded by a third-party provider Sept. 18, 2024. Blue Yonder surveyed 1,000+ consumers per market in the U.S., UK, France, and Germany (4,000+ total) to gather insights on how trends in car personalisation and concerns about how interest rates were impacting their car buying decision. Responses were collected from consumers who confirmed they were considering buying a new car in the coming year.