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Global Automotive Consumer Study

Insights for South Africa

For the past 10 years, Deloitte has surveyed consumers around the world to identify trends in the automotive industry across countries and generations. Explore the latest data and insights around automotive consumer trends in our 2019 Global Automotive Consumer Study.

Key insights

  • South Africans still prefer to use traditional transportation. Consumers prefer to use their own a vehicle, walk, or use a taxi to satisfy their transportation needs
  • South Africans still aspire to own in the next 3 years. 67% of consumers said they would consider a model that offers more utility compared to 26% that would likely favour more luxury
  • A need for a change in Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) models remains high. 74% of consumers are interested in buying direct from OEM
  • Electric vehicles remains an uncertainty to end consumers affordability needs, with a slight increased interest in Hybrids. Electric vehicle (EV) demand is anticipated to grow once supportive environmental policies, tax relief, higher petrol and diesel prices and shifting consumer attitudes change.
  • Majority of consumers are willing to pay for connected technologies. Consumer opinions are mixed, while interest in time-saving features is high, significant concerns remain over privacy and data security, specially for those technologies that allow the vehicle to self-diagnose problems and act on health and wellness issues.
  • South African consumers are interested in innovative mobility services. More than half of the consumers are interested in subscription services for selecting multiple vehicles and those that offer unlimited ride-hailing
  • Consumers “pump the brakes” on interest in autonomous vehicles (AVs). As the technology gets ever closer to scalable, real-world application, consumers are questioning if AVs are safe, which is causing some people to take a more cautious approach to the idea.

2019 Global Automotive Consumer Study: Europe

New data from our 2019 Global Automotive Consumer Study: Europe explores trends for advancing usage and technology developments among European consumers. The European version of the report takes a direct look at consumer attitudes from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

For more details on these emerging automotive industry trends in Europe, download the full report.

2019 Global Automotive Consumer Study: Americas

In our 2019 Global Automotive Consumer Study: Americas, we present trends in usage and technology developments and look at consumer attitudes in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Brazil. Explore new data on consumer opinion in the Americas about advanced vehicle technologies and multimodal transportation.

For more details on emerging automotive industry trends in the Americas, download the full report.

2019 Global Automotive Consumer Study: Asia Pacific

Our 2019 Global Automotive Consumer Study: Asia Pacific (APAC) takes a look at mobility trends and consumer attitudes in China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia, and Australia, with a deep dive on the China market. Explore new data on how consumers in APAC feel about advanced vehicle technologies and multimodal transportation.

For more on emerging automotive industry trends in APAC, download the full report.

About the Deloitte Global Automotive Consumer Study

In September and October of 2018, Deloitte surveyed more than 25,000 consumers in 20 countries around the world to explore consumer automotive trends and preferences on a variety of critical issues in the automotive sector. The goal of the annual study is to answer key questions that can help companies prioritize and better position business strategies and investments.

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