21% of consumers are considering Toyota’s electric vehicle … does not exist
Back in June and July 2021, Cox Automotive polled nearly 5,000 consumers between the ages of 18 and 72 who already own, consider buying, or refuse to buy a tram. In that data, it shows that Tesla It clearly has the most brand recognition for its electric vehicles, while other brands have a lot of work to do on the marketing front. Specifically, 69% of those electric vehicle buyers (or those who refuse) don’t even know Chevrolet The Bolt still exists even though it has been on sale since 2016.
Then we noticed something really surprising. A great 40% of those 5,000 consumers – about 2,000 – said they knew Toyotaof electric vehicles. Some say they’re looking into it, some say they’re not. Either way, there’s a pretty big problem with that: Toyota didn’t sell an electric vehicle in June and July 2021. Nor did they sell a car any time after 2014. RAV4 EV. And just in case you were wondering, Toyota bZ4X EV will not be revealed in four months.
Essentially, more people “know” that Toyota makes an EV that doesn’t exist than those who know about the Chevrolet Bolt, a vehicle that’s been around for more than five years. Or Nissan Leaffor that matter, has been on sale since 2010.
Maybe people just assume that Toyota, the company has pioneered crossbred, need to make an EV. Not a bad assumption, but in fact, Toyota didn’t pay too much attention to them. Almost hostile, even. Only recently it announced plans for a series of future EV modelsAnd again, the bZ4X was only revealed in November. Then again, people probably still don’t fully understand what EVs are, when lumping together hybrids and plug-in hybrids with them ( what Toyota sells). In other words “electrified” equals “fully electric.” It’s not.
Now, before you overestimate the automotive knowledge of general automotive consumers, don’t worry, it’s getting even worse. The same study by Cox Automotive found that 17% were unaware that Tesla was making EVs. Let it sink in.
You can read the highlights of Cox Automotive Road to Electric Vehicle Acceptance Study here.