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Customer first

Customer experience in automotive 2024

Report from the Capgemini Research Institute

High standards of customer experience (CX) are raising consumer expectations, but the automotive industry is lagging behind compared to other sectors.

Joining the race: Automotive’s drive to catch up with customer experience ­– a new report from the Capgemini Research Institute – highlights the importance of CX in the automotive industry and suggests ways for industry leaders to improve it.

The report reveals that in a survey of 13 major consumer industries, auto manufacturers and dealers are ranked 9th and 11th, respectively, for CX. Consumers are more satisfied with the overall experiences provided by physical and online retailers than they are with their experiences with vehicle manufacturers and dealers.

The automotive industry not only has significantly lower customer experience compared to other consumer-facing industries, but there is also a notable gap between customer and executive perceptions of CX. While 48% of consumers consider brand reputation a key factor in their vehicle buying decisions, 73% of executives believe it to be the top factor. This misalignment contributes to widespread dissatisfaction among consumers with their vehicle brands or mobility providers.

About three in four consumers are unhappy with the bundled services offered by their brands, and nearly as many report inconsistent experiences across various channels, including apps, websites, and in-person interactions, from pre-purchase to aftersales.

Consumers today are seeking an experience that is hassle-free, digitalized, and sustainable. However, this ideal experience remains elusive to the automotive industry. Nearly half (48%) of consumers are likely to subscribe to a vehicle or mobility service, but the industry underestimates this interest, believing it to be only 33%.

CX is important for brand loyalty. Our data indicates that 52% of potential car buyers are uncertain or unhappy with their current automotive brand, and 57% who are displeased with post-purchase services consider switching brands within 6 to 18 months. However, by prioritizing customer experience improvements, automotive brands and dealerships could see significant financial gains – between $20 million and $70 million annually based on sales volumes around 500,000 vehicles.

Only 18% of organizations in our survey have a coherent CX strategy, and less than one-third of respondents consider CX to be an organization-wide strategic priority. It is also interesting to note that most organizations have yet to harness the full CX potential of AI. Organizations need to bridge the gap between CX expectations and reality.

To achieve excellence in automotive CX, industry leaders adopt several key practices: Design comprehensive experiences encompassing all phases from pre-purchase to repurchase; offer extensive mobility services simplifying car ownership; leverage consumer data for better insights and stronger connections; build a brand ecosystem engaging customers beyond just vehicles; foster loyalty through community involvement, exclusivity, and meaningful rewards; provide cutting-edge digital experiences; and employ AI for a personalized and frictionless customer journey.

Download the report, Joining the race: Automotive’s drive to catch up with customer experience , to learn more.

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Meet our experts

Laurence Noël

EVP, Head of Global Automotive Industry, Capgemini
Laurence Noël is a distinguished professional with a robust background in the automotive industry. She has more than 25 years of experience, and was previously Senior Vice President of the Circular Economy Business Unit at Stellantis. Leveraging a diverse background across management of business units, strategic planning and engineering, Laurence empowers clients to shape profitable and successful strategies, achieve transformation, and meet automotive sustainability goals.

Arnaud Bouchard

Head of Strategic Deals and Business Development, Global Digital Customer Experience; Augmented Service offer Leader
With 22 years of strategic and operational consulting experience, Arnaud has been a transformative force since joining Capgemini Invent in 2010. He contributed to the launch the Marketing and Sales practice in France, leading to its evolution into Frog, and spearheaded DCX France, and managed the Automotive French Market Unit. Now in his current role, he focuses on boosting the business and technology transformation of our clients in the worldwide field of CX.

Elise Arnout

Chief of Staff & Customer Experience Priority Lead – Global Automotive Industry, Capgemini
Elise Arnout heads global automotive initiatives and drives customer intimacy strategies. Drawing on over a decade of experience as a strategic business analyst in the beauty and luxury industries, Elise is passionate about reinventing customer experience to deliver tangible business success for automotive companies.

Pascal Feillard

Head of Business Transformation, Capgemini Engineering
Pascal draws on his many years of experience in the Automotive industry in his current position, where he is responsible for ensuring that Capgemini‘s partnerships facilitate software-driven transformation in order to give automotive clients the future that they and their customers want.
Darshan Shankavaram – Our Expert

Darshan Shankavaram

Executive Vice President, Digital Customer Experience Global Practice Leader
Darshan is globally accountable for directing and building the Capgemini Group’s capabilities, delivery, service and portfolio for its 25,000 strong Digital Customer Experience (DCX) Practice. He has over 30 years of industry experience, including 15 years in Digital and Mobile. With his vast knowledge of business consulting, domain, and technical implementations, he has successfully led many large CX transformation programs.

Alex Smith-Bingham

Executive Vice President, Group Offer Lead for Customer First; Digital Customer Experience Lead for UK
“Customer Experience covers all the support and help our clients need between them and their customers. This will range from changing their purpose, their propositions, new capabilities in sales/service/marketing and commerce, immersive experiences, new operating models, and new ways of working and ecosystems. We harness our global capability in strategic innovation (frog), business consulting, DCX solutions, Insight & Data and run operations in technology and business services.”

Christian Hummel

Global Head of Automotive, Capgemini Invent
Global focus, sustainability ambitions, tech advancements, and demand for regional value chains are driving transformative change across the automotive industry. It’s an exciting time to be part of this journey helping clients shape intelligent, sustainable, and connected futures.