Brand perception and EV

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Thu 11 Mar 2021 13:12
Brand perception and EV - movilogo

Before discussing the car connection, I'd like you to consider the situation in Swiss luxury watch market. Mechanical watches like Rolex, Omega etc. were coveted items for decades and people paid top money for them.

However, once quartz became mainstream, it was hard to justify buying a luxury watch for time keeping. A £10 Casio quartz watch is as accurate as a £10,000 quartz. So watches were no longer sought after for time keeping but as a show off or collectors' items. The introduction of smart watches have further accelerated the downfall of luxury watch market.

digital.hbs.edu/platform-digit/submission/the-swis...t***ches/

Apple sold more watches than entire Swiss watch industry.

What will happen with the cars? For some car is a utility for others it is a show off. Manufacturers who have developed years of expertise on engine and transmission those are suddenly not that much valuable. Granted some manufacturing principles can be transferred to EV but you don't need engine or gearbox in EVs. Is there anything to differentiate other than "range" in EVs? Now just like smartphones, battery capacity will increase over time anyway. So any EV if you buy today, next year you will get more for your money.

So what will be differentiating factors in EVs? Other threads mentioned that JLR, Aston Martin are suffering.

I think it is lot harder to differentiate in EV compared to ICEs. In EV, consumer perception is Tesla is the best.

Nokia was king of dumb phones but it died in smartphone era.
Kodak died in digital camera era.

How many car companies will disappear in EV era?

PS: No idea why "w a t c h e s" replaced with *

Edited by movilogo on 11/03/2021 at 13:14

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Thu 11 Mar 2021 16:35
Brand perception and EV - badbusdriver

PS: No idea why "w a t c h e s" replaced with *

The last letter highlighted in blue is a 't', the first 3 letters in watches are,'w','a','t'. Put those together and the swear filter is going to get a bit twitchy!. Don't know if that is actually the case, but can't think of anything else.

I don't see there being much difference to the current image obsessed situation as long as the EV's are being driven by their owner. Where I see that situation changing, is once self driving cars become the norm. If the car is simply what 'takes' you to work (or wherever you are going) while you sit there catching up on social media, watching a film, or having a nap, is it really going to matter who makes it?.

Read a couple of group tests recently, both involving the Tesla Model 3 and the new VW ID.4. The first of those also included the Polestar 2, the second included the Nissan Leaf with the biggest battery option (62 kWh). In the first group test, what really staggered me was how much heavier the Polestar was than the Tesla, way over 200kg more for no more performance and less range. The second group test showed up just how much more efficient the Tesla is than the clean sheet VW. The ID.4 is doing around 2.8 miles per kWh, but the Tesla can do 4.3 miles per kWh, a difference of more than 50%. Imagine going from a 28mpg car to a 43mpg car, that is going to make a difference, especially when the price of electricity invariably shoots up in response to the increase of EV's/demise of ICE cars. So I think the question is, how can established manufacturers of ICE cars, compete with the likes of Tesla on efficiency, and will manufacturers unable to match, or even get close, suffer because of this?.

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Thu 11 Mar 2021 16:47
Brand perception and EV - Lee Power

If I had to have an EV, I'd just wait for Toyota to launch there solid state battery powered EV's.

At least whatever Toyota sell it would come with a decent warranty & customer backup - doubtful you would ever have to use it.

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Thu 11 Mar 2021 17:40
Brand perception and EV - corax

Apple sold more watches than entire Swiss watch industry.

Smart watches appeal to a different kind of customer. Buying a mechanical luxury watch is an emotional choice and is more of a niche market. I don't think they're trying to compete with each other.

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Thu 11 Mar 2021 22:35
Brand perception and EV - alan1302



However, once quartz became mainstream, it was hard to justify buying a luxury watch for time keeping. A £10 Casio quartz watch is as accurate as a £10,000 quartz. So watches were no longer sought after for time keeping but as a show off or collectors' items. The introduction of smart watches have further accelerated the downfall of luxury watch market.

Rolex had revenues of $5.2billion in 2019 - and Swatch Group had revenues of $8.9 billion. Are you sure there is a downfall in the market?

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Thu 11 Mar 2021 23:29
Brand perception and EV - nick62

Rolex had revenues of $5.2billion in 2019 - and Swatch Group had revenues of $8.9 billion. Are you sure there is a downfall in the market?

One of the things I've noted of late regarding car manufacturers, is the the ones who aren't suffering are at the very very top end of the market, which I perceive as a sad sign of the times regarding the change in the distributor of wealth over the past 20 odd years.

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Fri 12 Mar 2021 00:57
Brand perception and EV - Terry W

The drive train is only one part of the total package - brands will continue to differentiate on the basis of quality, design, suspension and steering response, comfort, safety, gizmos etc.

Other more fundamental changes, not ICE vs EV, are likely to have more impact on why people buy the cars they do.

Driverless cars, plausible within the next 5 -10 years, will be functional transport without status implications.

We may also have reached maximum personal car ownership - in larger towns and cities many are chosing not to own a car but rent via smartphone by the hour or day whatever they need or want. This avoids the hassle and cost of parking and insurance etc.

This may be city car for short trips locally, van for trips to the dump, premium motor for longer trips or to impres.

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Fri 12 Mar 2021 08:20
Brand perception and EV - RT

Rolex had revenues of $5.2billion in 2019 - and Swatch Group had revenues of $8.9 billion. Are you sure there is a downfall in the market?

One of the things I've noted of late regarding car manufacturers, is the the ones who aren't suffering are at the very very top end of the market, which I perceive as a sad sign of the times regarding the change in the distributor of wealth over the past 20 odd years.

What change in the distribution of wealth? Few, if any countries have economic policies designed to achieve that.

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Fri 12 Mar 2021 08:35
Brand perception and EV - madf

Rolex had revenues of $5.2billion in 2019 - and Swatch Group had revenues of $8.9 billion. Are you sure there is a downfall in the market?

One of the things I've noted of late regarding car manufacturers, is the the ones who aren't suffering are at the very very top end of the market, which I perceive as a sad sign of the times regarding the change in the distributor of wealth over the past 20 odd years.

What change in the distribution of wealth? Few, if any countries have economic policies designed to achieve that.

The US, the UK and the EU DO have policies in place to redistribute wealth.

It's called Quantitative Easing:- effectively printing large amounts of money which inflate the value of assets. And who owns most of those assets? The rich.

The last real attempt - unintended - to deflate the value of assets was the 1929 Wall Street Crash. That achieved its aim (unintended) and also provided the backdrop to allow WW2 to take place.

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Fri 12 Mar 2021 09:34
Brand perception and EV - nick62

The increase in the remuneration of executives v those of the staff for a start.

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