Personal Highlights on Deloitte Global Automotive Consumer Study 2025

Deloitte Automotive Consumer Study 2025

Deloitte Automotive Consumer Study 2024

January is the best month for industry-specific readings, offering joyful insights into the past year. The Deloitte Automotive Consumer Study is one of my favorites, and I enjoy comparing it with the previous year's report.

Here is my 2025 highlights vs 2024 (among 8 countries listed);

Powertrain preference for the next vehicle:

• ICE is on the rise with no surprise, only in decline in the US from 67% (2024) to 62% (2025). Japan has the biggest jump from 34% to 41%.
• HEV is the biggest winner, except in Germany, where it remains steady at 21%. Biggest jump is in South Korea from 35% to 41%, where EV has the biggest loss from 15% to 9%.
• Consumers seem to be losing appetite for EVs in general, except in Germany, where there was an increase from 13% to 14%. EV-heaven China saw a decline of 6 points, from 33% to 27%, while interest among Japanese customers became even scarcer, dropping from 6% to 3%.

Expected charging time (0-80%):

• Chinese customers seem to have ample patience, with a 10-point increase from 63% to 73% in willingness to wait at least 20 minutes or longer. Maybe experience shapes the perceptions.
• German respondents, on the other hand, seem to have changed their priorities from 2024 to 2025, with 43% now believing that charging should take a maximum of 20 minutes, compared to just 14% in 2024! Or they praise the new advance chargers.
• As opposed to Germany, US customers have normalized the charging experience, and their desire for a maximum 20-minute charge dropped from 35% to 27%.
• Japan obviously has a problem at charging expectation that 40mins and longer gained popularity from 33% to 45%. That might be the reason on the fall of EV preference.

Range expectation (to consider buying an EV):

• The most favorable consumers for a range up to 300km are in India (30%) and Japan (18%).
• Yet, the 'Never consider an EV' option was the most selected in Japan in both 2024 (25%) and 2025 (29%), further emphasizing that Japan's main issue is with charging infrastructure.
• The biggest range-seekers remain China and Germany, as in 2024, with only 6% of the former and 9% of the latter willing to accept a range of up to 300 km.

Greatest concern for EVs:

• “Driving Range” mostly selected by Germany (54%), no kick-downs on autobahns obviously, followed by UK and US.
• While 41% of German consumers complained about the lack of home chargers in 2024, this concern has decreased to 37%. Instead, concerns about public chargers have increased from 37% to 43%, where China leads again with least concerns in 2024 (32%) and 2025 (24%).
• When it comes to price premium, China (21%) and Rep. of Korea (30%) have less problems compared to others close/above 40%.
• Japan stands out with the highest concern about home charging, rising to 45% compared to 2024, while other countries are around 30% and have shown improvement vs 2024.

Drivers of brand choice for next vehicle:

• Firstly, loyalty is in decline and propensity to switch brands are increasing vs 2024
• Germany has overtaken the US in price sensitivity, increasing from 55% to 62%.
• China has the most-relaxed consumers on price coming down from 32% to 25%, who care more about product quality by 50%.
• Brand familiarity either dropped slightly (2-3 points) or remained the same, except in Germany, where it increased from 39% to 41%. Would that be a reaction to newcomers?

Vehicle purchase experience:

• Despite an increasingly digital world, physical interaction with the vehicle still matters to over 80% of consumers, with the Republic of Korea being an exception at 70%, although this is an increase from 66% in 2024.
• India seems to have the highest appetite (73%) to limit in-person visits for dealerships, followed by Republic of Korea (55%). The other markets stayed below 50%.

Referances:

Deloitte Automotive Consumer Study 2025

Deloitte Automotive Consumer Study 2024