The auto industry is facing serious problems, and this time it’s more than a deep crisis that forces brands to cut costs wherever they can. One of the key issues is optional equipment, a bottomless pit, it seems more and more for the brands than for the customers.
The endless list of options, which were served to customers so that dealers in showrooms could extract more money from them at the expense of personalized cars, is coming to an end.
This concept becomes unsustainable for any manufacturer to have such an offer structure. Brands will be forced to reduce the number of combinations of equipment packages and the list of options, because this type of sale brings less and less profit, he says Klix.ba.
Safety features are no longer on the options list
If just three years ago Europeans spent an average of 3,000 euros on optional extras, now the normal amount is close to 2,000 euros. Customers have wised up and are careful about what they spend their money on. After all, Europe is responsible for the mandatory use of driving safety assistants, so it is impossible to sell them as options.
Times have changed, as evidenced by the fact that “full LED” headlights are now standard even on small models, and no car on the EU market can be sold without a front camera. Parking sensors with audible warning, navigation and keyless access to the vehicle and engine start were optional until recently, but are now standard.
The era of special equipment is coming to an end, as the basic equipment on cars is becoming more extensive and easier to use. Rivals from China are partly to blame. Namely, with the increasing influx of Chinese cars, cheap European cars will be more richly equipped than the entry version.
How much do Europeans spend on accessories?
The rising cost of living is leaving less and less room for buyers to add car accessories. That is, customers are starting to settle for standard equipment or a little more than that. According to the data of the specialized consulting company Jato, in the first half of the year alone, on the five largest European markets, around 12 billion euros were invoiced for options.
For smaller cars, the normal thing is a package of surcharges in the amount of 530 euros, while for high-class cars the average price of additional equipment was 14,707 euros on average with a total of ten different options.
In Mercedes, customers pay an average of 10,580 euros for 11 of the most frequently chosen optional extras, with the G-Class being an exception, since a special paint job for this model can cost tens of thousands of euros. In Audi and BMW, customers spend slightly more than 7,000 euros on accessories.
Optional equipment on several pages
The current situation has reached an unsustainable level even for the company from Wolfsburg. Namely, the price list for the new Golf concentrates optional equipment on fewer pages than before. Thus, there is only one optional “steering wheel” in the offer compared to five in 2021, while the number of combinations of different tires and rims has been reduced from 31 to 17.
In premium models like BMW, the customization options in the 5 Series are huge. The windshield offers eight different versions. Yes, you read that right, with or without sound insulation, with or without thermal protection, with a heating function, with a head-up display, etc. In total, the 5 Series has more than 39 configurations in the glass segment alone. However, there will be a reduction.
Tesla and the “Chinese” are kings in cost optimization
All this is a huge amount of money that brands are spending and not making money from, as many customers have been increasingly ignoring this arsenal lately. Europeans are now changing their strategy and copying Tesla and Chinese manufacturers. So we’re back to the old ways. Some brands offer two packages of rich standard equipment, including safety features, which are already standard on the car.
A maximum of six colors with the most common colors, two types of rims and two interior ambiences. Just enough to satisfy the need to offer customers more than one option is a waste of money. In other words, buying a car must be reduced to what customers need, not offering an endless list of mostly overpriced options that customers generally don’t understand or know how to use.
Source: Klix.ba
Photo: Arhiva Autoblog.rs / Mercedes
Source: autoblog.rs
