I was going through news related to EV consumer market trend for the past 4-5 years and found many articles indicating shifting consumer trend of American and European consumers towards strong hybrids and ICE’s back from EV’s. Many articles suggested that this perhaps means “Death to EV’s” and labelled it “End of EV hype” globally for the world of tomorrow. However as per my analysis things look a bit different when I foresee the world of tomorrow.
The American and most importantly European consumer market are the first adopters of EV revolution, backed by the very important cause of climate change and global warming. The EU governments funded this revolution by incentivizing the NEV’s for consumers making them more attractive and affordable.
However we have to remember that the EU consumer market primarily consists of an ageing generation which is susceptible to change and very skeptical to adopt new tech. Take the example of NFC based “Tap and Pay” via cell phone or “Scan to Pay” which is not a very common sight in EU countries, the consumers prefer the old school payment method of payment via Credit / Debit card and even In some countries like Germany, the preferred payment medium till date remains cash. This clearly demonstrates a conservative mindset of a consumer who is afraid to adopt changing trends.
However the Chinese consumers being younger than their American/EU counterparts adopt new technologies rapidly. They shifted directly to the “Tap and Pay” concept skipping the Card payment option altogether. This mindset clearly demonstrates adaptability to newer and changing technologies.
Based on this analysis we can safely say that to understand the consumer trend of the world of tomorrow, we need to closely observe what Chinese consumer is adapting today. As the younger generation of EU countries takes control of the consumer market tomorrow, they shall follow the same trend as well. This means one thing only, a shift from conventional ICE’s to NEV’s in EU and American markets in a span to 5-10 years.
However, this is a fact that despite their electric adaptability to change Chinese consumer’s have started ageing too. In order to understand the consumer trend of day after tomorrow, we need to follow the youngest generation of them all, the youth of subcontinent. The consumer trend of Indian subcontinent will drive the consumer market of day after tomorrow i.e. 15-20 years from now.
As per my personal observation, the generation of tomorrow riding the waves of AI will greatly rely on Autonomous driving tech based on Electric platforms. This shift may not be very exciting but it is indeed inevitable. Cheers!