Nick Richardson, chief executive of Automotive Insights, explains to AM how real-time consumer intelligence is revealing rapidly shifting attitudes to EVs, brand choice and the car-buying journey – and why dealers need to look beyond topline data to understand what customers will do next.
Automotive Insights surveys 1,000 UK motorists every month. What is the most significant change you are currently seeing in how consumers choose and buy cars?
The scale and speed of change in how UK consumers choose and buy cars is unlike anything we’ve seen in a generation. Attitudes, behaviours and purchase drivers around electrification are shifting dramatically – but what’s most interesting is how uneven that change becomes once you look beneath the topline numbers.
Our data shows that EV consideration has risen sharply: in Q2 2025, 30.7% of UK motorists said their next vehicle was likely to be an EV; by Q2 2026 that figure had jumped to 49.3%. But the real value of our platform is the ability to go deeper, instantly. Within two clicks you can compare any audience against any other and reveal nuances that would otherwise remain hidden.
For example, male motorists are currently more likely to consider an EV (55.2%) than female motorists (45%). Yet when you isolate female drivers of Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, EV consideration rises to 52.7%. These kinds of patterns – demographic, behavioural and what we call autographic – show that the EV transition isn’t a single story; it’s hundreds of micro-stories unfolding simultaneously.
The most significant change we’re seeing isn’t just the headline trend toward electrification. It’s the ability to understand who is changing, how fast, and why. We’re removing huge amounts of uncertainty for the industry by giving brands, retailers and OEMs the ability to identify specific groups of consumers and understand their motivations with clarity and speed.
Where is the biggest gap between what dealers believe customers want and what your research suggests they actually value?
There’s no shortage of data in the industry – the real gap is in understanding what actually sits behind the numbers. Dealers often rely on broad market signals or legacy assumptions about what customers value but our research shows that the motivations driving today’s consumer are far more nuanced and are changing at a pace the traditional retail model struggles to keep up with.
The consumer purchase journey has fundamentally shifted. Expectations around transparency, brand experience, digital touchpoints and value perception are evolving quickly, and many dealers are still shaping their propositions around what they believe customers want rather than what customers are actually telling us.
How can dealers turn your consumer intelligence into practical decisions on areas such as stock, marketing, finance and customer retention?
Our platform allows retailers to define their audience with precision and understand what is driving their attitudes, behaviour and consumption. That means they can make practical decisions across stock, marketing, finance and retention based on what consumers are actually doing and planning next, rather than what they did last year.
We track the full consumer journey: the car they owned, what else they considered, what they ultimately bought, and what they are likely to consider next. That creates a powerful foundation for stock management and marketing. Retailers can align stock profiles with emerging demand, and target campaigns at audiences whose motivations and likelihood to convert are already known.
On retention, our insight becomes even more valuable. With two clicks, retailers can isolate what matters specifically to motorists who bought new, nearly new, through a dealer group, or even through a particular franchise brand.
For example, in 2026 we can see that motorists who acquired their last car via a franchised dealer are significantly less likely to consider a Chinese brand for their next purchase compared with all motorists – 38% versus 45.7%. That kind of intelligence helps retailers understand risk, opportunity and loyalty at a granular level.
With dealerships already receiving data from numerous platforms, what makes Automotive Insights’ intelligence different – and how do you ensure it remains genuinely independent?
Dealers are overwhelmed with data, but most of it comes from platforms that either reflect historic behaviour or have a commercial interest in the outcome. What makes Automotive Insights different is that our intelligence is built on real-time consumer attitudes, behaviour and consumption – and it is genuinely independent of any retailer, OEM or marketplace agenda.
Our data is collected directly from 1,000 UK motorists every month, giving us a continuous, unbiased view of how consumers think, feel and act.
Independence is fundamental to our model. We don’t sell cars, advertise cars or influence transactions. We exist solely to help the industry understand consumers. That means our insights aren’t shaped by stock availability, lead-gen priorities or commercial partnerships – they’re shaped by what motorists actually tell us.
What does the acquisition of Factor Sales allow you to understand by combining consumer sentiment with transactional aftermarket data?
The acquisition of Factor Sales opens up a huge opportunity for us to combine, overlay and integrate multiple data sources – Automotive Insights, Factor Sales and additional datasets we may bring to market in the future. Together, they have the potential to create a genuinely end-to-end view of the UK motorist, from attitudes and intentions through to real-world aftermarket behaviour.
However, we’re deliberately taking a measured approach. We are still in the early stages, and our first priority is to listen to Factor Sales’ key stakeholders, long-standing partners and loyal supporters. Their experience and expectations will shape how we evolve the platform.
Once that process is complete, we’ll begin developing our growth plans for Factor Sales including how its transactional data can be used to support dealerships. There is clear potential to help retailers understand how consumer sentiment links to servicing behaviour, parts demand and brand loyalty, but we want to build that capability in a way that respects the heritage of Factor Sales and delivers genuine value to the industry.
Following the expansion of your senior team, what is your ambition for Automotive Insight Group over the next 12 months – and what should dealers expect to see next?
Our ambition is for Automotive Insight Group to be recognised as one of the industry’s most innovative and forward-thinking partners – a business that helps retailers, OEMs and suppliers be best placed to serve the customers of today and tomorrow.
Over the next 12 months, our focus is on making our data even more actionable and expanding the number of ways it can be applied within a dealer group. Our product roadmap is ambitious, and every enhancement is designed to help the industry make clearer, faster and more confident decisions.
We’ve just launched our first report on the impact of EV on new-car registrations, and I’d encourage anyone in the industry to download a complimentary copy. It demonstrates the depth of our insight and the practical value it can deliver for dealers navigating an increasingly uncertain market.
By providing independent, real-time intelligence, we aim to give every dealer the clarity they need to make better decisions, build stronger propositions and stay ahead of change.
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