Global: Are consumers satisfied with the digital experience offered by car brands?

In recent years, the automotive industry has made major strides in creating technologically advanced cars. But are they able to expand and provide customers with a good digital experience pre- and post-purchase?

Data from a recent YouGov survey conducted across 18 markets shows that just over one in ten global respondents think car brands provide a good digital experience (14%).

A few countries outpace the global audience in registering more than two in ten consumers who are satisfied with their online and in-app interactions with car brands – India (23%), Poland (23%), China (22%) and UAE (20%).

The APAC region remains divided, with some countries registering more than the global average and others registering fewer than one in ten consumers – Hong Kong (9%) and Singapore (8%) are among the lowest of all markets.

Home to some of the best-known automotive companies Germany, along with Spain, registers 15% of consumers who think car brands provide a good digital experience. However, consumers in the rest of the European countries we polled are less likely to share the same opinion. Great Britain registers less than one in ten consumers (8%) who are happy with the service provided through the brands’ app or other online interactions, the lowest of all markets surveyed.

In North America, urban Mexicans are more likely to find the digital experience of car brands to be satisfactory (19%). However, their neighbours are not as likely to say the same – Canada (13%) and US (12%)

Looking further into the data reveals that while overall age is not a distinguishing factor, in some individual markets consumers of one age group are likelier than the others to be satisfied with the digital customer experience offered by car companies.

In Great Britain, for example, consumers aged between 18-24 are as likely as those aged over 55 (9% each) to be satisfied with their online interactions. In the US, younger consumers (18–24-year-olds) are significantly more likely to say the same (18%) indicating that automotive companies' digital efforts are patchy, at best.

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Methodology: YouGov RealTime Omnibus provides quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on surveys of adults aged 18 and over in 18 markets with sample sizes varying between 513 and 2008 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in August 2022. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov RealTime Omnibus.