Selling electric vehicles: Experiences from vehicle salespeople in Sweden

• Published in: Research in transportation business & management Vol. 45; p. 100882
• Main Authors: Hagman, Jens, Stier, Jenny Janhager
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-12-2022
• Subjects: Dealerships; Electric vehicles; Vehicles salespeople; Electric vehicles; Dealerships; Vehicles salespeople
• ISSN: 2210-5395; 2210-5409; 2210-5409
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rtbm.2022.100882

Electric vehicles are capturing ever larger market shares of the new vehicle market in several large vehicle markets such as Europe and China. However, electric vehicles still only make up a small fraction of the total vehicle fleet. Much research has been focused on the perspective of existing or prospective adopters of Electric Vehicles. Less emphasis has been placed on intermediaries such as vehicle salespeople, who could be important mediators in the product matching process by providing helpful information, facilitating direct experience and directly influencing vehicle buyers' adoption decisions. This paper addresses this research gap using a qualitative investigation of vehicle salespeople at OEMs who sell both Electric Vehicles and Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles on the Swedish market. Fifteen interviews with vehicle salespeople at leading OEMs were conducted in the fall of 2017. The results reveal that the sales process of vehicles is mainly focused on the sales of Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles. Electric Vehicles are treated as niche products which often require the vehicle buyer to initiate the sales process. It can be concluded that OEMs, dealerships and vehicle salespeople have taken relatively few steps to influence mainstream buyers to consider Electric Vehicles as an alternative to Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles at the point of sale. Possible reasons for the bias towards Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles can be found in the apparent lack of training and experience regarding Electric Vehicles among vehicle salespeople, more extended sales and delivery times for Electric Vehicles and a commission structure that often favours Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles.