SOME marketers and advertising agents in the auto space, especially those representing Renault, Skoda and Peugeot, appear to have some more work to do in terms of guiding the perceptions of the public about the brands they represent – especially in the area of whether their clients’ cars are fun to own.

Research by Roy Morgan finds when it comes to what the market thinks of various brands in terms of being fun to own, the perception is often at odds with what the owners of those brands think.

Researchers wanted to know how many people intending to buy a new car in the next four years would want a vehicle that was “fun to own”

Conducted in 2015, the survey of 13,217 new car “intenders” found 22 per cent (which projects to about 500,000 buyers over the next four years) specified they want to own a car that was entertaining and enjoyable to drive.

 

However, with some brands, there was a wide gap between a car presumed to be fun and one that actually delivered on smiles.

Roy Morgan then asked the 22 per cent who wanted to buy a fun car what brand they think would be fun to own.

BMW came out on top with 35 per cent of respondents saying its cars are fun to own which is not surprising from a brand that presents itself as the ultimate driving machine.

Audi ranked second at 32 per cent, followed by Volkswagen (27 per cent), Subaru (24 per cent), Mercedes-Benz (22 per cent) and Toyota (21 per cent).

There was a big gap to Ford and Mazda, with only 14 per cent of respondents identifying each brand as fun to own.

Honda was a surprise on nine per cent given the Japanese car-maker tags the end of its TV commercials with an F1 car and the line: The power of dreams.

At the bottom of the chart, only five per cent of new car intenders who cited fun as being a vital sales factor thought Mitsubishi, Peugeot or Skoda would deliver that fun factor, with the fewest naming Hyundai (four per cent) or Kia (two per cent).

The survey also showed that the perception of brands in the market compared with what owners thought of those brands was often quite different.

Based on actual owners first-hand experience, as opposed to just perception of the brand, BMW did not come out on top. That honour went to VW.

This gap was especially prevalent with Renault, Peugeot and Skoda models, where the perception of these brands amongst those who aspire to a fun car was well short of what the owners think.

This suggests that perhaps a redirection in the thrust of the company’s branding might gather in a few more enthusiastic buyers.

Roy Morgan Research automotive industry director Jordan Pakes told GoAutoNews Premium that a brand should identify its strengths and weaknesses to market itself accordingly.

“It’s up to marketers to determine the best way to communicate the brand’s strengths to potential buyers,” he said.

“However a few makes in particular seem to be severely misunderstood. Peugeot is a great example of a brand that is above the market average on the ‘fun to drive scale’ as rated by its owners but is perceived quite differently in the market.

“While just one in 20 fun-seeking buyers think that driving a Peugeot would be fun, 35 per cent of their drivers can attest it is — so a rate seven times higher than among buyers.

“Skoda also improves dramatically among owners, with 33 per cent of them having fun compared with the 5 per cent of fun-seeking buyers.

“Renault’s fun quotient also appears to be underestimated by the car-buying public: eight per cent, compared with the 32 per cent of actual drivers enjoying themselves (four times higher), just ahead of Toyota with 30 per cent, a 43 per cent increase.”

Referring to the “winners” in the survey, Mr Pakes said the general perception of BMW’s “fun-ness” among buyers was pretty close to the experience among owners (40 per cent, just 14 per cent higher), but another German brand also scored high.

“When it comes down to real first-hand, on-road experiences, the car whose current drivers are most likely to be having fun behind the wheel is Volkswagen,” he said.

“In fact, 46 per cent of all Volkswagen drivers agree the make is fun to drive — which is a 70 per cent increase on the people who think Volkswagen is a fun brand.

“Volkswagen is followed by Subaru where 44 per cent of its drivers say the brand is fun, a 83 per cent increase on the perception by non-owners, while 41 per cent of Audi drivers compare with 28 per cent of non-owners.”

Mr Pakes said Kia owner remained among the least likely to say the make is fun to drive (15 per cent), but said: “This is nevertheless over seven times higher than the rating among car buyers – the greatest proportional discrepancy between perception and experience.“

By Neil Dowling and John Mellor