The rise of electric vehicles is threatening the car industry as we know it, says PSA Group’s head of electric vehicles and connected services Helen Lees. According to a Bloomberg report, Lees told reporters that the sale of EVs is detrimental to the French company’s long-term sales.
Lees also told Autocar that EVs are far simpler than cars equipped with the internal combustion engine. “They need less parts, less time in the workshop. Ultimately, it means less time in aftersales. That’s why we’ve chosen to diversify into areas such as shared mobility.”
This refers to the group’s Free2Move car sharing service, where it offers up to 550 vehicles (from Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel and Vauxhall, all of which it owns) in Paris that can be booked via a smartphone app. In fact, newer cars under the PSA Group feature a digital key so the cars can be assigned to other car-sharing users remotely.
However, the inevitable decline in aftersales revenue in the short term has brought upon a new opportunity regarding EV sales. “Whereas a lot of consumers might service their petrol or diesel cars themselves, they tend to come back into main dealerships for EVs, because the aftermarket operators aren’t necessarily ready for electric to the same extent as manufacturers are.”
“We’ve got a short-term opportunity for aftersales where hopefully we can build loyalty and prove ourselves and break some of the myths about being ripped off by mainstream manufacturers,” Lees explained.
In the long term, PSA Group plans to sell fewer parts and spend less service hours on its EVs. “When you look at the service plan pricing for Peugeot e-208, for example, it’s a third cheaper than the service plan for the equivalent petrol or diesel 208. Obviously, that helps build the total cost of ownership model at the moment, but longer-term, maybe our dealerships will become mobility hubs where there’s dealership-based rental.”
Moving forward, the company will launch a leasing package for its customers, allowing them to rent a petrol or diesel car as part of their EV finance package. PSA Group has also announced that it will electrify every single model in the family by 2025.
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What are the chances for Naza doing car subscription service as mentioned above? It’s still quite pricey here however the recent drop in price from TC on their X-Trail monthly lease is in a right direction.
Might consider to subscribe service provided these cars come with red leather seats as standard fitting.
Less time servicing but more time charging. Still not the best win win senario
How long the battery going to last with frequent charge. Even our phone dont last long after frequent charge.
Car Vs car… sigh …this is a tasteless seriously??!!
Means less jobs for engineers and technicians and mechanics,
Good…lets do it
Go green or go to hell..
Less time in workshop but much costlier maintenance, especially when it comes to battery replacement