VW dress code to blame for weak ID.4 sales in China, analyst says

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Volkswagen is betting everything on the ID. 4 in China, but the veteran German automaker’s all-electric crossover has yet to find a solid footing in the country. Part of this, at least according to one analyst, is because Volkswagen employees dress too conservatively compared to staff from competitors like Tesla and NIO.

Before getting to his rather unique theory, Stifel analyst Daniel Schwarz sent mystery shoppers to Volkswagen dealerships as well as Tesla and NIO stores. And according to the analyst, the experience of mystery shoppers in Volkswagen dealerships was very different. For example, the staff at the German company were dressed very conservatively, and the employees at Volkswagen were not as energetic as those at the Tesla and NIO stores.

“Obviously VW dealers look older than Tesla or Nio dealers. Tesla / NIO’s sales staff are younger and were seen as ‘more energetic and confident’ than VW’s sales staff, mystery shoppers put a lot of emphasis on this, also that it influences the decision of purchase, ”noted Schwarz.

It is debatable whether this analyst’s theory is true or not, but sales of the ID.4 by Volkswagen are lagging in China. According to a Reuters report, Volkswagen has only sold around 1,200 ID.4s in China in two months despite a strong and assertive marketing campaign. In contrast, Tesla has sold over 6,000 Model Y’s in the first two months after its local launch, and that’s with Giga Shanghai’s production lines barely emerging from their testing stages.

Interestingly enough, Schwarz’s theory seems to be a pretty good point for VW itself. Stephan Wollenstein, head of sales strategy, noted during a July 29 results call that improving Volkswagen’s operations in China is an important endeavor. He also referred to the company’s strong dealer network as an advantage over its competitors in the market.

“We are aiming for a network through the two joint ventures of approximately 150 of these prime locations in high frequency areas in China, where our competitors are also exhibiting their cars, which would be a similar sized network to NEV only. brands have.

“On top of that, we have our natural strengths with our well-established dealer network of 2,000 units, which of course is able to provide first-class service, which some of our competitors certainly cannot. to achieve simply because of maturity in the market, ”Wollenstein said.

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VW dress code to blame for weak ID.4 sales in China, analyst says

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