Based on the information from the previous chapters an empirical large-volume study is conducted to investigate the expectations and potentials that customers see in sustainability elements, particularly in the interior sector. The empirical survey focuses exclusively on customers of premium brands (Audi, BWM, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche), since sustainability measures are already more widespread in this area and customers have even higher expectations with regard to design and equipment (Skala-Gast, 2012).
Structure of the empirical study
The empirical study is based on an online survey with purposively selected persons from the Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences, the University of Stuttgart and the company Valeo Schalter und Sensoren in Bietigheim-Bissingen. The survey was conducted via Survey monkey. All persons with a minimum age of 18 years were contacted through the official university or company mailing lists and send on to the questionnaire’s homepage. Therefore, the participants were mainly students and employees of the above mentioned Universities and companies. The age limit has been set the minimum age to drive a car in Germany. One hundred forty-one participants fulfilled the desired characteristics, which can be divided in 100 male and 41 female test persons. With regard to premium brands, Audi and Mercedes-Benz each dominated with 34%, BMW followed with 25% and Porsche with almost 7 % of the participants.
The questionnaire consists of 23 questions developed by the authors, divided into three sections: “general sustainability”, “specific sustainability in the automotive industry and the interior” and “future expectations”.
Empirical results
The participants of the study recognize the fundamental importance of sustainability. With the exception of two persons, all respondents attach fundamental importance to sustainability in different areas of life. For 81% the focus is on nutrition, followed by energy supply (66%) and living (63%). The area of mobility follows a little behind with 47% (see Fig. 1). This shows that a fundamental need for sustainability exists, but mobility is not the most important area.
Regarding the question of which factors are decisive when buying a car, quality, price, performance and design are on the first ranks. Sustainability plays an important or even very important role for only 34% of the respondents, which is the lowest value of all factors (see Fig. 2). This result shows that sustainability is discussed regularly in the automotive industry, but at the same time, it has only a limited influence on customers’ purchasing decisions, especially in the premium segment.
The willingness to accept additional costs for sustainable materials in the car is also very indifferent. Almost half of the respondents (47.5%) are not prepared to accept higher costs for sustainability aspects in the car. This is quite a high number and shows the problem of automotive manufacturers to transfer additional costs to the customers.
Looking at the single modules of an automobile, power unit (41%) and electronics (38%) receive the highest relevance for sustainability from the customer’s point of view. For almost 35%, sustainability is important in all areas of the automobile, whereas 30% highlight especially the interior sector (see Fig. 3). This result demonstrates that although the customer focuses on the sustainability of the interior, at first glance the drive system and electronics in particular have a higher sustainability potential from the customer’s point of view. The further investigations now relate exclusively to the interior.
A majority of 74% of the respondents agree that the OEM should place more emphasis on the selection of sustainable and natural materials in the interior. Only 7 % reject this, which represents a clear message to the OEM.
In order to control the customers’ design perception of natural materials in the interior, a picture of an untreated door panel was shown to the participants (see Fig. 4). The reaction to whether the test persons could imagine this in their automobile was very positive. 71% of the respondents could imagine such a door, if properties as haptics, appearance and economy are retained. Only 9 % of the respondents could not imagine such a door.
Looking at additional aspects, which should be fulfilled by sustainable and natural materials in the interior, quality (74%) and safety (71%) receive the highest percentages, followed by smell and optics (60%), haptics (57%) and comfort (55%). At the end of the scale, individuality only receives 18%, which is surprisingly low compared to the wide variety of variants in the automotive industry (see Fig. 5).
Looking at the individual types of material, it turns out that customers would like to see more sustainable implementations in the interior, particularly for plastics (67%), textiles (52%), leather (45%) and wood (40%) (see Fig. 6). Especially for the first three materials, sustainable solutions are already available, as described in the previous chapter.
Regarding the variety of natural alternative materials, biomat-plastic (54%) and recycled material (52%) receive the highest percentages of people evaluating it as relevant or even very relevant for the interior sector. Overall, all known alternative materials such as ligneous, hemp, kenaf or sisal are well accepted by customers and the percentages for irrelevance are usually much lower for all materials (see Fig. 7).
As an optional question, the participants were asked to decide which material they prefer for which interior component. The blue words are the result of the majority customer decision (see Fig. 8). The results show that the materials selected for the centre console, door trim and decorative elements are already sustainable. Other natural materials such as recycled material or natural rubber also achieve a high level of approval for individual interior components, although they do not yet represent a majority opinion.
The question whether natural materials should be more noticeable in interior design compared to conventional materials also produced a mixed response. 34% of all participants highlight that natural materials should be noticeable, whereas the same percentage disagree with this statement (see Fig. 9). Therefore, a meaningful picture cannot be derived.
The participants also answered the question whether the usage of natural materials in the interior is a long-term mega trend or only a short-term fashion trend. Only 51% of the respondents assume it a long-term mega trend, whereas the other half expect only a short fashion trend without long-lasting influence on the automotive industry. Therefore, this question can also be said to paint a much-divided picture.
The final topic is the future relevance of sustainable materials in the interior. Nearly 75% of the respondents rate the future relevance as very high or at least high, thus prophesizing an increase in meaning and relevance in the coming years (see Fig. 10).
Overall, it can certainly be seen that the issue of sustainability is present in people’s awareness. A tendency towards greater openness for new, more sustainable materials among customers of premium automobiles is recognizable. The priority for customers is that sustainability is taken into account in manufacturing and production, but not to the detriment of appearance, feel, comfort or price.
Discussion of the results
While there is an agreement in business practice that sustainability is not just a short-term fashion trend, but also a permanent indicator, this is not fully backed up by the empirical results. Only 50% of the respondents agree with this statement. The cost factor, which, according to the OEM, would have to be compensated, is an obstacle for approximately 50% of the customers. This means that for every second respondent a conflict of objectives with the OEM exists.
All participants principally agree that sustainability should play an overall role in the automobile and should not be restricted to individual areas. Although the majority of respondents chose the modules power unit and electronics, the category “everywhere” follows close behind in terms of importance. Therefore, the interior as a single module has to be integrated into the overall automotive design.
The customers also highlight that all traditional criteria connected to automobiles – especially appearance, haptics, comfort, smell, quality, safety and value – must also be fulfilled in a sustainable interior. At this point, manufacturers often see a problem. Natural materials fulfil certain properties, but others sometimes not. Consequently, manufacturers need to look more closely at this issue in order to satisfy the wishes of their customers.
As seen in the empirical study, the majority of participants can imagine a centre console made of ligneous wood or a door panel made of natural fibres such as hemp or kenaf. In addition, the topic of recycling is important for the customers. Therefore, the manufacturers should begin to work on innovative solutions regarding this topic.
The majority of customers also see an increase in the importance of sustainability for the interior on the horizon. It is therefore crucial for manufacturers to be innovative, show initiative, take advantage of emerging market opportunities and to act proactively. The focus should be on achieving first mover advantages, and it is crucial for OEMs to maintain their position as technology leaders and premium manufacturers, both in Germany and beyond. Therefore, it is imperative that premium manufacturers concentrate on the existing mega-trend of sustainability (Gelowicz et al., 2017; Schade, Zanker, Kühn, & Hettesheimer, 2014; Skala-Gast, 2012) and especially take more efforts on sustainable automotive interior solutions. However, all against the background that costumers accept compromises in comfort, practicality and price only to a very limit extend.
Referring to previous research in this area, the paper adds new insights to the topic of customer requirements regarding automotive sustainability in general and sustainable automotive interior in detail. The main result of the paper is to provide further details on the connection between sustainability and customer comfort in the automobile industry and to confront the needs of the customers with the challenges of the companies. This made an important contribution to the research field sustainability in the automotive industry.