Research Topic

The purpose of this automotive study is to identify and understand business issues emerging at the product development stage.

Research Locations

• Paris, France.
• London, United Kingdom.

Mix of Research Methodologies

• Quanitative CLT with 120 respondents per country.
• 4 Qualitative in-venue mini focus groups per country with respondents recruited from the CLT.
• 2 Qualitative in-venue IDIs per country with industry experts.

Venue

The venue should accommodate different activities in different areas.

1. Quant: exterior vehicle evaluation area with 4 actual vehicles on display.
2. Quant: interior vehicle evaluation area for 2D image presentations.
3. Quant: new technology evaluation area for video or 2D image presentations.
4. Qual: enclosed FGD room with an internal window that has a view on the displayed vehicles. This room is used for both FGDs and IDIs.
5. Qual: obsrvation room for attending clients with an AV link to the FGD room.

Size and Security

• The size of facility should be sufficient to cover all activities.
• The venue requires 24 hours security over four days:  two day-time security guards and one at night time.
• Assign security responsibility to designated and dedicated individual.
• Walk-through or hand-held metal detector is required at the entrance. All visitors and respondents shall pass through the metal gate/detector and show their ID with certificate of registration for scanning.
• Any kinds of device with a camera are strictly prohibited on the premises.
• All participants’ belongings must be kept in lockers; including camera devices that should be sealed with stickers.
• The venue must be a single floor with limited authorised access and a ramp for four display vehciles to enter and exit.
• All respondents and survey personnel must sign an NDA.

Quantitative 

Central Location Test (Car Clinic)

Topics

• Pre clinic: respondents’ profiles (demographics, lifestyle, etc.); vehicle purchasing process, ideal images of vehicle.
• Main clinic: evaluation of new model compared to its competitive models; exterior and interior design layout, add-on etc.
• Post clinic: purchase intent, price acceptance, etc.; target profiling, brand identity and allied issues.

Target Respondents

• Current owners of A/B segment (mini and small/compact cars) EVs. Examples of EVs in this category are Renault 5 E-Tech electric and Citroen e-C3.
• Motorists who intend buying an A/B segment EV in the future. For the purpose of this quotation, assume within the next 24 months.
• Participants should be the main purchase decision maker and primary driver.
• Participants must have a valid driver license.
• There will be further screening criteria such as gender, age group etc., but they have not been finalised yet.

CAWI Sample and LOI

• Respondents self-complete an online questionnaire. Therefore the provision of tablet PCs will be required. Interviewers guide respondents or jump in when needed.
• Recruitment through free-find. There should be a continuous feed of respondents at the venue.
• Current A/B segment EV Owners: 90 per country.
• A/B segment EV Intenders: 30 for each country.
• Total sample: N=120 per country.
• LoI is 120 minutes.

External Evaluation

• Exterior evaluation from four actual vehicles on display. The client provides the test model. The survey partner arranges the benchmark vehicles, likely to be Renault 5 E-Tech Electric, Citroën ë-C3 and Fiat Grande Panda (subject to final confirmation). The survey partner can rent these three vehicles for the purpose of the research.

Internal Evaluation

• Interior evaluation through 2-D images displayed on 4 separate screens (PC/TV). One for each vehicle.
• The required technical specifications for the screens are 75 inch size, LG electronics or Samsung, IPS panel technology, horizontal angle 180 degrees, 1080 pixels or higher.
• The required technical specifications for the PCs: normal PCs with Windows 10 English 64bit, at least two HDMI ports, 2 SSD exernal memory slots, wireless keyboard and mouse and detachable hard drive (removable for security purposes).

New Technology Evaluation

• Through 2D images and/or video clips.
• Respondents to view video stimuli related to new SDV technologies (AI, autonomous driving, etc.) and to collect evaluations.
• Requires 4 sets of PCs & TVs in accordance with the number of vehicles. Technical specifications identical to internal evaluation.

Deliverables

No tactile outputs. Service only.

Qualitative

Topics

• Checking design differentiation points with competitors and positioning differentiation.
• Checking the suitable price positioning.

Respondents/Methodologies

Moderation, Simultaneous Translation and Discussion Time

• Expected duration of the discussion group is 2 hours. 90 minutes for the IDIs.
• Moderator must have experience in the automotive industry. Specialists preferred.
• Simultaneous translation. In the UK: English -> Korean; In France: two translators. One for FR -> EN and another for FR -> Korean.
• 60 minutes' briefing of the moderator prior to the FGDs/IDIs taking place and another 60 minutes post moderating by way of a debrief.

Venue

• On the same premises as the CLT.
• Separate FGD room with a window for participants to view the displayed vehicles.
• Separate observation room for clients with AV link.
• AV recordings with separate audio as back-up.
• Each respondent should have its own microphone.
• Requires availability of a dedicated technician to operate the equipment and to ensure it is in working order.
• Web-streaming through MS Teams using single webcam. Requires high speed internet connection. Ethernet cable preferred over Wi-Fi.
• Hospitality (catering) for participants and observing clients.

Equipment

• 1 PC with VRED (Autodesk 3D visualisation) and PowerPoint software. VRED could be the free trial version.
• CPU: Intel Core i9 (12900K).
• Power: 80 plus bronze certified 600w High Performance PC.
• RAM Samsung 64GB or higher.
• Graphic card Geforce RTX 3080Ti (Texture memory 12GB or higher). 
• 2 SSD (each capacity 256GB, main SSD & backup SSD). The memory cards will be will be collected after fieldwork.
• Keyboard/mzuse 1 set.
• Mouse : Logitech G402 3 button type Connect to PC with cable.
• OS Window10 only (Eng. Version), 64 bit.
• Videco Codec Drivers..
• TV 75 inch or larger, 4K LCD
• IPS Panel, (Horizontal 180 degree) 1080p or higher.

Deliverables 

• AV Recordings.
• English transcripts (optional).

Tasks

Project Timeline

• Q1 2026.
• Day 1: venue set-up.
• Day 2: CLT.
• Day 3: half a day CLT and half a day for FGDs/IDIs.
• Day 4: FGDs/IDIs.

Client Type

Market research agency. The client is a WRA subscriber.