Executive View: Despite the hype, few people really have a clue

An "informed" consumer might just be an over-confident one, so assuming ignorance may not be a bad thing, writes AM's regular columnist Professor Jim Saker, emeritus professor of Loughborough University's business school and president of the Institute of the Motor Industry.

I was in a showroom recently with my son to buy a car, we knew exactly the vehicle that was wanted and the specification. When we approached the salesperson, the gentleman went into a long a protracted monologue of the fact that there were three types of hybrid and went into excruciating detail explaining the differences between each type.

"I tried to make informed comments to demonstrate that we had some idea of what we were talking about but to no avail in a few seconds we were back to comparing the price of the three hybrid options available. Eventually he appeared to be convinced that we knew enough and allowed us to buy the vehicle that we wanted.

I was left wondering why the salesman had taken this approach. Why did he feel the need to go into such detail giving the impression that we knew nothing?

A few months later, I was sat in a meeting in Whitehall, and we were discussing the threat that cellular modules had to both domestic and national security. In my case I was talking about the challenges that these modules presented on connected vehicles and as a result data protection. It was only towards end of the discussion when a member of the House of Lords stated that the problem was that people don’t know what these things are and have little understanding of the impact they can have. The person pointed to me and said you need to make it simple for people to understand.

As I was leaving, I was approached by one of the major broadcast channels who want to do some programmes on the subject and asked me what these things look like and where are they positioned on a car? When I said they are usually associated with the engine management system they then asked why are some more dangerous than others?

I was left slightly bemused, I pointed out that the technology itself is not the threat it’s the people who use it and, in some cases, abuse it for their own criminal or state security reasons.

The two encounters made me realise that despite all the hype about the informed customer who diligently searches the internet for information about a proposed vehicle purchase most of the population don’t have too much of an idea of how the modern-day car actually works. In the same vein senior people in Government and the media don’t seem to be much better informed when it comes to issues surrounding the car industry.

The lesson that I took away from both encounters was that if I am going to have any success in working with Government I need to be more like the car salesman and assume ignorance unless proved otherwise.