Do you know how to control your car? 90% of drivers demand more training from dealerships

The II “Spaniards Facing the New Mobility” Report was prepared by the Mobility Demoscopy Centre and analyses the opinions of 4,445 participants.

Nowadays, cars incorporate countless technological advances. Eight out of ten drivers say they frequently use the devices fitted to their vehicle, so technology is well received by the public. However, faced with so much change and innovation, drivers demand more technological training to get the most out of their vehicles.

According to the report’s findings, 76% of participants believe that the brand or the dealership itself should act as a “technology instructor” for the customer, and nine out of ten drivers demand more technological training to better control their car.

Contrary to what we might expect, 28.5% of young people aged 18 to 24 reject the use of autonomous cars. “We can understand quite well how a car’s battery works or how to check the engine oil level, but someone should explain to us how to lock the car from the smartphone or how to mirror the phone onto the dashboard screen,” says Juan Hernández Luike of Autofácil.

The managing director of AutoScout24, Gerardo Cabañas, is also in favour of a greater commitment from brands to instructing drivers on new automotive technologies: “A lot is said about the future role of dealerships, which will continue doing what they do, mainly selling, but will also have to take on a technological role. On the one hand, as advisers: which car, technologically speaking, suits my needs; and on the other, as instructors: how the technology it incorporates works. When a customer drives away in the car they have bought, 95% of the salesperson’s explanation will be technological, and the remaining 5% or less will be about things like where the bonnet release lever is.”

On the other hand, autonomous driving raises many doubts among drivers: two out of three cannot imagine themselves in the hands of an autonomous car, although 30% leave the door open to changing their minds in the future. “The horizon of the automobile seems to be the autonomous car, but for now it generates more doubts than desire to get into one. There is a great deal of ignorance surrounding it, and in general drivers feel they need more information and knowledge about all the technological advances their car already has today,” says Juan Hernández Luike.

Rejection of the autonomous car has a greater or lesser impact depending on the driver’s age. According to this study, young people aged 18 to 24 reject this technology at a rate of 28.5%, while only 10% of adults between 55 and 64 are opposed to autonomous vehicles. The most logical explanation for this phenomenon is that when a driver is starting out they prefer to take the wheel, whereas among more mature drivers comfort takes precedence.