5 June 2019, London - Wiesbaden - Detroit
Motorists want cars of the future and parking to be more integrated and personalised, according to a new survey by Parkopedia, the world’s leading parking services provider. The study, which questioned more than 3,000 people across Germany, the UK and the USA, offers deep insights for automotive and parking brands looking to develop future parking products.
Cost was a primary concern for people when choosing parking, with four out of five (79%) saying this is the top factor affecting where they park, followed by distance from destination (74%). Among people who have booked parking online, cost sensitivity is only slightly higher (81%) as opposed to 77% for those who hadn’t booked online. Surprisingly, discount offers are of greater importance to those earning more than £150,000 (20%), than those earning less than £25,000 (11%).
More than half (54%) of respondents said that they would like their car’s navigation system to automatically guide them to locations close to their destination where parking is likely to be available. A similar number (51%) said that they would like their navigation system to make personalised parking recommendations based on their destination. This is no surprise as there is a long tail of criteria other than price or distance, which have high importance for individual drivers. Examples are height restrictions, availability of disabled parking and EV charging.
A third (32%) of motorists currently search for parking using their car navigation system, whereas 38% use mobile apps. British respondents were the most cautious planners with almost half (48%) searching for parking locations at least 24 hours in advance of reaching their destination, whereas only 26% of Germans plan that far ahead.
When it comes to paying for parking, cash is no longer king. Results show that 44% of people now prefer to pay by card, compared to less than a third (32%) who favour cash. This is most prevalent in the USA where card payments are preferred by 67% of motorists. Germany, however, bucks the trend, with more than half of motorists (56%) still electing to pay using cash.
Younger age groups (18-34) are also more likely to use digital parking services, accessing them 2.3 times a month on average, compared to 1.1 times a month by those aged 65 or over. People who have reserved parking online before are 60% more likely to want their cars to offer pre-booking services and 56% more likely to use contactless payment than those that haven’t.
When asked about in-car technology, men are 52% more likely to want technology that enables the car to park itself while the driver remains inside compared to women, who are more reluctant to embrace autonomous technologies.
Parkopedia’s COO, Hans Puvogel, said: “From the results of this survey, it is clear that the way people are parking is changing. Across Europe and the USA, motorists want systems that make parking easier, more integrated and more personal, without incurring additional cost. At Parkopedia, we are leveraging our services for consumers to garner deep insights that help our partners in the parking and automotive industries plan for future driver needs and create better services.”