Recent Press - Rivian

Startup EV brands Tesla, Lucid, Rivian, and Polestar have touted desirable products and a direct-sales business model that avoids dealership hassles. But they may not be connecting as well with prospective customers as traditional luxury brands, according to a recent study from consultancy Pied Piper. In a ranking of 25 brands, Rivian came in last place, with Polestar and Lucid just ahead. Tesla was ranked 21st. Established luxury brands ... Read More >

Traditional automakers who sell both electric vehicles (EVs) and gasoline-powered cars provide a better shopping experience than EV-only startups, according to a new study. Pied Piper Management Company is a research firm that uses secret shoppers to evaluate customer satisfaction at car dealerships. The company inquired about 1,657 luxury cars online between July 2021 and June 2022 for its annual Prospect Satisfaction Index study. It followed ... Read More >

A recent survey by Pied Piper - a retail service tracking company - suggests that electric-exclusive automakers are lagging behind rival premium brands when it comes to customers' overall experience. The Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index (PVI) takes into account 70 "best-practice behaviors" to get a handle on the retail service performance of automotive brands. According to Pied Piper, 60 percent of a brand's score comes from categories ... Read More >

Electric-vehicle advocates and early adopters have long maintained the experience of learning about EVs, shopping for them, and buying them is better at those few brands that sell directly to buyers—Tesla foremost, now also Lucid and Rivian—than at conventional third-party franchised dealers of the sort used by Toyota, GM, Honda, Ford, and other established carmakers. Now a study from the research firm Pied Piper appears to turn that ... Read More >