2025 Global Automotive Consumer Study

For over a decade, Deloitte has been exploring key consumer trends impacting a rapidly evolving global mobility ecosystem. The Global Automotive Consumer Study helps to inform Deloitte’s point of view on the evolution of mobility, smart cities, connectivity sustainability, and other issues surrounding the movement of people and goods.

As many industry executives have echoed through the years, the automotive sector starts and ends with the consumer. As such, we have expanded the reach of our study to capture the opinions and behaviours of over 30,000 consumers in 30 geographies around the world.

The study was fielded using an online panel methodology, where consumers of driving age were invited to complete the questionnaire (translated into local languages) via email. 

Southeast Asia perspectives

In Southeast Asia, we surveyed respondents across six geographies: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

This report presents key insights across four sections: electric vehicle adoption, future buying intentions, connectivity, and shared mobility.

All-battery electric vehicle (BEV) inertia remains muted in most markets as interest in internal combustion engine (ICE) and hybrid vehicles tick up

Consumer interest in full hybrids and range extender technology (i.e., no external charging plug) is gaining momentum in SEA markets as consumers seek a “best of both worlds” solution to reduce fuel costs and lower emissions without the need for charging infrastructure.

Intended vehicle brand defection remains high in SEA markets

At least two-thirds of surveyed consumers intend to switch brands the next time they are in-market for a vehicle, signalling the need to build strong customer relationships, particularly in Vietnam that has a significant percentage of first-time buyers.

Autonomous vehicles are coming back into view, but consumer concerns remain

An evolving view of the regulatory environment governing the development of autonomous technology in some global markets may ease the deployment of self-driving vehicle fleets for both consumer and commercial applications. The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into vehicle systems to enable self-driving features is also seen as largely beneficial, particularly in Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam markets.

A relatively high frequency of vehicle use persists in many markets, but many younger consumers surveyed are interested in mobility as a service (MaaS) over ownership

More than half of surveyed consumers in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam say they drive their vehicle everyday, which is twice the number of consumers in Singapore. However, a significant number of 18-34-year-olds surveyed in those markets (among others) are at least somewhat interested in giving up traditional vehicle ownership in favour of a MaaS solution.