Automotive Market Research.
Fueling model development and growth for automotive brands.
Bianca Abulafia
Automotive Market Research Lead
We support automotive brands at every stage of the vehicle development cycle, harnessing insight to help clients understand their customers and their model needs.
Our team has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry – and helped them navigate some of their toughest challenges, as well as supporting them with day-to-day projects like early buyer studies.
We’ve future proofed businesses, by helping them understand how to appeal to a new generation of drivers. We’ve developed best-in-class voice assist solutions. And we’ve helped underperforming models reverse the trend in their cycle refresh.
Automotive market research services
Customer understanding
Truly understand your customers’ needs and challenges to inform future strategy
Concept testing
Identify the strongest concept(s) to take forward for further iteration and development
Campaign development
Understand the unmet needs and emotional connection needed to power compelling creative
Campaign effectiveness
Determine how effective your campaigns are to better inform your marketing strategy
Our mission is to raise the impact of research – and we’re delivering
Innovation of the Year
Finalist
— The AURAs, 2021
Market Research Agency of the Year
Winner – Gold
— Agency of the Year Awards, 2021
Consultant of the Year
Winner – Gold
— Agency of the Year Awards, 2021
Market Research Agency of the Year
Finalist
— Agency of the Year Awards, 2020
Consultant of the Year
Winner
— Agency of the Year Awards, 2020
Market Research Supplier of the Year
Winner
— Marketing Research & Insight Excellence Awards – 2019
Market Research Agency of the Year
Winner
— Agency of the Year Awards, 2019
Global Agency of the Year
Highly Commended
— Market Research Society Awards, 2019
Best Data Collection (face-to-face)
Finalist
— Market Research Society's Operations Awards – 2019
Best Data Collection (telephone)
Finalist
— Market Research Society's Operations Awards, 2019
Best Training and Development
Highly Commended
— Market Research Society's Operations Awards, 2019
Understanding usage and perceptions of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to shape future comms for Mitsubishi
A quantitative survey helped Mitsubishi Motors to understand how its vehicles were being used in the real world, informing how best to position communications about the role and value of PHEVs.
Developing a future-focused digital product strategy for Wall Street Journal
A mixed methodology approach helped Wall Street Journal understand how to position the brand for success in a rapidly changing world.
Harnessing blockchain technology in market research with Unilever Food Solutions
We took part in a first of its kind pilot to test the technology and assess what it could bring to market research.
Understanding the elements of value driving recommendations for Panasonic
Interviews with consumers have helped Panasonic determine NPS scores and benchmark themselves against the competition.
The global boutique for data and insight
Our global footprint makes us the go-to partner for international market research. We offer all qualitative and quantitative methodologies across our office network and beyond.
Capitalizing on the urban mobility opportunity
Our research, with 5000 consumers across 13 cities, is designed to help brands navigate the changing urban mobility landscape. It explores commuting patterns across the globe and uncovers the future mobility solutions that appeal most to consumers.
Download the report now
The Shopper Who Never Meant to Shop.
You’re watching a livestream. A pair of sneakers flash on screen, not as a hard sell, but as part of the host’s outfit. Before the segment ends, you’ve clicked, carted, and checked out, without ever intending to shop. This is ambient shopping. In 2025, 69% of consumers report making purchases while doing something else: scrolling […]
Why Inflation Is Not Stopping Middle-Class Indulgence.
Rising inflation and economic uncertainty were expected to put an end to discretionary spending for middle-income households. Instead, consumers are making room for indulgence. Across the US, UK, and Europe, households earning moderate incomes continue to prioritize non-essential purchases at rates far closer to affluent consumers than economic models predicted. McKinsey’s 2024 Global Consumer Sentiment […]
Why the She-conomy Is Now Driving Global Growth.
Across the world’s fastest-growing consumer markets, one force is reshaping purchasing behavior, product design, and service delivery: women. From Jakarta to Los Angeles, women are no longer a niche segment—they’re central to growth itself. In the US and UK, they already influence over three-quarters of consumer spending. In Asia, their economic clout is rising even […]
When Sustainability Meets the Limits of Consumer Budgets.
In theory, younger consumers should be leading the green economy. Gen Z and millennials routinely rank climate change among their top global concerns, follow sustainability influencers, and expect brands to take a stance on everything from packaging to politics. But in practice, their purchasing behavior last year tells a different story. According to McKinsey, the […]
Kadence helped us not only conduct a thorough and insightful piece of research, its interpretation of the data provided many useful and unexpected good-news stories that we were able to use in our communications and interactions with government bodies.
General Manager PR -Internal Communications & Government Affairs
Mitsubishi
General Manager PR -Internal Communications & Government AffairsKadence’s reports give us the insight, conclusion and recommended execution needed to give us a different perspective, which provided us with an opportunity to relook at our go to market strategy in a different direction which we are now reaping the benefits from.
Sales & Marketing
Bridgestone
Sales & MarketingAt Panasonic, we’ve always believed in collaborative work. Here, Kadence has been instrumental in helping us understand our status quo, identify the key drivers of NPS and strategic improvement areas across our refrigerator, air conditioners and washing machine categories. Team Panasonic is grateful for the sincere efforts put in, this in turn, will help us serve our consumers better.
Panasonic – India
Panasonic – India
Kadence has produced an exceptional body of work which plays a crucial part in planning marketing strategies and understanding the opportunities for our business as we continue to grow. We couldn’t ask for a better partner; they provided true expertise, valuable insights and commitment to quality across each project.
Performance Marketing & Analytics Director
Treatwell
Performance Marketing & Analytics DirectorKadence were an excellent partner on this project; they took time to really understand our business challenges, and developed a research approach that would tackle the exam question from all directions. The impact of the work is still being felt now, several years later.
Customer Intelligence Director
Wall Street Journal
Customer Intelligence Director
Vital Strategies