Market Research

Customer Market Research

Amerigon continues to improve our understanding of the market for Climate Control Seats™ (CCS™) brand cooled/heated seats by conducting a variety of market research studies.

A brief summary of each report is included below. Please contact Amerigon's Sales and Marketing department for more information:

  1. Climate Features in Automotive Seating: A Comparison
  2. Driver Satisfaction with CCS Cooled/Heated Seats
  3. New Car Dealers and CCS Cooled/Heated Seats
1. Climate Features in Automotive Seating: A Comparison

There are two types of climatized seats on the market today*:

  • Active Heat/Cool (CCS)
  • Heater Mat/Ventilation

An outside, independent research firm, Northstar Research Partners, conducted the survey. They contacted over 300 customers; approximately half of these had the Amerigon CCS cooled/heated seat system while the other half had a heater mat/ventilation system. Both groups had vehicles that can be considered luxury sedans. The findings below are a comparison of these two systems.

Findings – Cooling

Consumers were asked to rate their satisfaction with the cooling feature on a scale of 10 (most satisfied) to 1 (not at all satisfied). The results are shown in the graph below. Additionally, the survey found that the CCS cooled/heated seats had the highest frequency for use compared to the ventilated seats.

Satisfaction with Performance of Cooling Feature (%)

Satisfaction with Performance of Cooling Feature (%)

Q9: During the hottest part of the year, how satisfied are you with the performance of the seat cooling feature? Please use a scale of 1-10, where 1 means not at all satisfied and 10 means extremely satisfied?


Findings – Overall Vehicle Satisfaction

Consumers were asked to rate their satisfaction with the cooling feature on a scale of 10 (most satisfied) to 1 (not at all satisfied). The results are shown in the graph below. Additionally, the survey found that the CCS cooled/heated seats had the highest frequency for use compared to the ventilated seats.

Satisfaction with Comfort of Seats (%)

Satisfaction with Comfort (%)

* Available Climatized Seats: Methods of Heating and Cooling

 

Cooling Method

Heating Method

Amerigon
Active Heat/Cool

 Thermoelectrics with fan blows cool air to seat surface Thermoelectrics with fan blows heated air to seat surface

Heater Mat/Ventilation

 Ambient cabin air circulated at seat surface with fan Resistive wire heater mat

2. Driver Satisfaction with CCS Cooled/Heated Seats

In this customer satisfaction study, an outside research firm surveyed over 400 new car owners of the same luxury SUV make and model. Half of the owners surveyed had vehicles with CCS feature, the other half did not. The survey focused on vehicle satisfaction, satisfaction with the CCS feature, and feature usage.

Findings – CCS Satisfaction

  • Consumers gave CCS heated/cooled seats high performance ratings (9.1 out of 10)
  • Over 80% were likely to purchase the CCS option for future vehicles

Not Likely - 19%; Likely - 22%; Very Likely - 59%;
Likeliness of Current CCS Users to Purchase CCS for Future Vehicles

  • Over 60% reported that it was important that the new vehicle purchase had the CCS feature

Not Important - 39%; Very Important - 28%; Important - 33%;
Importance of New Vehicle Having CCS Feature

Findings – Overall New Vehicle Satisfaction

  • Owners who are satisfied with the CCS feature are significantly more satisfied with their vehicle overall than those who do not have the CCS feature.

The CCS cooled/heated seat option had a definite positive contribution to the overall vehicle satisfaction.

3. New Car Dealers and CCS Cooled/Heated Seat

In March of 2005, a nationwide dealer survey was conducted to gauge new car dealer knowledge of and interest in the CCS heated/cooled seat system. It was also completed to better understand consumer feedback.

Fifty large-volume dealers who carry vehicle lines that offer the CCS cooled/heated seat option were surveyed. These dealers represented a combined $4.5 billion in new car sales. In most cases, the dealer owner or sales manager was questioned in the survey.

Findings:

  • High awareness of CCS heated/cooled seat feature
  • Strong interest for adding more vehicles with the CCS option
  • Viewed CCS cooled/heated seats as a competitive advantage
  • Reported high customer satisfaction
  • Confident of customer repeat purchase for the CCS feature