- More than 35 million hours spent looking for parked cars each year*
- A third of motorists forget where they park once a month and a further 5% lose their car almost every week
- Multi-storey car parks most likely location to lose parked car
- Research released ahead of ‘Super Saturday’ – the busiest shopping day before Christmas when car parks across the UK will be full of last-minute gift buyers
- In-car and smartphone technology enables motorists to log precisely where they parked and navigate back to their vehicle
LONDON, UK (December 19, 2018) – Two thirds of UK drivers (65.1%) – or around 21.4 million motorists – have forgotten where they parked their car, according to a new study by Nissan.
According to the survey of 2,000 motorists, one in three (33.75%) said they do so at least once a month and a further 5% admitted to losing their mode of transport on a weekly basis.
As the UK heads towards ‘Super Saturday’ – the busiest shopping day before Christmas – thousands of motorists could be stranded in the cold for up to half an hour hunting down their lost vehicle, in car parks crammed with last-minute gift-buyers.
The overall average time to locate a lost car is 10 minutes, although 5% of respondents admitted to searching for more than half an hour.
For those who frequently misplace their vehicle (once a month or more), the collective time spent each year hunting down parked cars is over 35 million hours – around one hour per year for every UK driver.*
Whilst women are more likely to forget where they parked (72% vs. 58% of male respondents), they take less time to find their vehicles – 8.8 minutes on average vs. 11.9 minutes for men.
Of the places drivers are most likely to misplace their vehicles, multi-storey car parks came out number one, closely followed by shopping centres, supermarkets and airports.
Places most likely to lose a car |
1. Multi-storeys |
2. Shopping centres |
3. Supermarkets |
4. Airports |
5. Town/City Street |
Despite in-car and smartphone technology enabling motorists to log precisely where they park and navigate back to their vehicle, only 9% of respondents said they had used a smartphone to track the location of their parked car.
However, the 25-34 age range proved the most technically capable in this area, with 16% saying they have used a smartphone to find their car – almost double the overall average.
Arun Prasad, passenger car category manager, Nissan Motor (GB) Ltd. commented: “In-car connectivity and smartphone apps let drivers use simple and accessible technology to mitigate against some of the everyday pitfalls of motoring – such as forgetting where you parked your car.”
Arun added: “Through Nissan Intelligent Mobility – our vision for the future of motoring – we’re changing the way we interact with our vehicles to benefit customer lives. Helping drivers easily locate their car is just one of the many benefits under our Intelligent Integration strategy.”
The latest version of the Nissan Qashqai, the UK’s best-selling crossover, brings a new level of integration between the driver, smartphone and vehicle.
The Qashqai is now available with an all-new infotainment system with significantly enhanced functionality including a new mobile application called Door to Door Navigation.
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are also introduced on the model.
The Door to Door Navigation application includes a ‘Find My Car’ function that allows the driver to locate and be guided to their parked connected car.
The smartphone has to be paired one time with the navigation system via Bluetooth® so when a driver leaves the vehicle and the ignition is turned off, the location is logged and the parked position can be seen on a map overlay in the Door to Door Navigation application.
When the user wants to return to their car, they simply search for a destination on the app. It will guide them to their car, first with a walking route and then – once in the car – driving directions will appear via the in-car navigation. The walking route is available if the user is within 3.1 miles/5 km of the car.
New NissanConnect further enhances the relationship between driver and vehicle. The benefit for customers is seamless and intuitive integration of their smartphone with the vehicle, plus the ability to download ‘Over The Air’ (OTA) map and software updates using an external WiFi or through a USB Key and the New Map Update Tool online.
To find out more about the Nissan Qashqai, visit; https://www.nissan.co.uk/vehicles/new-vehicles/qashqai.html
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* Based on the responses of 2,000 UK motorists in November 2018 in a survey carried out by www.onepoll.com. There are 32.9 million licence holders in the UK (https://bit.ly/2P8rEtk).
4.5% of respondents forget where they park their car once a week or more = 4.5% of 32,900,000 = 1,480,500 drivers x 52 weeks = 76,986,000 instances of lost cars.
33.75% of respondents forget where they park their car once a month = 33.75% of 32,900,000 = 11,103,750 drivers x 12 months = 133,245,000 instances of lost cars.
(79,986,000 + 133,245,000) = 210,231,000 x average 10minutes spent looking for a lost car = 35,040,000 hours = 4000 years
For further details please contact:
DominicVizor
Tel: +44-1923 899938
dominic.vizor@nissan.co.uk
https://newsroom.nissan-europe.com/uk
About Nissan in the UK
- Nissan Sunderland Plant produces the Nissan Qashqai, Juke, Infiniti Q30 and the 100% electric Nissan LEAF
- Production of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles began in 2012
- Total plant volume since 1986 stands at more than 9 million units with 80 per cent of production exported to over 100 markets worldwide
- Total investment made and announced since then is over £4.0 billion
- 495,645 units were produced at Sunderland plant in 2017
- Employment in Nissan’s UK design studio (Paddington, London), technical centre (Cranfield Bedfordshire), manufacturing plant (Sunderland, Tyne and Wear) and sales and marketing operations (Maple Cross, Hertfordshire) now totals more than 8,000.
- A further 28,000 jobs in Nissan’s UK supply chain and 4,000 in its UK dealer network takes the total British jobs supported by Nissan to more than 40,000
About Nissan in Europe
Nissan has one of the most comprehensive European presences of any overseas manufacturer, employing more than 17,000 staff across locally-based design, research & development, manufacturing, logistics and sales & marketing operations. Last year Nissan plants in the UK, Spain and Russia produced more than 660,000 vehicles including award-winning crossovers, commercial vehicles and the Nissan LEAF, the world’s most popular electric vehicle. Pursuing a goal of zero emissions and zero fatalities on the road, Nissan is leading the field with its vision of Intelligent Mobility. Designed to guide Nissan’s product and technology pipeline, this 360 degree approach to the future of mobility will anchor critical company decisions around how cars are powered, how cars are driven, and how cars integrate into society. Nissan is positioned to become the most desirable Asian brand in Europe.
http://www.newsroom.nissan-europe.com
About Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. Nissan is a global full-line vehicle manufacturer that sells more than 60 models under the Nissan, INFINITI and Datsun brands. In fiscal year 2017, the company sold 5.77 million vehicles globally, generating revenue of 11.9 trillion yen. On April 1, 2017, the company embarked on Nissan M.O.V.E. to 2022, a six-year plan targeting a 30% increase in annualized revenues to 16.5 trillion yen by the end of fiscal 2022, along with cumulative free cash flow of 2.5 trillion yen. As part of Nissan M.O.V.E. to 2022, the company plans to extend its leadership in electric vehicles, symbolized by the world's best-selling all-electric vehicle in history, the Nissan LEAF. Nissan’s global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan, manages operations in six regions: Asia & Oceania; Africa, the Middle East & India; China; Europe; Latin America; and North America. Nissan has a global workforce of 247,500 and has been partnered with French manufacturer Renault since 1999. In 2016, Nissan acquired a 34% stake in Mitsubishi Motors. Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi is today the world’s largest automotive partnership, with combined sales of more than 10.6 million vehicles in calendar year 2017.
For more information about our products, services and commitment to sustainable mobility, visit nissan-global.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn and see all our latest videos on YouTube.