CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)

Category: business

The total sales and marketing spend required to convince a single consumer to purchase a new vehicle.

In the competitive automotive world, CAC is a high-cost KPI. It includes the cost of lead generation, digital advertising, dealership incentives, and sales staff commissions. Brands with high brand loyalty have a naturally lower CAC, whereas challenger brands must spend aggressively to "buy" market share.

Common Examples

• Our data shows that the brand’s high customer acquisition cost is primarily driven by the aggressive national TV campaign needed to compete in the mid-size SUV segment.
• Streamlining the digital lead generation funnel is our primary strategy for reducing the customer acquisition cost for the new EV rollout.