Press release: summary
Antwerp, Belgium - August 28th, 2025
Electrification is changing our cars. And, more importantly, it is changing how we kit, buy and use them. That is why Honda Access Europe partnered with Made to see how EV life really works.
Not in a slide deck, but beyond it. In stores, when we’re looking to buy a new one. On the road, when we’re travelling to work. At the charging station, when we’re on holiday. In Japan, they call it “gemba”. At Made, we’re just getting the facts right.
What consumers really think of car electrification
Honda Access Europe develops Honda car accessories across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Think floor carpets, towing bars, alloy wheels, roof rails, protection parts, aero parts,... Since 1991 these parts have been crafted to fit combustion models with Japanese precision. With EVs on the rise, however, the rulebook is under review.
Because, let’s face it. EVs are a different breed. Range is finite. Weight bites. Aerodynamics matter. Consequently, car accessories can be the hero of a trip to Saint Tropez, but they might as well just become the villain of the battery graph. And in caravan-loving markets - like in the Netherlands, the UK, Germany or France - towing heavy loads can end up becoming a real EV adoption hurdle.
The Belgium-based headquarter, therefore, wanted an objective view on actual consumer behavior in the automotive industry. No scraped opinions. No AI guesswork. Only proof of genuine consumer behavior from real people, gathered in actual markets. On the road. In stores. And comfortably in time before the next wave of product and communication decisions arrives at Honda HQ.
Enter Made.
Beyond the brochure
In recent months, Made’s strategy team worked closely with Honda Access Europe to map how consumers actually approach EV adoption and accessories.
“Our job was to get past assumptions or (un)popular opinions,” says Tim Van den Bergh, Director of Consumer Products at Made. “We watched closely and documented carefully how people think, ask questions, reflect on decisions, plan holidays, pack cars, choose racks, and think about charging stops. Accessories must now earn their place in this new behavior. Lighter? Perhaps. Smarter? For sure. Our thorough market research has given Honda Access Europe the tools needed to shape a portfolio of products and services that meets and can exceed today’s customer expectations. And of that, we are proud.”
Our thorough market research has given Honda Access Europe the tools needed to shape a portfolio of products and services that meets and can exceed today’s customer expectations.
The power of 'gemba"
The insights are already in motion at Honda. Short term, Honda is aligning with its sales force to set actions. Midterm, communication and marketing direction will adapt. Longer term, accessory line-ups and product requirements will evolve to perfectly match real customer expectations, a role for R&D and Product Planning experts.
“Some results confirmed our assumptions. More importantly, others surprised us and may give us a competitive edge in the future,” says Jurgen Berghmans, R&D Manager at Honda Access Europe. “But what really stood out for us in this collaboration with Made, was the alignment we had from the start in the way both parties look at validating market data. We highly valued Made’s efforts to cross country borders and visit actual points of sale of many different car brands. They really went the extra mile there. In Japanese, we call this approach ‘gemba’, referring to the physical location where value-creating work happens. In our Japanese company culture, this is highly valued.”
Going forward, Honda Access Europe will keep exploring the trends identified by Made in a market that is changing on multiple fronts. “From electrification to safety tech and assisted driving. Our ambition remains the same: exceed customer expectations with accessories that fit real lives in an EV world. And we might just do it again with Made”, concludes Jurgen Berghmans.
