As more and more brands allow for online sales, the agency model may be coming for dealers’ heads. Two years ago if you had told us that the future of car dealerships was in trouble, we wouldn’t have believed you.
Throughout the life of any business, having a proper valuation is important for several reasons, but many dealerships, especially legacy family businesses that have been in business “forever,” have not gotten a valuation done in years.
As vehicles become more technologically advanced and the push for electric vehicles grows, it was only a matter of time before we started seeing tech companies enter the auto industry.
Just when production levels started leveling out from Covid-19 shutdowns, automakers are facing a new problem: a semiconductor chip shortage. Once, again, factories are closed or on delayed production schedules, waiting for these components.
Auto subscription services aren’t exactly something new. The first known service was started in Honolulu in 2010, but we’ve come a long way since Rima Braden Autosource’s “Flexlease” program.
So here we are…2021. We finally made it out of 2020! Does that mean the auto biz will get better? Well for the auto industry, business has been on an upswing for months.
Agency selling is something that’s been coming down the pipeline for a while. Consumers want a more consistent experience with more online purchasing options while still maintaining that personal touch they get from a dealership. Ten years ago, consumers visited dealerships seven times before making a purchase decision.
As we’ve discussed a lot lately, digitization of the auto industry is here to stay. Part of that is the use of chat on dealers websites. People want quick, simple information, and chat facilitates that.