The future of new car sales...........a prediction

[Tsar]

I loved buying our Tesla. Didn't have to deal with any annoying sales people whatsoever, no back and forth, no wasting my time. Even during pick up - there were no people. You just come, download your app, unlock the car and drive away. Yay to "I need to talk to my finance manager".

More manufacturers need to implement a similar process. (yes, I know it will be practically impossible..)

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[XtremeMaC]

I loved buying our Tesla. Didn't have to deal with any annoying sales people whatsoever, no back and forth, no wasting my time. Even during pick up - there were no people. You just come, download your app, unlock the car and drive away. Yay to "I need to talk to my finance manager".

indeed but there's a problem with that too.

1) Many clueless people, don't know what they want, what features they want, what features are even in a car.. So, it's either have a great website that outlines everything, not an extremely boring limited line by line item, but a proper dynamic content that actually highlights what let's say blindspot detection does and how you'll benefit it.. OR have a sales rep explain trims/colors/etc. on the vehicle...

2) Many people want a face because they can't technology or just can't, period. lol.

3) Other people go in looking to get a car, think that they want a Sierra because their neighbor with 5 kids has one. Has 0 clue about the car. After discussing with sales rep, they get a GR Corolla because they don't have any kids

 

[Tsar]

indeed but there's a problem with that too.

1) Many clueless people, don't know what they want, what features they want, what features are even in a car.. So, it's either have a great website that outlines everything, not an extremely boring limited line by line item, but a proper dynamic content that actually highlights what let's say blindspot detection does and how you'll benefit it.. OR have a sales rep explain trims/colors/etc. on the vehicle...

2) Many people want a face because they can't technology or just can't, period. lol.

3) Other people go in looking to get a car, think that they want a Sierra because their neighbor with 5 kids has one. Has 0 clue about the car. After discussing with sales rep, they get a GR Corolla because they don't have any kids

All fair points. Don't know if my mom could buy a Tesla (or any other car) online and just go and pick it up. She'd ask me to do it and explain all the features of any car she bought (this already happens with phones lol)

 

[RenRed2]

Suck it up dealers............time to deal!!

https://jalopnik.com/car-dealerships-balance-incentives-as-stock-goes-up-1850460356

Dealers Wrestle With Dreaded Incentives As New Car Stock Piles Up


It’s Not Enough, It’s Too Much
After several years of constrained stock from silicon shortages, 2023 marks the first spring in a good while where it’s not exceedingly difficult to get exactly the car you want. Some dealerships actually have an excess of vehicles on the lot. You’d think they’d be able to move them, because demand is what it is. But with inflation and interest rates also being what they are and refusing to concede ground for consumers, some dealers are going through an epiphany. Why, they might just to throw out an incentive or two! From the Wall Street Journal:

“We had times where you could have a helicopter land on my lot,” said David Kelleher, president of a dealership group based in Glen Mills, Pa., that sells the Chrysler, Ram, Jeep and Dodge brands.
Now, he is seeing stock levels swell, including on some specific models, he said.
“We need to enhance sales and stop ordering,” Mr. Kelleher added. “Because of the interest-rate climate, we have to think differently now.”
Overall, dealerships had about 1.8 million vehicles in transit or on lots at the end of April, a 50% improvement compared with the same period in 2022—but still about half the stock available two years before, according to data from industry-research firm Wards Intelligence.
U.S. auto sales have remained resilient, mostly because of pent-up demand, and even picked up in the first quarter of this year as inventory levels improved. Buyers are also still paying historically high prices—the average vehicle sold for about $46,000 in April—and the amount of discounting on the car lot remains well below prepandemic levels, according to data analytics firm J.D. Power.
But fast-rising interest rates are making it harder for many buyers to get into a car they can afford, a dynamic that is starting to weigh on sales, dealers say.
With inventories also coming back, analysts say that pressure will rise to uncork the kinds of promotional deals that have dented profitability in the past.
“The demand is there, but they’re running into a drastic change in their monthly budget where car payments might be doubling,” he added.

The Journal adds that Stellantis’ American brands — Ram, Jeep and Chrysler — have about double the industry average these days in terms of unsold stock. A similar story is playing out for Buick, Jaguar and Infiniti. Toyota and Honda are still tight on product, while new pickups are broadly as plentiful as they were before COVID hit.

“You know you’re back to normal when the truck month comes back,” S&P Global Mobility analyst Mike Wall told the publication. Thank the lord that of everything we lost in these unprecedented times, Ram Truck Month was mercifully spared.

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