Car Buying Changed Forever?
Before the pandemic, if you wanted to buy a car, you would simply go to the car dealership, talk, and maybe negotiate with a dealer to get a better price, and then you would do some paperwork and drive off the lot with a smile and a car. But, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, car dealerships had to re-think the often cumbersome and intimidating process of buying a car in-store.
Car dealers have resisted modernization for quite some time. Protected by state franchise laws that don’t allow direct manufacturer auto sales, dealers were the only place you could go if you wanted to buy a new car, there was no other option. And since there was no other option, dealers didn’t feel the pressure needed to make significant changes to their system. COVID-19 has finally forced dealers to consider change and modernization as they put consumers first and implement more technology.
Car dealerships are now letting consumers purchase cars online, even getting cars delivered to their home. Nissan just launched a new online shopping platform called Nissan@home, letting consumers do the paperwork and arrange delivery all online. The process is simple, go to the Nissan website, pick a car, enter some information for a price quote, then purchase the car and have it delivered to your door. Consumers can even schedule a test drive using Nissan@home.
Dealers are also seeing they are more profitable using the online sales model, they are able to sell cars faster because the consumer knows what car they want and there isn’t a lot of haggling on the price. Tell me, would you rather purchase a car during a 3-hour showroom visit or would you rather have your car delivered to you after a 20-minute online purchase?
I am not a financial advisor and my comments should never be taken as financial advice. Investments come with risk, so always do your research and analysis beforehand.
