Dealership Opportunities and threats

I recently wrote about how the UK sales of new cars has declined. But, it’s not all doom and gloom as Close Brothers has reported that 92% of car dealers are feeling confident about 2018. So, what’s the deal? Well, let’s consider the table below:

• Stability is strong as dealers feel by expanding the types of vehicles they can now offer customers will reinforce this. With diesel vehicles getting so much negativity publicity and the tax increase consumers are embracing electronic vehicles as a result.
•  I spoke about how PCP and other finance offerings are becoming increasingly popular as they make the idea of owning a new vehicle more attractive. 10% said they see the number of finance products on offer as the biggest opportunity.
• Brexit. That word that we are all fed up of hearing features as an opportunity and threat in the eyes of UK car dealerships. 21% felt that Brexit was a threat to their business prospects whilst 4% said that leaving the EU was an opportunity to capitalise on.
• The same applies to changing consumer behaviour. It’s had a mixed impact but this is always to be expected as technology evolves so does the customer.

Overall this is a top-level view of how UK car dealerships are feeling about 2018. From a personal point of view, I feel the opportunities outweigh the threats. Why? I still feel that dealerships can do more to not only win new business but also to retain it. We live in a digital world and the customer now expects dealerships to talk to them on their terms, which means the personalised communications in the right format, on the right channel and at the right time. With the technology available this demand can be catered for dealerships need to be bold and evolve too.

Ref: Cardealermagazine

Topics: dealerships, security, IT, digital, process, 2018, consumers, dealer, car sales, brexit, outlook