Food, electronics and services - almost everything can now be bought on the Internet. The new car trade is also moving more and more online.
During the Corona pandemic At times it was only possible to buy a car without contact. the New car sales However, the Internet is likely to continue to play a role in the future - and an increasingly important one. Vehicle manufacturers in particular are driving the development of new vehicle purchases.
Interest of automakers
By the middle of the decade, more than 30 percent of all new cars in Europe will be sold on the Internet, predicts a study by the management consultancy Bain. The driving force behind the development are, on the one hand, the younger, digitally-savvy customers, for whom shopping on the Internet is a matter of course. On the other hand, the manufacturers themselves have an interest in getting at least part of the sales into their own hands in order to save on the expensive dealer network. Some brands such as Tesla, Polestar or Lynk & Co are already completely or partially foregoing physical bases, while others such as Mercedes at least offer the option of buying your own car online. In addition, portals such as Autohero.de, meinauto.de, yesauto.com or AutoHub Vehicles directly over the network.
And even the traditionally conservative new car customers in Germany are open to online purchases, as a survey by the expert organization KÜS shows. Around 12 percent of the participants would definitely buy the entire car online - from the vehicle presentation to the signature. Only 8 percent completely refused to buy online. Franz Reiner, CEO of Daimler Mobility, also observed a relatively high level of approval: “Online shopping is definitely becoming more important in Germany too. The corona pandemic has changed customer behavior. Other parts of the world are more adaptive, especially the Chinese, but also the Norwegians and the Scandinavian countries. But Central Europe has recently increased significantly in the acceptance of vehicle purchases on the Internet. "
More and more people are out and about online
Last but not least, the positive experiences with online purchases of other consumer goods play a role here. Relatively reliable dealer and product rating systems as well as the consumer-friendly return regulations have quickly created trust in the past. And across all age groups; Seniors have also long since ceased to be a group that has been left behind online. In the long term, everyone should benefit not only from increased convenience, but also from a price advantage, because central online sales via the manufacturer or a third-party provider bypasses the indirect sales system that has grown over decades via the authorized dealers.
“The stationary car trade is very expensive. The customer pays a good 10 percent of the new car price only for the trade, ”explains car expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer from the CAR Center Automotive Research in Duisburg. If one were to disengage the dealer from the marketing chain between the factory and the customer, one could save a lot of money.
We are working on buying new cars online
The biggest obstacle is likely to be the technology at the moment. But there is progress there too. Daimler Mobility, for example, is working on the seamless online shopping experience. One of the most important components is the automation of the loan application process. "Today we can already score fully automatically in over 80 countries," says Daimler Mobility boss Reiner. “That means that the application comes in digitally, is checked digitally, without anyone looking at it. The customer or dealer then receives the loan approval within seconds. ”At the beginning of 2021, the Stuttgart-based company had already introduced the option of digitally signing contracts, so that the entire purchase process can now be carried out from the computer.
Reiner himself does not see an insoluble conflict with contract trade in the long term. “Dealers are not only ready to digitize car purchases, they are demanding it. Because customers also demand it. ”A luxury brand in particular can also benefit from a retailer who lifts the emotional buying process out of the sober network and acts as a face for the customer. At least in the mind of the brand strategists, you don't buy a Mercedes like any other commodity. A real contact person is also important in other respects: All cars have to be inspected regularly, and many also have to be repaired. But that cannot be done online for the foreseeable future.