How can the internet become a successful sales channel
for the automotive industry?
Online retailing has changed customer behavior and
fundamentally altered the sales process in some
industries. To meet today’s customer expectations and in
particular to reach the younger customer segments, the
automotive industry must extend its sales channels and
online offerings to reach the ambitious growth targets.
Currently, the role of the online channel within the car
sales business is typically limited to information
gathering with few links to sales. Overcoming this issue
has the potential to significantly improve sales
performance in some customer segments. In this article,
we draw on our global automobile consumer research
covering Germany, China and the USA to highlight the
opportunity for online car sales by evaluating major
barriers and identifying key success factors from a
customer’s point of view. pdf 2012