Ford Motor Company commissioned a Harris Poll of 1000 American adults and found 83 percent said they would like to spend as little time as possible at a dealership when shopping for a new car or truck. Many of those same respondents also said that they would like to be able to touch and feel their new vehicle before signing off on its purchase. That reluctance to car-shop the traditional way is what’s behind news that CarSaver.com—which lets shoppers buy, finance, and insure a car online—will set up shop in Walmart stores. Separately, Ford’s credit arm is pushing more ways to make as much of the vehicle-buying process as possible available prior to a customer’s first visit to a dealership.
Walmart will not be selling any cars or trucks in its stores (although the company’s Sam’s Club affiliates do offer a car-buying service in partnership with TrueCar). Molly Blakeman, Walmart’s corporate media relations director, told C/D that the retail behemoth is merely leasing out commercial space to CarSaver at the front of its stores. It installed a touchscreen kiosk at one Walmart location in Stuart, Florida, last April as a test prior to expanding CarSaver to other Walmart stores, Automotive News reported, citing plans in the works for 25 locations in Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, and Oklahoma City. Blakeman would confirm only the existing location in Florida, saying the company is still evaluating results from that site.
The touchscreen kiosk emulates CarSaver’s online presence that lets people shop for new, used, or certified pre-owned (CPO) cars and trucks and apply for financing before being put in touch with a bricks-and-mortar dealership to arrange delivery.
Big-box competitor Costco has had an auto-sales program in place since 1989 and now works with some 3000 dealerships. The retailer claims more than a million of its members have bought a vehicle through its Costco Auto Program in the past five years.
Ford Partners with AutoFi
Ford is also looking to further reduce time customers spend at dealerships. Its Ford Motor Credit subsidiary is partnering with AutoFi to let shoppers apply for credit and buy or finance vehicles from dealer websites. Buyers can also select options and accessories before actually visiting a dealership to see what they’ve purchased in the flesh or, rather, sheetmetal. Ford said its new AutoFi platform allows for both minimal exposure to the sales floor and direct experience of the vehicle before signing off on the deal.
Ford’s AutoFi platform is launching at Ricart Ford dealership in Groveport, Ohio, and will gradually be rolled out to other U.S. Ford and Lincoln dealerships.
“AutoFi’s platform will help cut the time people spend arranging financing and improve the experience dealerships can deliver for their customers, no matter where they are in the car-buying journey,” AutoFi CEO Kevin Singerman said in a release. “We think this will be a game changer for both consumers and dealers.”
from Car and Driver BlogCar and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/2jqf8aQ
via IFTTT
0 comments:
Post a Comment