What Should Your Auto Dealership Look Out for in 2019?

A few interesting trends that auto dealers should be paying attention to in 2019.

Popularity of EVs Continue to Climb

Now regular automobile manufacturers are beginning to offer one or more electric vehicles in their product range. Companies like Tesla have a model range that is fully electric. More and more vehicle owners are becoming environmentally conscious and moving away from petrol and diesel powered vehicles.

This shift is a clear sign of changing times which, along with an improved network of battery recharging facilities and faster recharging times, means that dealers will see more customers showing interest in electric cars.

Popularity of Sedans are Dropping

Car buyers have now shifting away from sedans and are instead buying SUVs. This has reached a level where Ford and General Motors (GM) have announced that their primary focus for 2019-20 would be the production of pick-up trucks and SUVs, rather than sedans.

Additionally, used car sales are also seeing a rise in the U.S. The average age of vehicles is climbing, meaning that owners are holding onto their cars longer before selling them off.

On top of rising new car prices, this means that the used car market, which is already a billion dollar industry, is poised for even more growth in this year.

Vehicle Subscription Plans Gain Traction

Subscription plans are commonplace, be it your gym membership, Netflix, or even cars. Many of today’s car buyers find more financial sense in buying cars this way than paying the full amount before driving it out of the showroom.

Vehicle subscription plans also make it easier to trade the car after a few years and replace it with a newer model.

This emerging trend has even luxury car manufacturers such as Cadillac, Lincoln and sports car maker Porsche offering vehicle subscription plans. We know that when a trend starts among luxury car makers, it more often than not has a tendency to trickle down to all other auto manufacturers as well.

Increasing AI Presence in Cars

Dealership sales staff will need to be trained to become more knowledgeable in explaining and demonstrating artificial intelligence (AI) tech, as its implementation has been steadily on the rise in modern cars.

Google Assistant, Siri, and Cortana are becoming exponentially better at understanding and responding, and auto majors such as BMW have already partnered up with Google in this regard.

Dealerships Becoming More Tech-Heavy

The technological wave isn’t affecting only the cars. Car dealerships are undergoing a makeover in terms of phasing out older practices that are inefficient by today’s standards and replacing them with more sophisticated methods. Auto dealerships are increasingly deploying data analytics solutions like FrogData to streamline dealer operations, reduce costs, and increase both revenue and sales.

Dealerships will also need to allocate funds for acquiring better equipment, and educating technicians and staff on how to organize, track, and adjust processes in order to make them leaner, more efficient and more effective.