The future of technology in the retail motor industry

When I first entered the motor trade in the 1980’s, I dreamt that one day there’d be a hover car. Obviously, it never came but now with the emergence of ‘disrupters’ like Uber, Amazon and Tesla there’s an air of inevitability that change is afoot.

For years, the number of operators in the franchise car market has decreased; the big are getting bigger, the small are in ‘flight or fight’ mode.

How does a motor dealer cope with the ever-increasing demands of their manufacturer as well as the changing ways a customer buys things in the modern world. Further, will there be any point in owing a car when the likes of Uber talk of streamlining peoples’ journeys to car share and manufacturers actively testing driver-less cars?

Well, I have no crystal ball, but one things for sure; the need for speed and efficiency right now. We tend to gloss over glib phrases like ‘Big Data’ and ‘Converged Communications’, but they are important.

If we had the true Big Data model in the UK motor industry today, life would be a lot simpler. Prospects would go to the glossy (and expensive) website, log in and configure our perfect car. Assisted, of course by perfect vehicle data, including options and price. This data would then be sent to the dealer network to await the arrival of the prospect at the dealership. Perhaps the trade-in number plate was inputted by the prospect and, using Automatic Number Plate recognition (ANPR), it was recognised when entering the dealer site and a note sent to sales to expect the person, together with their details and perfect car.

The idea is to make the sales process as easy and as efficient as possible. And it would be but, as usual, politics gets in the way. Until the manufacturers and DMS providers truly collaborate, this utopia is a good few years away.

Until then, dealers need to make sure that they are as efficient as they can be. This means getting the most out of their systems and infrastructure without spending unnecessarily.without spending unnecessarily.