In an automobile market rebounding from a Covid-19 hangover, dealers have to dig deeper to convince a more canny, savvy and thrifty buyer to drive off with wheels from their showroom floors.
Kelston Motor Group operations director Peter McNaughton said a lot could be learnt from the measures adopted during the lockdowns to offer a better customer experience to prospective buyers.
Value-driven and information focused are some of the adjectives he uses to describe a car buyer who also has to consider the effects of the sluggish growth in the economy on their purse.
“What we’ve noticed is that your digital content needs to be relevant and on the right platform because a person who is walking into your dealership has done their research online before visiting,” McNaughton said.
The Kelston Motor Group is a new and used car dealer group that has been servicing customers since 2000.
The group has 13 brands in its stable and 17 dealerships in the province, with a further five dealerships in Mpumalanga with which they have a partnership.
The car market has made steady gains over the past year in terms of all the key matrix indicators, with October having the second-highest volume sales of the year, according to Naamsa, the Automotive Business Council.
Kelston Motor Group has also had strong sales both for used and new cars, even surpassing its pre-Covid numbers.
But the industry has some challenges ahead.
The recent interest hike is sure to put more strain on a prospective buyer who might have to think several times before committing to a purchase.
But the biggest snag has been the global supply chain affected by the chip shortage, which has also had an impact on the Kelston showroom.
“With some of our brands, we are getting less than 20% [in car orders] supplied,” Mc Naughton said.
“That is our primary focus in the next six months, to manage the stock supply vs customer expectations — and balancing this to make sure the business longevity is still intact.
“It is almost a delayed Covid-19 effect.
“Since Covid-19 hit, people have not used their cars much [during the lockdowns] and have budgeted a certain amount of miles but their lifestyles have completely changed.
“They are not travelling for business but instead holding meetings via Zoom.
“It will be interesting to see when the new car stock starts to normalise and what effects that will have — particularly on the used car market owing to lower mileage being travelled.”
A lot had to be learnt during the tough lockdowns.
“The move to Zoom meetings allowed us to set up the teams on the ground to interact with one another.
“This created a valuable and convenient opportunity for knowledge sharing between Kelston dealerships and brands.
“We have managed to synchronise Kelston group thinking as a result, and dealerships that have similar problems are directly communicating with each other.”
According to McNaughton, in the future brand loyalty will not be the only driver in how buyers choose their new wheels, as their decision-making process is becoming more complex.
“Buyers are shifting from brand loyalty to value.
“If well-known brands have value people are more inclined to go for them, but consumers have been so much more willing to look at other brands over the last two years.
“Things like warranty, service plan and the full cost of ownership are starting to play a much more important role.
“For us as dealers, the issue of the right to repair is going to play a major part in the next six to 12 months as we gain more clarity on how it will be rolled out.”
Asked what makes the management of Kelston unique, McNaughton said: “Kelston’s management run our business based on personal relationships — both with our colleagues and our customers.
“We strive to bring the ethos of a small family-owned local dealership in combination with economies of scale enjoyed by the larger automotive groups in the country — we believe this sets us apart from our peers.”
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