As Tesla already has a business model of selling direct to end-users, and Ford is now looking at similar new ways of retailing vehicles direct in China, the future looks uncertain for the traditional franchise dealership. Now, the first buyer in the UK to take advantage of Mitsubishi Buy Online has taken delivery of a new ASX 3, which arrived just three weeks after it was ordered online using a smartphone during a coffee break at work.
Antony Deane wasn't a seasoned new car buyer looking for a more convenient way of ordering a new car. In fact, the ASX 3 is the first new car Antony has ever bought, so it was the ease and convenience of the new service that helped convince him to buy a brand new vehicle.
There is an encouraging element to the story for dealerships though, and that's because the Mitsubishi online ordering system isn't designed to sidestep dealerships, but is instead a system that complements the dealer network. Antony also took advantage of the option to part-exchange his existing car using the online valuation facility. After accepting the online valuation for his car, all Antony had to do then was drop it off at his local nominated Mitsubishi dealership when he went to collect his new ASX 3.
Mitsubishi is working in partnership with BCA, which is an automotive auction specialist in the UK, so Mitsubishi Buy Online is able to incorporate its competitive and simple part-exchange facility that's even capable of predicting future trade-in values into its own online system.
And before the obituaries of auto dealerships are written too soon as a result of more and more online ordering of new vehicles, it's important to recognize the continuing importance of test drives to the car-buying process. Through Mitsubishi Buy Online, customers are able to book test drives at dealerships before finalizing their purchase, and it's hard to see that part of the dealership/customer relationship being transferred entirely online anytime soon.
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