Triton brings the challenge to competitors
The bakkie war has intensified with the local launch of Mitsubishi’s next-generation Triton, an evolution in the iconic bakkie’s 46-year legacy.
- Product News
- 21 November 2024
There has been a lot of reports recently that quote anecdotal evidence that customers are shopping online, rather than going to a dealership.
Dealerfloor met with Hannes Oosthuizen, Consumer Experience Manager at Cars.co.za, to find out if the research bears this out.
Cars.co.za conducts an online survey to track consumer behaviour and brand preferences for their annual Cars.co.za Consumer Awards, Powered by WesBank. This survey has been ongoing since 2015, and in 2019, over 10 000 consumers completed the questionnaire.
“When it comes to buying from a specific dealer, we ask customers if the choice was informed by reputation, convenience (that the location is easy to access or the only option), if it was based on the best deal available or if it was related to an online search or advertisement,” says Hannes.
“Over the past couple of years, and especially in 2019, the number of customers who chose a dealer based on ‘convenient location’ or ‘previous experience with the dealership’ has declined, while ‘service reputation’ and ‘online advertising and availability of a specific vehicle’ have increased.”
To better understand these shifts, Cars.co.za and their data partner Lightstone Consumer, indexed their findings in 2018 and 2019, against those of 2017. This analysis showed that online search was eight times more significant in 2019 than in 2017.
“One should keep in mind that these findings refer to our research in 2019, and that it has in all likelihood increased at an even faster rate during the lockdown period in 2020, as more customers were stuck at home and Internet research became the only way of shopping for a car,” says Hannes
The bakkie war has intensified with the local launch of Mitsubishi’s next-generation Triton, an evolution in the iconic bakkie’s 46-year legacy.
Unlike in the past, when dealerships primarily waited for customers to come to them, we now take a more proactive approach, bringing our vehicles directly to places where people gather, allowing them to experience the product first-hand, including offering test drives,” says Gerrie van der Kaay, Dealer Principal at Supergroup Dealerships Jetour Midrand.
JAC Motors added ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) to its X200 2.8L TDI 1.5-tonne single-cab, enhancing safety for both the crew and cargo. This latest upgrade complements the ABS-equipped X200 1.3-tonne double-cab targeted at organisations with labour-intensive crews.
Advertisement
Advertisement
A light on my car’s dashboard came on, and instead of fixing the problem, I waited for the bulb to burn out. Crisis solved.
Jarod Kintz
Leading used car trader, WeBuyCars, which listed on the JSE in April this year, is expanding its business focus to include third party sales and is rapidly expanding its vehicle supermarket and buying pods presence in South Africa.
The Isuzu Foundation, in collaboration with IRONMAN4theKidz, donated R250 000 to three Mossel Bay charities dedicated to uplifting vulnerable youth, families and individuals in need.
Hino South Africa has handed over four mobile offices to the Gauteng Government Roads and Transport Department, which are to be used as Smart Driving Licensing Testing Centres by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC).