Now, your favourite car just a click away

covid-19 impact

The delightful experience of buying your favourite car or SUV can now be enjoyed from the comfort of your home. Most passenger carmakers have now introduced online car purchase platforms that transform car buying experience in few easy steps.

The carmakers’ move is prompted by zero sales in April as all dealerships were closed due to lockdown to fight coronavirus pandemic. Carmakers such as Maruti Suzuki, Mercedes Benz, Toyota Kirloskar, Honda Cars, Hyundai, Mahindra, BMW and Tata Motors said they are now offering contactless sale offerings.

Like any consumer goods, they are offering a 360-degree view of their car models on the net, bookings will be virtual and paperwork contactless. After all the formalities, the car will be delivered at the doorstep of the buyer. The only thing missing will be a test drive until the lockdown is lifted, but that is worth foregoing when the social distancing norms are in force due to a severe health crisis.

In a recent survey conducted by Deloitte, 20% of customers said, “If available, I will buy my next vehicle online.”

Toyota Kirloskar has entirely digitalised its sales process wherein it is offering a 360-degree product view for the customers to take a virtual tour of the vehicle, financing options and sent a quotation online. “We have also made provisions for delivering the vehicle to the customer’s doorstep upon the completion of purchase. These provisions were envisaged to ensure that our customers are not inconvenienced at any point during the virtual purchase process,” a Toyota Kirloskar Motor spokesperson told DH.

The company is working closely with dealer partners to offer them the best support to re-stimulate demand in a safe and healthy atmosphere. “When it comes to safety measures across the company, our supply chain and even at our dealerships, we have devised key guidelines in the form of ‘Restart Manuals’ which can be adhered to whilst starting operations in both our factories as well as dealerships,” TKML said.

Honda Cars India Ltd, a maker of premium cars in India, has announced its ‘Honda from Home’ online booking platform through its corporate website. The platform allows customers to browse through the product options, select their preferred dealership and proceed to book their car online, a top company official said. “Customers can now conveniently book their Honda car from the comfort of their homes. This platform is part of Honda’s digitalisation efforts in car retail experience,” Rajesh Goel, Senior Vice President and Director, Sales & Marketing, Honda Cars India Ltd said.

He said customers can visit their website and select ‘Book Now’ option. After customer information validation, they can select the car model of their choice along with its variant/ fuel type, transmission (AT/MT) and colour. Customers can then select their city and dealership where they intend to make the purchase.

After verifying the information summary page, the customer can proceed to the payment gateway, choose a payment option and book online. A booking confirmation id is generated which is sent to the customer via SMS/ Email and the selected dealer receives the customer details including booking id. The next stage involves a sales executive - from the chosen HCIL dealership - who will contact the customer to work out further documentation and discuss finance or payment options. Once the formalities regarding documentation and payment are done, the car will be home-delivered to the customer at a later date.

Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL), the second-largest carmaker in the country, says customers can buy cars and get them delivered at their doorsteps without even having to walk into dealership outlets once. An HMIL spokesperson said customers can opt for remote car demonstrations through online video-conferencing applications with sales consultants at dealerships.

The company hopes its exclusive website for online buying of the car, Hyundai’s Click-to-Buy, will come handy for selling cars with minimal physical contact, minimal paperwork, and home delivery options. “For customer convenience, they can opt to have a sales consultant assist them in the process at any point in the entire online purchase journey,” the spokesperson said.

In addition, the company is also offering customers its 360-degree digital service & contact-less service experience, through which customers can book a service appointment online through the Hyundai Care app, WhatsApp, Hyundai Website, or a call to dealers.

Luxury carmaker BMW has introduced an exclusive website – www.bmw-contactless.in for the contactless experience of buying a car. Existing customers can also book a service instantly.

“Customers can simply use either their smartphone, tablet or personal computer to interact with the sales consultant virtually and get a 360° view of vehicle exterior, interior and discuss other features. Vehicle brochures, specification details, and other documents are shared online avoiding any physical contact,” BMW Group India said in a statement.

Tata Motors has launched a ‘Click to Drive’ - an end-to-end full online sales experience enabling customers to buy a Tata Motors car with a click of a button from the comfort of their homes. This platform has been integrated with all Tata Motors dealers from more than 750 outlets across the country and also offer vehicle home delivery for our customers at a later date. Through the ‘Click to Drive’ initiative, customers can now book their car in just a few clicks:

To buy their car, customers can simply register on the ‘Click to Drive’ website and select a product of their choice from the Tata Motors’ passenger vehicle portfolio with the assistance of an innovative video brochure. The video brochure helps customers discover each car and its features.

The newly launched Tata Altroz also comes with an immersive virtual showroom experience, called Imaginator, allowing customers to customise the vehicle by selecting from a range of variants and colours as well as factory customisation options. The customer can pay the booking amount online, post which the customer receives an immediate order confirmation by e-mail and is then guided on the step-by-step buying journey by the Tata Motors call centre and a sales consultant from their preferred dealership.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. has launched ‘Own-Online’, an end-to-end, online vehicle ownership solution. Own-Online is a one-stop, 24X7 destination where the customer can finance, insure, exchange, accessorise and own a Mahindra vehicle in 4 simple steps, from the comfort of their homes. (www.mahindrasyouv.com/Own-Online)