As COVID-19 threw a wrench into the cogs of car retailing, a senior Nissan board member challenged the chief operating officer to explain what the automaker was doing to adapt to a new era where customers may be reluctant to roam showrooms.
The operating chief, Ashwani Gupta, told the board meeting in late July that Nissan was racing to create a “complete, end-to-end digital journey”, according to three people familiar with the discussions.
He said this would allow consumers to research cars online, have models delivered to their homes for test drives and make purchase plans without ever having to visit a dealership, if they chose not to do so, the sources told Reuters.
The meeting offers an insight into how the pandemic is pressuring automakers in all major markets to revamp their strategies to handle more vehicle sales online, veering away from the traditional showroom approach.
The change is being driven by a shift in consumer behaviour.
The number of cars sold via Nissan’s websites in China, Europe and North America combined accounted for 11% of the company’s overall sales in those markets in the first half of this year, according to the sources, who declined to be named because they are not authorized to speak to reporters.
That compared with 4-5% in the same period last year, although digital volumes were not as closely monitored then, said one of the three people, a senior Nissan executive.
“I would say these new buying behaviours, which have come up during the COVID era, are going to stick and become permanent,” the executive added. “The pandemic is changing the way we work, the way we communicate. The same is also true with buying cars.”–Reuters
