The car major Volvo Car Corp, now controlled by China’s Geely plans a revolutionary shift in its car sales strategy. The company is soon going to start online sales of its cars and therefore plans to increase its marketing spend on digital advertising.
The move is considered a paradigm shift in car sales market as a very few car makers have tried to sell online directly. A direct sale is vehemently opposed by dealers and therefore carmakers shy away from it.
Volvo Sales chief, Alain Visser, confirmed the company’s plan to digitally offer all its cars in the all the markets. However, he stated that the company has kept the interest of the dealers in mind. Visser said that the cars sold online “will still pass through the dealer network for delivery.”
The Swedish carmaker sited that a huge majority of its customers shop online and many have shown inclination towards online car shopping.
Following its new marketing strategy the company will roll out a dynamic website. The new website will offer customers a unique facility to customize the car as per their preference and budget. Once the customer makes its choice, he will receive a short video that shows the customized car in motion. This will help customers to get a feel of their car.
Referring to the uniqueness of its brand and limited financial means the carmaker has shown reluctance to build big city centre-boutiques of the kind favored by rivals BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz.
Volvo also plans to mark its presence in one major motor show in a year in a continent. It will therefore withdraw its entry from others. It also plans to stage its own global event to promote its cars.
The carmaker in August incremented its sales target with the launch of XC90 crossover, the first car developed under the ownership of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. The company is now targeting its energies to entice more Chinese customers.
Car analysts though find it a major shift, are showing skepticism to the move to sell cars online. Their skepticism is based on the BMW’s experiment to sell its i8 hybrid sports car online in Germany. BMW failed to generate a good volume as consumers still prefer the dealer route.
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/15/us-volvo-internet-idUSKBN0JT0D020141215 Image Courtesy: wikipedia.orgThis entry was posted in: Car News
Tagged: new strategy, online car sales, online car shopping, volvo, XC90 crossover
