CapGemini: Internet Revolutionizes the Vehicle Purchasing Process

The impact of the Internet has touched every industry, even those we considered unlikely candidates. The car industry seemed to escape the influence of the Internet, until the increasing use of websites for researching new cars, checking the title history of used cars, and the use of the internet to reduce the sticker price for purchasing new cars. Now, the shift in the balance of power from the car dealer to the internet market has left many dealers out of the loop.

The changing consumer dynamics of the last 10 years and the fact that many vehicle dealers have failed to keep pace as the shift in consumer behavior occurred, has tremendously affected the consumer/dealer relationship. The consumer is an increasingly sophisticated customer and with the availability of so much automobile information via the internet, the need to actually visit the dealership is sometimes completely eliminated. At other times, the customer doesn't enter the dealership until adequately armed with model, price, and delivery information.

The Car Internet Research Program is an industry, government, and academic-sponsored automotive research program directed at understanding how new information and communication technology will impact the automobile industry. CapGemini is one of the world's foremost providers of Consulting, Technology, and Outsourcing services. These two firms in conjunction with the consumer and dealerships put together certain guidelines that are intended to help dealerships regain lost ground of the last decade and work to build relationships built on mutual trust and transparency of information.

From the moment the consumer enters the showroom, there are certain do's and don'ts that either invite the consumer or impact them negatively. The challenge for the dealerships is to change and adapt to the new world of internet influence and consumer sophistication.