Did you know that you can buy a Fiat 500 with leather interior and alloy wheels online? The service is provided by the car dealer chain RSA Bil and Santander Consumer Bank.
Dare you buy a car online?
At the time of writing I found en car dealership chain, RSA Car which sells certain stock Fiat models via an online store solution created by Santander Consumer Bank. I am following the guide online and picks out a Fiat 500 Twinair with an 85 horsepower engine. I can choose the same equipment variant in three colours. I choose black. The equipment list says that, among other things, I will get 15'' alloy wheels and leather seats, but no pictures show me what the wheels look like, nor what color the interior is. The model in the tiny picture does not appear to have light alloy wheels at all. The equipment list also does not provide an opportunity to choose winter wheels. Why hasn't a series of pictures been posted of the three color options? Since these are stock cars, it shouldn't the be so difficult.
The funding page works well. I think I could probably get the same price, 199, if I approached one of the shops. However, online customers can have the car delivered to their door. If you live in pig-ridden areas, it can be considered a kind of internet discount, right?
The car-buying-on-line offer from RSA bil and Santander is far from perfect, but still a commendable attempt.
Much talk - little wool
When I look up the subject online, I get the impression that "everyone" wants to jump on the bandwagon and sell cars online. In practice, I see very few online solutions that really allow you to complete the car purchase. The best car configurators take you a long way, but you mustn't visit a physical store to close the deal, even if you know the car model well and have no need for a test drive. In addition, the car configurators are developed abroad, where no one thinks about Norwegian-fitted equipment, such as winter tires and engine heaters. Not everyone has been able to enter Norwegian prices, either - but there will probably be.
If I'm going to buy a car on the Internet, I want to be sure that I can find the lowest price, just like when I'm looking for cheap flights. The price is not just on-the-route prices, but the one you actually get when you look a car salesman in the eye and ask for a discount. The requirement for a discount is important for car buyers, even if it only concerns symbolic amounts that may already be factored into the selling price. If car buyers think they can get a lower closing price by physically attending, online sales won't work.
Internet denial?
Today, it is technologically possible to make electronic signatures that are legally as good as those written in ink. But even if the technological possibilities are present, many people can mentally block the idea of carrying out the process. This applies to both the seller and the buyer. Who hasn't experienced spending time filling in a customer form and presenting a case online, only to be called the next day? Matters that are taken online must be completed online as far as possible. If I wanted to use the phone, I wouldn't bother to register information online. Nevertheless, it is natural to be concerned about delivering a brand new car based only on electronic signals.
Do online stores make car dealerships redundant?
Imagine that you have just configured your new Audi - or BMW, and signed all the papers - here, here and here - electronically of course, and then you click the big button "Order direct from the factory". You then follow your order online until the day the car is ready for collection at a location close to where you live. Such solutions are currently being considered by several European car manufacturers, and there is no question ifbut when such a solution becomes available. It is in the cards for car buyers to profit from online shopping in kroner and øre, and not least convenience.
Of course, this cannot be carried out without having consequences for the dealers.
No one should buy a car without having seen it in reality, - tried the seats, assessed the space conditions and taken a short drive. You can't do that online. Online customers need a place where they can see, touch and try the goods. One of online shopping's biggest challenges is that potential buyers use the usual shops to present and try the goods, - and then they complete the shopping online. Perhaps in the future we will have to find our next car on display at airports and shopping centres?
Today, the automotive industry's Internet sites entice buyers to physically visit their various business locations. In a few years, I am sure that "everyone" will buy a car online in the same way as we buy plane tickets and hotel rooms today. I envision a point of sale located in cyberspace, a formal company registered in Malta, a call center in India and a factory in Turkey. The technology exists, but cannot be implemented in practice until the car industry makes the necessary changes in its organisations, - changes which will naturally meet resistance within its own ranks.
I wonder who will be first.
Worth mentioning are the nice changes to the instruments and dashboard for the new 500 models.
See
