- 83%: Share of consumers who prefer to do at least one of the vehicle-purchase steps online
- 89%: Share of consumers who said they're OK with finishing the purchase process at the dealership
- 73%: Share of consumers who said they would never purchase a vehicle sight unseen
- 85%: Share of consumers who said they are more likely to buy from a dealership where they can start the purchase process online
Overwhelmingly, auto sales still happen in dealerships. But change is afoot.
Across the industry, 85 percent of respondents to a survey by DealerRater.com for Automotive News said that while they may have gone online to find or find and reserve their most recent vehicle purchase or lease, the rest of the transaction was done at the dealership.
But that means 15 percent of respondents did more than just check out inventory online.
Indeed, 8 percent said all they did at the store was sign paperwork. Arranging financing and reviewing and buying finance and insurance products also were done online.
And the percentage of customers who did all but the final paperwork online was in double digits for customers of a few brands: 10 percent at BMW, Buick and Ram, 11 percent at Lexus, 12 percent at Infiniti and 13 percent at Cadillac.
Not surprisingly, some brands whose customers tend to do less of the transaction online are ones known for more credit-challenged buyers, who often need more assistance from the F&I manager to find acceptable financing terms.
For example, an above-average 89 percent said they only found or found and reserved their vehicle online for both Mitsubishi- and Chrysler-brand customers. A below-average 4 percent of Mitsubishi customers did only the paper-signing at the store.
A notable finding from the survey: The move to online transactions doesn't seem to be a gradual, evolutionary trend, with customers doing progressively more of the deal online. Rather, it's more of an all-or-nothing proposition.
For most brands, a greater percentage of respondents agreed with the statement, "I bought or leased a vehicle online; I only signed the paperwork in person," than with the following two statements, which would seem to be steps toward that all-online transaction:
"I did most of the transaction online, including arranging the financing, but discussed and/or bought extended service contracts and other such items at the dealership."
"I did most of the transaction online, but had to negotiate a few final points at the dealership."
The survey, conducted Feb. 20-28, had 13,602 respondents.
In-store vs. online
| For your most recent vehicle purchase/lease, how much of it did you do online? | ||||||
| A. I found my vehicle online but basically did the entire purchase/lease at the dealership. | ||||||
| B. I selected and reserved my vehicle online but did everything else, including financing, at the dealership. | ||||||
| A + B | ||||||
| I did most of the transaction online, including arranging the financing, but discussed and/or bought extended service contracts and other such items at the dealership. | ||||||
| I did most of the transaction online but had to negotiate a few final points at the dealership. | ||||||
| I bought or leased a vehicle online; I only signed the paperwork in person. | ||||||
| ▼ | ▼ | ▼ | ▼ | ▼ | ▼ | |
| All brands | 77% | 8% | 85% | 3% | 4% | 8% |
| Acura | 81% | 6% | 87% | 3% | 3% | 8% |
| Audi | 75% | 7% | 82% | 6% | 6% | 6% |
| BMW | 68% | 11% | 79% | 5% | 6% | 10% |
| Buick | 76% | 9% | 85% | 2% | 3% | 10% |
| Cadillac | 68% | 10% | 78% | 5% | 4% | 13% |
| Chevrolet | 79% | 8% | 87% | 2% | 3% | 8% |
| Chrysler | 80% | 9% | 89% | 2% | 4% | 5% |
| Dodge | 79% | 7% | 86% | 3% | 3% | 8% |
| Ford | 79% | 8% | 87% | 3% | 4% | 6% |
| GMC | 77% | 9% | 86% | 4% | 3% | 7% |
| Honda | 77% | 8% | 85% | 3% | 5% | 7% |
| Hyundai | 79% | 7% | 86% | 5% | 3% | 6% |
| Infiniti | 74% | 8% | 82% | 2% | 4% | 12% |
| Jeep | 81% | 6% | 87% | 4% | 3% | 6% |
| Kia | 80% | 8% | 88% | 2% | 4% | 6% |
| Lexus | 69% | 9% | 78% | 3% | 8% | 11% |
| Mazda | 79% | 6% | 85% | 3% | 4% | 8% |
| Mer.-Benz | 74% | 9% | 83% | 5% | 3% | 9% |
| Mitsubishi | 81% | 8% | 89% | 4% | 3% | 4% |
| Nissan | 77% | 8% | 85% | 3% | 3% | 9% |
| Ram | 76% | 7% | 83% | 2% | 5% | 10% |
| Subaru | 77% | 8% | 85% | 4% | 4% | 8% |
| Toyota | 77% | 7% | 84% | 3% | 4% | 9% |
| Volkswagen | 78% | 8% | 86% | 4% | 3% | 8% |
| Note: List includes brands with more than 100 respondents. | ||||||
| Source: DealerRater.com survey of 13,602 consumers conducted Feb. 20-28 | ||||||
- 83%: Share of consumers who prefer to do at least one of the vehicle-purchase steps online
- 89%: Share of consumers who said they're OK with finishing the purchase process at the dealership
- 73%: Share of consumers who said they would never purchase a vehicle sight unseen
- 85%: Share of consumers who said they are more likely to buy from a dealership where they can start the purchase process online
You can reach James B. Treece at jtreece@crain.com
