Automakers and dealers are slogging through what will probably be another flat year for sales in the US, even with record sales in August. But on the World Wide Web they are moving more autos than ever.
As domestic and foreign car companies and their dealers roll out next year's models, the Internet is emerging as an important sales channel -- if not for completing transactions, then for getting consumers far along in the process. Much of the effort is a recognition that their customers have found that the Web is a way to exert some control over a process that can otherwise be fraught with aggravating surprises.
Although stories vary by dealer, anecdotal evidence suggests that car sellers can save money online as well, by engaging their customers and remotely executing as much of the transaction as possible before closing the deal in person. That realization has pushed both dealers and carmakers to advertise heavily on independent car-selling Web sites, thereby lifting the prospects of a number of Internet companies.
"Without question, manufacturers have redoubled their efforts and focus on online activity," said Scott Weitzman, senior director of JD Power and Associates, an auto industry research firm. "They've made a quantum leap in the services they provide, and they also see now that the independent sites aren't going to monopolize this business." The manufacturers are working more cooperatively with such businesses as a result.
Weitzman said that last year 62 percent of consumers who bought new cars had used the Internet to research, choose or buy the car. Notably, he said, those who used the Web saved US$300 to US$400 on the price, compared with those who did not use the Web.
There is an advantage for the dealers, too: They spend significantly less time serving customers on the Web than in person, "so they feel as if they're at least not losing money," Weitzman said. "And dealers regard this as incremental business, so even if it's potentially less profitable, that's still business they wouldn't have gotten."
Weitzman said that among carmakers, Ford Motor and General Motors have been particularly aggressive online. Both, he said, have Web sites that help consumers choose cars and then enter into discussions with a dealer about prices, options and other issues.
Leo R. Drew, who oversees GM's online initiative, said his company works to ensure that there is someone at the dealership who knows online research.
Dealers in training for the "GM BuyPower" online selling program must surf every auto Web site that their customers could conceivably have visited before landing at GM.
"The key is to recognize customers have spent an awful lot of time in research mode, so you don't have to start all over with them," Drew said.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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