Automobile manufacturers increasingly rely on online sales when selling new cars

Car manufacturers, who started selling their new cars online as early as 2013, are stepping it up more and more. They are making use of the set-up and expertise of innovative start-ups. Daimler, for example, is currently (summer 2019) investing heavily in the newcomer Carwow, which is a distinct new car portal. The car company is leading the latest Carwow financing round of 28 million euros. This is reported by Automobilwoche.

Participation of car dealers

Carwow is represented in the markets of Germany, Spain and the UK, where the business is now set to grow even more. Dealers in the three countries also benefit from the modern concept of the online platform and participated in the financing. On Carwow, prospective buyers can select their desired vehicle - then they are directed to a dealer in their area. Apart from the resulting boost in sales, this also provides manufacturers and dealers with essential insights into customer behaviour. The data from Carwow provides very good insights into the decision-making processes of buyers. Carwow CEO Sayler von Amende confirmed this to DPA. Since customers usually deal with several cars on the platform, Carwow experts can determine which competitor vehicles they have looked at and configured and which car they actually buy in the end. Price sensitivity can also be determined very well. On average, prospective buyers configure four models from three different brands.

Car manufacturers mix with

Carwow 's online sales are so successful that Axel Harries, head of sales at Mercedes-Benz Cars after all, is now significantly deepening the cooperation as a member of Carwow's board of directors. Carwow CEO Sayler von Amende notes that the platform would be happy to take on additional managers from other car manufacturers in later financing rounds. Carwow is a British platform and has been active on its home market since 2012. The portal has also been present in Germany since 2016 and in Spain since 2018. The sale is also promoted by the fact that car dealers indicate in advance to the platform those discounts that they would grant for new cars. The user sees this in his configuration. Due to its focus on new cars, Carwow is not a direct competitor for AutoScout24 or mobile.de, where primarily used cars are sold. But the portal clearly has the potential to shake up the markets. The philosophy behind the business model is important: the industry is in a state of upheaval. Urban drivers are buying fewer and fewer cars, often rely on private leasing, and are hardly ever loyal to a brand, as was the case 10 to 20 years ago. If robot taxis without drivers become established, private cars could soon become completely obsolete. The money would then be earned primarily with driving services. But that is not yet the case.

What must car dealers prepare for in 2019?

In any case, dealers should focus strictly on online sales. This has been going relatively well since the end of the 1990s, with the Munich portal AutoScout24 founded in 1998. But for a long time, many local dealers did not see the need to launch their own online sales activities. So far, they still mainly use the aforementioned portals for their Internet sales. There is nothing wrong with that, but they should still keep a close eye on the online marketing of their vehicles.