F&I and Showroom, Industry Summit 2016
www fi magazine com 62 F I and Showroom Industry Summit 2016 SALES P Put down the selfie stick And while youre at it move on from the endless debate about when Millennials are going to buy cars They will and are in ever increasing numbers According to Bloomberg Business Millennials are now the second largest group of newcar buyers Dealertracks 2015 credit application findings show that Millennials are taking a 35 share of unique auto applications 10 more than the previous year But as strange as it might seem Millennials are yesterdays news As the generation defined by self portraits helicopter parenting and Facebook move into the years of cars houses soccer and scouts its their little sisters turn to buy her first car and she wants to do so in a very big way WHAT DO YOU WANT According to the Gen Z Automotive Study commissioned by Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book 92 of Gen Z survey respondents either own or plan to own a vehicle Thats vastly different than their older siblings and the contrasts dont end there Gen Z is realistic always connected more prone to the instant eye candy of Snapchat than Facebook and frankly a little skeptical Where Millennials have idealized ride sharing and public transportation just 8 of Gen Zers surveyed want ridesharing services to replace vehicle ownership and a scant 15 would prefer improved public transportation to either And while an environmentally friendly car is important to them price was viewed as most important 77 The bottom line They want the keys And in four short years the youngsters will wield 32 trillion in purchasing power according to the latest figures from MaritzCX Thats more than enough power to rock the automotive retail market The question is how do we deliver all these keys to this practical generation of go getters and freedom seekers The study found that selling cars to Gen Z is about leveraging online and one to one relationships within an informationheavy experience that puts a premium on convenience As such this generation will usher in three distinct changes to the car buying process 1 Gen Z buyers will expect the online to in store process to become blended across the entire experience The youngest car buyers are not interested in having two separate experiences They want and will soon demand one seamless cohesive journey from research to purchase that spans multiple devices and physical locations To a generation born into the digital world where anything they want is available online placing borders and barriers around the transaction experience will create a frustrating dealbreaker Where the old school method Members of Generation Z are the anti Millennials and theyre coming to a dealership near you BY MIKE BURGISS World War Gen z ISTOCKPHOTO COM PIKSEL
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