There is some good news for Canadian dealers amid the COVID-19 crisis, according to a recent study from CarGurus.
The Canadian COVID-19 Sentiment Study, released on May 1, considers consumers who planned pre-crisis or are now planning to purchase a vehicle. The data reveals that, although 87% of respondents expect to purchase a vehicle later than initially planned, 68% are still actively researching.
“Based on the data, consumers are mostly still planning major purchases such as a vehicle, but those sales are likely to be delayed until later in the year when economic activity begins to return to normal and certainty over economic outlook improves,” said Madison Gross, Director of Customer Insights at CarGurus.
Twenty-three per cent of respondents expect normal economic activity to resume within three months, and 33% plan to purchase a vehicle then. For the 57% that expect normal activity to resume in six months, 53% plan to buy a vehicle.
On the ride-sharing front, the study found that 16% of consumers that want to buy a new car this year had not planned on doing so pre-crisis. And more than half of ride-sharing/taxi (51%) and public transport users (54%) plan to decrease or stop using these services when economic activity resumes.
As for digital, “openness to buying online is higher than ever,” said CarGurus — although most still prefer to buy their vehicle in-person. The study found that 67% of respondents consider buying a car at a dealership to be safer than purchasing one from a private party.
But for many consumers, the 67% who intend to buy in 2020, they would prefer using contactless services like: virtual appointments with video tours of the vehicles they are interested in buying; private dealership appointments and unaccompanied test drives; at-home test drives; and home delivery.
Whatever the case, the study also indicates that 71% of consumers who plan on buying a vehicle this year consider the purchase to be essential — and that, at least, is some good news for dealers.
To view the full study, click here.
