As the circus surrounding tariffs, counter-tariffs, annexation threats, and concerns over the collapse of Canada’s auto industry swirl around them, car dealers are faced with the same dilemma they always face.
Many of these issues are simply outside of their control.
Dealers can’t control supply chain disruptions, inventory shortages, manufacturer incentives and inflated sales targets, or knee-jerk reactions from their OEMs that go all in on EVs — and then suddenly pull back.
I’m sure many dealers suffer from vertigo and whiplash as these short-term decisions impact their long-term plans.
What’s sometimes forgotten in this though, is that for many, and arguably for most of their customers, the local dealer is the one who still has the most meaningful connection with the brand.
That means what dealers can control is the consumer experience with your brand(s).
I know some of my OEM friends will balk at this and claim they own the omni-channel brand experience, and that dealers are merely the distribution arm for their grand plans, but for many car buyers, that’s not really the case.
This ego battle over who matters most to consumers — OEMs or dealers — happens inside a closed auto ecosystem. That’s because most of us that make our living in the auto industry tend to overindex the importance of vehicles in the lives of most buyers.
Most of the people walking in your showrooms or shopping online won’t have kept tabs on all your brand’s latest model releases and trim levels, or know which model just made its North American debut.
Many buyers just have transportation and mobility needs. They have some sense of the models your brand offers, and some idea about the buying and service experience they can expect from you.
That’s not to say car buyers today aren’t better educated and informed than ever — they certainly are — but most only invest time and energy into paying attention to the auto industry every few years when they enter the buying cycle.
In fact, according to data from the Canadian Vehicle Survey conducted by Statistics Canada, the average age of vehicles on Canadian roads was approximately 10 to 11 years.
In auto industry terms, that’s an eternity!
In between their car buying cycles, Canadians are busy using the vehicles you sold them to get to and from work, and shuttle themselves and / or their families around. They leave the rest of us to obsess over every twist and turn in our industry, and which brand is rising and which is struggling.
This gives dealers a great hand, but one they need to play cleverly.
I see it like this: for every person who walks into your dealership or visits your website — you and you alone — represent the current car buying experience. The last time they bought a car might be a decade ago.
But they will amplify their new impression of their buying experience hundreds of times in conversations with friends, family and colleagues in person and increasingly online through reviews.
So, just make it an amazing experience!
Many buyers won’t know or care about a vehicle recall from five years ago, which CEO was ousted and which OEM was ranked highest for vehicle quality.
So, the cards are entirely in your hands — and in the hands of your team members — to play.
Be positive and proactive, and not defensive. Embrace the fact that every customer might really have no built-in pre-conceptions against you, your brand or your vehicles, and earn every new sale with the work you do today.
Now, for fun, imagine if you woke up every day and treated your spouse with the same clean slate and with no bias against any of their previous shortcomings? What a wonderful world that would be!
