Car manufacturers are doing what they can in the United States to help the sale of new cars get back on track as the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the industry.
CNBC reports that some automakers are offering 0 per cent financing deals to customers as well as deferring payments. Additionally, many car companies and dealerships are trying to push online sales. For example, General Motors is offering its ‘Shop, Click, Drive’ purchasing process that allows for most of the sales process to be done online and for new vehicles to be delivered to a customer’s home.
GM has been offering ‘Shop, Click, Drive’ since 2013 but it’s never been particularly popular as dealerships have viewed it as a threat to their traditional sales models. According to owner of Carl Black Automotive Group, Mike Bowsher, it’s now proving more important than ever.
“It has taken on great importance recently. There’s a lot of good going to come out of this, forcing the network to get into the 21st century overnight and learn how to do more online sales. … Everybody’s being forced into this,” he said.
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Elsewhere across the industry, GM and FCA are offering well-qualified new car buyers 0 per cent financing for 84 months and deferred payments of 90 days. Other car manufacturers such as Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Genesis, and Nissan are also offering deferred payment options to well-qualified customers.
These moves come at a time when the market for new car sales has been crippled. With the first quarter of 2020 now at a close, all automakers will soon start reporting their worst sales declines in years. J.D. Power expects auto sales to have declined by at least 32.5 per cent in March compared with a year ago while Edmunds expects sales to have fallen 35.5 per cent.