Car sales motoring on online despite showroom closures

Motor traders are still selling cars during this period of heightened safe distancing, but they are doing so online because all car showrooms - which are deemed to be non-essential - are closed.

Checks by The Straits Times revealed that all major authorised dealerships have been garnering interest and orders via the Internet.

Some bookings are pending test-drives after May 4, but other transactions are already complete, with deposits paid via credit card or even a phone-based channel such as PayNow.

BMW said that its dealers, Performance Motors and Performance Munich Autos, have been taking orders. Customers can visit a BMW digital showroom or call the dealerships. "There are no physical meetings," a BMW Asia spokesman said. "The whole process is done digitally."

Over at Nissan agent Tan Chong Motor, sales staff will follow up when buyers e-mail, text or call the company.

"No choice... That's the only avenue right now to garner inquiries," Tan Chong Motor head of sales and marketing Ron Lim said, adding that arrangements for test-drives will be made once the circuit breaker measures are lifted.

Inchcape, which represents Toyota and Suzuki in Singapore, said that customers could already get in touch with its sales staff without visiting showrooms even before non-essential businesses were closed two weeks ago.

Mr Samuel Yong, director of marketing and business strategy at Inchcape's Toyota agent Borneo Motors, said: "After the circuit breaker, we added online payment gateways for customers to place a deposit to secure a vehicle. Deliveries will happen after the circuit breaker."

At multi-franchise Wearnes Automotive, online prospecting had also been in place before the pandemic.

"We are quite digital in our sales process, so customers have access to vehicle specifications, reviews and so on," said Ms Sabrina Sng, managing director of Wearnes' Volvo operations.

But during the circuit breaker period, this method of selling was given a bigger push.

"Times are changing, and we should too," Ms Sng said.

"We were sceptical initially, but it's heartening that some customers are willing to place deposits and buy online even for a big-ticket item like a car."

The firm had secured about 10 orders on this platform, she added.

Hyundai agent Komoco, which has had a fully fledged online sales portal since November 2018, said it had "concluded several sales on this system in the last two weeks".

"The platform can generate an order and collect the deposit directly," a spokesman said.

"Once done, we apply for bank loans through DBS Bank or Maybank, which is through another online platform."

Others that have jumped on the online sales bandwagon include Mazda agent Eurokars, which accepts deposits via PayNow, and Kia agent Cycle & Carriage, which launched an online "flash warehouse sale" last weekend which drew "a positive response".