Mazda allows haggling on Website – Automotive News
Mazda North American Operations has upgraded its Internet site so that vehicle shoppers can get a price quote from a dealership without leaving their desk.
Most factory sites lead interested buyers to a dealership’s site and will only list the sticker price. But the mazdausa.com site allows Web surfers to contact a Mazda "shopping assistant" via a live Web chat session. The assistant is a Mazda employee.
The program went live today. (July 9, 2007)
With help from the assistant, Web surfers can configure a vehicle, select a dealership, search vehicle inventory, obtain a price quote, schedule a sales appointment and get financing information.
Once a price is agreed upon between the customer and the dealership, the assistant arranges for papers to be signed and the vehicle to be delivered at the dealership.
What do you guys think of this? I’m not sure how I feel about it really. I doubt the process is not as smooth as the above paragraph reads. I read somewhere how it took over 10 minutes to contact a Mazda Rep on the online chat.
Choose your model.
Choose from up to 3 dealers to receive a price quote from.
AutoBlog posted this article on their site and it’s interesting to read peoples comments.
"Excellent idea. Why not take the stealerships out of the picture
entirely and ship direct to Mazda "service centers" where the car can
be test driven, picked up, and serviced?"
"This is exactly what I’ve been saying should happen for years. The auto retail channel (and real estate agents, for that matter) are basically a Mafia of Dinosaurs in this age of information. There is simply NO REASON for them anymore."
"This is a baby step in the right direction. Cars sales and brand
loyalty would build quickly if the process was more like buying a TV
and less like selling your first born."
I remember when I was selling Mazda several years ago and MazdaUSA had introduced their Dealer Inventory Search (catering to the larger dealers) on their website, I was not convinced this was a good move from the dealers perspective.
It’s at tough call; from the dealers side I find this to hinder my opportunity to sell more cars BUT from the consumer side, I would totally be on board with researching my next vehicle purchase, finding the car I want to buy and contacting the dealer for a price quote, all from the convenience of the Manufacturers Website. But then again, I can’t imagine purchasing my next vehicle like shopping at Walmart and having to deal
with a customer service rep that makes $5.00 an hour and could careless
about my needs!
Is Mazda making it more difficult for dealers to make money by simply making the process easier for its customers?
Is Mazda taking a step in the right direction?
How long will the "New Car salesperson" position be around?
