REIMAGINING THE CAR-BUYING EXPERIENCE
How Cox Automotive is transforming the way the world buys , sells , owns and uses vehicles
When it comes to buying a car , people have a history of trust issues . They ’ re wary of cumbersome processes , vague pricing and hours spent in a dealership completing the transaction .
Cox Automotive Brand Manager Stephanie Henderson and Select Luxury Auto employee
In fact , there was a time when consumers rated the car-buying process roughly on par with undergoing a root canal . But there ’ s good news : It ’ s getting better , and Cox Automotive is at the center of that transformation .
Fast forward just a few years to a post-pandemic environment , and the automotive industry is undergoing seismic change . Now , customers expect transparency throughout the process ; new cars are more economical than used cars ( if you ’ re willing to wait months to get them ); and more consumers are completing part or all of their purchases online .
“ Digital adoption across the industry was just beginning before the pandemic , but was still years away from being the norm ,” said Steve Rowley , president of Cox Automotive . “ Cox Automotive had been moving our clients toward a digital transaction when , literally overnight , the pandemic changed everything . Our dealers did a great job of adapting to consumer demand and , today , car buying is more personalized with consumers wanting to complete more of the process online — something we ’ ve long been preparing for .”
Like many things in our post-pandemic society , these positive changes seem to be here to stay . As a result , car buyer satisfaction has drastically improved . The latest Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey Study indicates the improved buying process that evolved during the pandemic drove buyer satisfaction to an all-time high in 2020 . And satisfaction levels stayed high in 2021 as more and more dealers — with Cox Automotive ’ s help — continued to remove friction and frustration from the process .
16 SUMMER 2022