
Is your car dealership ready for a V-shaped recovery?
- 1.Audi’s Personal Online Assistant selected as Finalist for eco Internet Award
- 2.1to1 Media: Driving Auto Sales with Digital Tools
- 3.Dealer Marketing Magazine: High Consideration Equals High Touch
- 4.Automotive Management: Swansway adds VEE24 live chat to website
- 5.Auto Dealers and Manufacturers Drive Sales with Live Video
- 6.Stable Vehicle Contracts accelerates sales with Vee24 video chat technology
- 7.Motor Trader: Getting Personal with online Video Chat
- 8.Automotive Management: Using video to make appointments ‘can increase test drive bookings by more than a third’
- 9.AM online: Now Vauxhall adds live video chat from Vee24
- 10.Now Vauxhall adds a customer service differentiator to its website with Live Video Chat from Vee24
- 11.AM Automotive Management – Vee24’s Priya Iyer Guest opinion – Car buyers want a better online experience – it’s time for dealerships to embrace digital technology
- 12.Completing the Entire Car-buying Process Online with Live Engagement
- 13.Quickly Move Cars Off Your Lot with Live Video Engagement
- 14.Interview with Priya Iyer – Live chat for car dealers: six steps to success
- 15.Halliwell Jones offers late night customer service to online customers, with Vee24 Live Engagement platform
- 16.Halliwell Jones customers enjoy late night car enquiries thanks to Vee24
- 17.Sytner Group offers Vee24’s Live Chat to Mercedes-Benz smart customers
- 18.Are Automotive Dealers Missing the Mark with Online Shoppers?
- 19.Are Automotive Dealers Missing the Mark with Online Shoppers?
- 20.IT Pro Portal Publication – Live Engagement: Are Automotive Dealers Still Missing the Mark with Online Shoppers?
- 21.Defining the KPI’s for Live Engagement in Your Automotive Business Plan
- 22.How Live Engagement Helps Automotive Dealerships Generate More Leads and Provide Better Customer Service
- 23.Vee24 Mentioned in Automotive Management Online – ‘Six ways to get the most from chat and messaging’
- 24.ITProPortal Publication – Define the KPIs for live engagement in your automotive business plan
- 25.Vee24 Published in Business Computing World – Define the KPIs for Live Engagement in Your Automotive Business Plan
- 26.Vee24 Featured in the Institute of Motor Industry Magazine – How Automotive Businesses Can Benefit from Live Engagement Platforms
- 27.How to Create a Seamless Transformation from Physical to Online Dealerships
- 28.4 Must-Have Live Chat Engagement Features that Will Build Brand Loyalty for Your Dealership
- 29.Land Rover provides next generation sales support via Vee24’s live video help
- 30.Enhance Your Dealership Experience with an Online Presence
- 31.ZuCar brings the in-store experience to their newly launched website with Vee24 Live Engagement
- 32.How Live Engagement is Supporting the Car Buyer of Today
- 33.How to Use Live Engagement to Give Your Dealership a Competitive Edge
- 34.Is the Auto-Dealership Dead?
- 35.Create an Automotive Digital Experience that Sells
- 36.Do You Have the Infrastructure to Allow Your Agents to Work from Home?
- 37.Ban On Petrol & Diesel Vehicles: Are Electric cars the future?
- 38.The New Normal of Automotive
- 39.Being Successful In The New Normal
- 40.Opening with a Boom
- 41.Hyundai’s Online Showroom is Experiencing a Corona Boom
- 42.The New Normal of Automotive
- 43.How to Create a Seamless Transformation from Physical to Online Dealerships – Replay
- 44.Your Favorite Car Company is Opening a new dealership and it’s in Your House
- 45.With Live Video Chat, Hyundai Germany Brings its Car Showroom to The Living Room
- 46.Buying a Vehicle from Your Couch? The Future of Car Buying Has Arrived
- 47.Is your car dealership ready for a V-shaped recovery?
- 48.MSL Motor Group Revs Up Their Digital Engagement
- 49.D’Ieteren Automotive Chooses Vee24 to Connect with Customers Face-to-Face at Virtual 2021 Brussels Motor Show
- 50.Vee24 Helps Drive an Immersive Customer Experience at the ‘Porsche Next’ Digital Show

Is there still hope for a V-shaped recovery in the US and UK auto industry or are we past that recovery scenario? How strong will that recovery be? Will there be a second wave of COVID-19 and, if so, what will the impact be? A “V-shaped” recovery, in which a significant downturn in economic activity is quickly followed and matched by a dramatic upswing, has been debated throughout the summer in the UK auto industry and hoped for in the US.
There are signs of an underlying recovery in the vehicle market in the UK even as sales in August were down from the same period last year. With the end of the summer being a relatively quiet time for new car markets in general, market watchers are looking at the final September activity as a better indicator of recovery. In the US, auto sales is one place in the country’s economy that may still experience a V-shaped recovery. Vehicle sales in August were up 3.9% month-on-month even though sales remain lower than they were earlier in the year prior to the pandemic and down from the same period last year.
No doubt, signs of a persistent economic recovery and return to pre-pandemic consumer confidence will continue to be watched closely. One trend that is emerging and gaining traction among car dealerships and manufacturers is the ability to engage with car buyers online. anytime and bring the in-showroom experience to them anywhere.
Consumer buying behavior and some other positive trends
Since early May, reports of consumers feeling safer in a private vehicle and expectations that pent-up demand in both the US and UK will mimic the surge in sales that other markets such as China have experienced as they reopen have been widespread. As Motortrend observes these trends, it asks ‘So, are we ready for a huge sales rebound?’ With a COVID-19 vaccine still months away, some favorable trends for the automobile industry suggest a solid recovery with innovative dealers that meet consumer demands and buying experience coming out as winners.
Used car sales are increasing. As The Guardian reports, in the UK, many people in larger cities with public transit are deciding to forego the subway and buses to avoid exposure to COVID-19 by buying a used car. As a result, UK dealerships are experiencing growth in used auto sales. In the United States, used vehicle sales have been booming after decreasing by 38% in April 2020, as the Wall Street Journal reports. Very low interest rates, low new-vehicle inventory, coupled with a need to avoid public transit, are behind this trend in car sales in the US. Due to increased demand for used cars in the United States, USA Today reports that used car prices are soaring, with an average listing price of $21,558 in July 2020, up $708 from the previous month – a boon for used car dealers.
Online car sales are growing. Much car shopping and research now happens when a car dealership is closed – in the evening, between 6 to 10 pm. In pre-pandemic 2020, the average number of dealership visits was only 1.6 per purchase down from more than seven only five years ago. With 89 percent of consumers beginning their car buying journey online buyers prefer to browse online on their own terms.
Young people are buying more cars. This trend existed before the pandemic and is still continuing. Millennials, those born between 1981 and 1996, represented much of the car sales growth in North America in the first quarter of 2018. Millennials as a group are much more likely to refer to the internet, particularly video content, and their personal networks to buy cars, according to. They invest heavily in researching options resulting in feeling ‘very knowledgeable’ before and after their auto purchase. This group prefers browsing for cars online rather than physically visiting a car dealership, as reflected by the more general trend in car sales.
What do these trends mean for UK and US car dealerships? Dealerships should be prepared for the recovery with a digital strategy that engages their website visitors across channels anywhere, anytime, on any device. Because more and more people are both staying home and browsing for cars online, dealerships must replicate the in-showroom experience online now and be prepared for the longer-term trend of the online showroom.
Vee24 technology can help in a “Vee-shaped” recovery
Whether it’s to drive qualified leads, energize sales, or provide convenient customer service, a digital-first strategy that engages consumers online while they are researching and shopping or provides quick assistance and easy service scheduling will help car dealerships convert website visitors to test drives, sell more cars, satisfy customers and remain competitive. For dealerships seeking to adapt and accelerate their online strategy in the current economic environment and beyond, Vee24’s live engagement platform helps them create that convenient, personalized experience.
With automotive live chat – including high definition video chat – a salesperson can provide a detailed audio-video demonstration of a new car with a 360-degree, 5-point walkthrough seamlessly moving from the laptop camera to the mobile camera to wall-mounted. This live engagement experience transforms the online car shopping experience by bringing the vehicles to the customer without them having to leave home. Combined with other technology such as intelligent chatbots that provide customer assistance 24/7 to co-browsing and co-form fill that allow digital hand-holding through the financing application process, the Vee24 platform transforms a dealer’s website into its largest showroom.
Learn more about how Vee24 can help your dealership in a Vee-shaped economic recovery or get a glimpse of Hyundai’s Digital Showroom.