[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

There are a few things that shouldn't go "online", and buying a car is one of them.

A lot of people said the same about buying clothes, footwear and such items which are typically tried in person before being bought. However, these goods are being bought online validating the theory that people can buy stuff online.

While booking car online does not seem to add much value at present, a simple offer by Hyundai of some freebies/cashback for online booking may turn the tide. With it being established now that dealers are nothing more than middlemen fleecing customers by bundling overpriced insurance, non-transparent handing and registration charges, I don't see why people won't want to buy a car at ex-showroom price and have it delivered to their homes and then complete registration and insurance themselves. In such a case, one can complete the purchase right from test drive to final delivery from the comfort of home.

Originally Posted by ottocycle

Good initiative. Can we still negotiate with dealer for discounts/freebies after booking the car online? Or we loose the bargaining power by doing so.

For mainstream cars, ask the showroom to bill for only the ex-showroom price with everything else being managed by the customer and I wonder how much discount/freebies would still be on offer.

[GTO]

It's not just customer convenience & technology that will move the purchase experience online....it's also the cost of real estate. In the metros, prices / rentals for commercial properties are climbing up, up and up! Dealerships need prime real estate with showroom frontage & ground floor presence (all of which are the most expensive).

So many dealerships today are running losses, primarily due to the cost of real estate. If even a third of the car purchases move online, dealerships will be only too happy.

P.S. This is also the reason why Maruti announced it'll invest in real estate. Maruti will buy land and then rent the same out to its dealers.

[wheelguy]

Hyundai's click to buy is claimed to be a first-of-its-kind online sales platform.

NEW DELHI: Hyundai Motor India on Friday said it has launched an online sales platform in addition to its existing physical retail sales network.

The company said its 'Click to Buy' is a first-of-its kind online sales platform with simple and transparent process for purchase of Hyundai cars.

"It is India's first online sales platform to cater to the needs of new-age digital customers for purchase of new Hyundai cars," Hyundai Motor India MD and CEO SS Kim said in a statement.

Source: ET Auto

[octane_100]

So do we get huge discounts which are typical of e-commerce platforms?