What can the auto industry do about incoming OEM digital retailing programs?

On the latest episode of Auto Marketing Now, host Brian Pasch tackles the latest updates in OEM digital retailing programs and the mandates that are likely coming down the pipeline for some manufacturers.

In the Summer of 2021, Brian Pasch Enterprises published a research report called Comparing Stellantis E-Shop to Competing Digital Retailing Solutions. In this report, BPE focused on evaluating the quality of the Stellantis E-Shop which turned out to be inferior to other competitors in the industry. Problems arose when the OEM wanted its dealer network to use the E-Shop exclusively. Since the release of this report, the Stellantis E-Shop has made some improvements, but, according to Pasch, it is still not a leader in any competitive benchmark.

In the Stellantis model, when a consumer is interested in finding an affordable new vehicle, the customer is taken off of the dealer’s website and transported to a national OEM digital retailing program. This model is also used by Nissan with its Nissan@Home platform.

There are additional caveats to this model that will also negatively affect dealers like taking away co-op dollars previously allocated for these types of solutions. More importantly, dealers are in a bind and fear retribution.

So what can car dealers do? Will they have to have 10 OEM digital retailing program for the 10 brands they sell? What is a better framework? Pasch believes that OEMs need to invest in data links and homegrown solutions that bridge the gap between digital retailing operations. The automotive industry needs to find the right balance Instead of OEM mandates will fail if car dealers are not united on this issue.

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