HOLDEN says its dealers have embraced its move to offer vehicles for sale online as the car importer launches what it terms the nation’s “first end-to-end online car buying experience”.

The new service allows customers to select a Holden model, option it, get a price, order a 24-hour test drive, organise finance, trade in the old car and have the new vehicle delivered to their door.

Holden chairman and managing director Mark Bernhard said the option of online buying – now in its pilot stage in Melbourne before being assessed for a national roll-out – would go hand-in-glove with Holden’s bricks and mortar dealer network.

He said dealers were consulted on the move to online shopping and all were positive about the option and saw benefits in having buyers access Holden products from their own home.

“A car can’t deliver or service itself,” he said of the network’s ongoing relationship with customers.

However, two dealers, though supportive, said there were concerns that online trading would allow customers to seek sales outside a dealership’s zone.

“There’s no customer loyalty to a dealer’s PMA,” said one Holden dealer who would not be named.

“I can see the online sales system can attract more people to the brand, but I’m not convinced the dealer – any dealer – will benefit as much as from the existing system.”

The new online system, the first of its kind to offer and “end-to-end” service, is also available at Subaru, partially by Ford and previously offered by Toyota in Australia, albeit with reduced features in comparison to Holden’s service.

Holden’s new online store comes less than two months after the brand ceased the franchises of 30 of its national dealers, leaving about 200 retailers.

A spokesperson for Holden said the closure of some Holden franchises and the introduction of the online store were not related, adding that Holden was always on a path to better the customer experience.

The Holden pilot – based on a system used in the US by parent General Motors – is underway in the Melbourne metropolitan area and at the moment only gives access to the new Commodore, Astra, Equinox and Trax.

The Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA) on the other hand, said the move to online was integral with the changes in the industry and was not seen as being disadvantageous to the dealers and the customers.

AADA CEO David Blackhall said there were many cases where a dealer had successfully worked with a complementary online system.

“Look at Tesla, for example, and the fact you can buy it online,” he said.

“It still has suspension and steering, wiring and brakes and tyres and these things can – and do – go wrong and need specialist repairers.

“The time that your smartphone screen froze – what did you do to fix it? You took it to an expert. It’s the same with the Tesla and it will be the same for all future cars.

“These will need people with high-level skills to deal with these problems.”

Mr Blackhall said it did not surprise him that the online buying trend is continuing.

“I remember going to Detroit with Ford and seeing Forddirect.com. This was in 2001 when Ford finished that site and it still exists today.

“You can get on and transact but very, very few people actually do. They go through the transactional process and information gathering and then it connects to the dealership to finalise the purchase.”

Mr Blackhall said people prefer to finalise the sale in a dealership.

“This is borne out by the Cox Automotive study. (https://premium.goauto.com.au/dealers-remain-relevant/)

“So we think the Holden move is realistic,” Mr Blackhall said. “Dealers do not come to us and say ‘we’re in trouble because of online purchasing’.

“In fact, there are instances where they are partnered up. At Bondi Junction in Sydney, Jaguar Land Rover has a permanent boutique-style store at the Bondi Junction Westfield shopping centre and they’re partnered with the dealer which, in this case, is Inchcape.

“The shop doesn’t have masses of inventory and you can transact there but, though there’s a lot of traffic, the number of transactions is quite low. The important thing here is that the dealer is participating.”

Mr Blackhall said there were studies “that purport the end of dealerships”, but some missed crucial information.

“What these studies fail to recognise are two things – the attachment people have to a car and the tenacity, drive, dynamism and entrepreneurial spirit of the business people who are dealers.

“I don’t believe post-millenials will grow up sitting in pods and never participate in the experience of owning and admiring and being connected to a car. It’s not just the car but the experience of buying a car.

“I also don’t see that entrepreneurial spirit that exists in dealers and their staff disappearing any time soon.

“So I think these are powerful forces in the car business that have been underappreciated by recent studies.”

In April last year, Roy Morgan Research reported that 42 per cent of Australian men – particularly those in the top socio-economic profile – were prepared to buy a car entirely online.

This compared with just 25 per cent of women and an overall average of 33 per cent of all Australians surveyed.

At the time of the report, Roy Morgan’s CEO Michele Levine said men and their cars formed part of the Australian culture, but the days of kicking tyres was under threat as more moved their interest to be centred around the internet.

Asked if they would consider buying a car completely online, the survey reported that almost twice as many men agreed compared with women, and the highest level of agreement was seen in people aged 25 to 49 years.

By Neil Dowling