Buying a car or truck will remain an emotional, inherently human experience for consumers whether or not technology is involved in the sales process.
Group 1 Automotive CEO Daryl Kenningham was careful to make that point during our interview after the public dealership group's first-quarter earnings call on April 26.
During the call, Kenningham touted a record performance from the company's AcceleRide digital platform, with sales of 12,500 vehicles, reflecting 19 percent of the company's total U.S. retail sales for the quarter. More than 78 percent of Group 1's customers used the platform during the first three months of the year, he said.
Group 1 leaders believe customers will always use the platform for part of the buying process or all of it, Kenningham shared. But company executives don't expect most customers to go 100 percent digital.
"These vehicles are still emotional purchases, and I think customers to some degree still like to come in and look at what they're buying," he said. The expense involved is one major reason for that.
So veteran dealership executive Kenningham is focused on making room for the emotional part of buying a vehicle even as technology becomes increasingly important.
"What we've tried to design AcceleRide to do is accommodate customers, however they want to shop," he said. "If they want to do it online, great. If they do part of it offline, that's fine too."
As younger digital-first consumers increasingly join the marketplace, I wonder if they'll feel the same way.
