Sonoma County auto dealers remain buoyant amid surge in online competitors - Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Most car buyers find Scott Silveira’s auto dealership in Healdsburg via the Internet, and these days more shoppers are making their first contact via smartphones. Used car buyers especially use the “live chat” feature on the Silveira Buick GMC website at all hours of the day to ask about prospective vehicles. Such shoppers are querying other dealers around Northern California, Silveira said, and “the one who responds first is generally the one they go see. The car buying experience continues to change in Sonoma County as technology advances and new competitors enter the marketplace. The competition includes new Bay Area tech startups like Roadster, Shift and Beepi that offer an online alternative to buying new or used vehicles. At the Hansel Auto Group, which has 11 franchises in the county, four customer care centers have been set up in the past few years with staff trained in customer services, not sales. “We’re actually seeing an increase in actual phone calls,” said Justin Hansel, the group’s vice president and general manager. Source: www.pressdemocrat.com
