Selling cars from a manufacturer’s point of view, was a challenge during the olden days [1900 period] until an extra-ordinary salesman & entrepreneur William Billy Durant, founder of General Motors introduced the concept of “Automobile Financing”. Automobile loans were not very common during that period in India & were only restricted to certain standard of society. All that has changed post the liberalization era.
The old Indian mindset
During the 1980’s, people were keen on taking only government jobs since they were secure & also helped them earn good reputation in the society. This also proved the point that there was hesitation to “change” & to bring any drastic change was a huge challenge.
People were keen on buying flat for their future but owning up any vehicle, be it a 2-wheeler or a 4-wheeler was a “big status symbol” 🙂 One of the main reasons could be that the income at disposal was less & expenses were more.
With the changes in the overall landscape in economy & with the Privatization wave during the 1990’s; many things changed for the country.
Changing consumer mindset
In the era of 1990’s, though there was an increase in disposable income largely due to the increase in the number of jobs; “cars” were still a distant dream. I remember during those days, as kids we did not even dream about them.
Also, it was the time when the only medium to talk to people were “phones” [land-line or cord-less]. With the advent of the mobile phone, things started changing & fast-forward to 2000; “mobile” proved to be a massive game changer !!!
With the “Internet Era”, things changed massively and that brought huge “winds of change”.
The internet Era – Winds of Change
With growing mobile subscriber-base, falling rates of data & growing trendy-urban population, companies came up with interesting business-models!!! There are huge number of consumers who want to buy a car but instead of buying “1st hand car” they do not mind buying an “old/used car” & “used car segment” became a huge hit among people. What if we find pre-owned cars in Bangalore from many car-manufacturers under one roof 🙂
With “car financing” becoming much easier than before, it only added an “icing on the cake”!!! The used-car segment is an instant hit among the learner(s) or drivers having the ‘L’ board; we do not want our new car to be damaged; so better learn on “used car” & than move to new car [if budget permits].
Used-Car market segment
Few years back, the used car market in India was dominated by the unorganized players such as street level and self-appointed used car dealers, road side mechanics who were not certified by the Government of India and by the car owners themselves.
There were word-of mouth advertisements which handled most of the industry. In addition to this, there were not many major brands entering the used car market until recently. The organized used car sellers offer exchange and finance schemes in order to attract a large number of buyers into the used car business.
The used car sales in this market has picked up and has been growing at a CAGR of nearly 21.1% (in revenue terms) during FY’2008-FY’2014 and is expected to grow even further as more carmakers are entering in the used car market.
The segment is more competitive & internet is one of major factors for it. Now consumers, can get used car prices in Bangalore [and vis-a-vis for other cities] right from the comfort of their home(s).
If we talk of buyers than we also cannot forget the other side of the coin: Sellers. Sellers are the car-owners who are looking for prospective buyers for their cars & they are very critical resource in this entire “buyer-seller” eco-system. However, if you are a seller; it becomes important that you get the right prize for your car. Since, we are living in an internet era, which is the IT hub, selling a car in Bangalore becomes much more easier 🙂 Being a car-owner, you would always want that your product goes in the right hands so that (s)he can make the best use of it 🙂
Conclusion
The automobile market in India is growing at a very rapid pace & with the recent “Make In India” movement, many companies are keen to setup their “manufacturing plants” in India. This is already happening & it would not only affect the country’s GDP but also prove to be a boon to the consumers & young Indians aspiring to enter the automobile industry
For online-consumers, “Sell Smart & Buy Smart” 🙂
