March 2021
Featured in this insight: Automotive, Central government & non-department public bodies
Six in 10 in-market car buyers are ready to buy in April: A survey has found that 59% of in-market car buyers are reorganising their buying plans to make a car purchase as soon as lockdown restrictions are lifted in mid-April.
The polling by What Car? followed the announcement by Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, that all non-essential retail can reopen on April 12 as we come out of the nation's third Covid-19 lockdown.
The research surveyed 2,359 in-market car buyers, also finding that it is likely that in the three months to June a further 43% of respondents are looking to buy a car.
Asked about whether or not they think that car showrooms should remained closed until mid-April, 44% disagreed that they should not open to the public.
The survey also found that almost a fifth of people looking to buy a car (19%) think that online sales are now more popular than sales made through a physical dealership, with 20% thinking that online will overtake car showroom sales within three years. Looking at longer term perceptions, 63% of consumers think that within a decade all car sales will be facilitated online and there will be no need to visit a dealership.
More than half the respondents surveyed (56%) said they are interested in buying a new car online, with a quarter (25%) saying they would buy a 'nearly new car' over the internet. When it comes to buying a used car online, 19% said they would.
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