Recognising that the next couple of months are going to be tough for the motor vehicle industry, Cox Automotive Retail Solutions is launching a Covid-19 dealer assistance program.
The Cox Automotive Retail Solutions business in Australia comprises Dealer Solutions, Digipurple and Kelley Blue Book. The company has looked across its product portfolio to offer dealers assistance to reduce costs and help sell cars.
“We mean it when we say we are here to help. We will continue to work hard to help the industry get through this impact and we are still working on other ways we can help so stay tuned. We value your partnership and we will stand with you to get through this stronger,” says Cox Automotive Retail Solutions chief executive officer Michael Sommerton.
“If you don’t have a Dealer Solutions Modular website and would like to access these tools, you can switch to us and we will waive all setup costs and get your new website live asap,” he says.
For the months of April and May 2020, Cox Automotive Retail Solutions, together with Autotrader will also provide the following assistance packages to help dealers through this time.
All dealer data distribution charges will be discounted by 25%. This will apply to the April and May invoices automatically.
Digital advertising agency, Digipurple will help dealers communicate and engage with customers with campaigns designed to drive contactless online and phone interactions.
“We have several dealer groups who have already changed their strategy to new campaigns designed around contactless home delivery for service and sales. As well, Dealers are also promoting the new increased ABN tax deduction and other tax benefits,” says Sommerton.
Digipurple will be offering:
- 50% discount across all creative fees
- No cost on any COVID-19 updates on your website
- 50% off on all campaign management fees
- All campaign set up fees will be removed
- Full time consulting on the best direct communication and engagement with customers online and over the phone is available
“We highly recommend continuing digital campaigns to communicate with customers and mitigate service and sales losses,” says Sommerton.
“Our professional photography services still continue to visit dealerships taking extra sanitising and social distancing precautions. If our photographers are unable to visit your dealership and services are suspended we will offer our Mobile Photographer app for free,” he says.
Dealer Solutions Photography is offering free access to the Mobile Photographer App and free access to the new car image library. It will be extended for used cars very soon.
Kelley Blue Book is offering free access to MarketLens during April 2020 as well as Lead Driver free for 30 days.
“Our Lead Driver product does exactly as the name suggests – it allows customers visiting your website to obtain a valuation for their car using Kelley Blue Book data. It is a valuable way for dealers to collect customer data for leads,” says Sommerton.
Online deposits in partnership with PayPal will be free for 30 Days.
“Our partnership with PayPal allows for online deposits to be taken directly on your website. Dealers can use this function to help drive online sales,” says Sommerton.
“We’ve partnered with Autotrader to bring you 50% off on all listings fees for two months during the April and May 2020. To access this assistance option, please contact your Autotrader account manager.
“This will provide you with an ongoing presence on Autotrader and CarsGuide, along with free placement on Facebook Marketplace, providing access to chat, SMS, phone, email and walk-in enquiry. With all of our listings capped, if your inventory takes longer to sell, there is no charge beyond the cap,” he says.
