Increase in enquiry from car buyers

An automotive technology business is reporting positive early signs of increased buyer enquiry as New Zealand comes to the end of its first week of operating in Covid-19 alert level three. 

AutoPlay reports that lead volumes during level-four lockdown were operating at roughly 10 per cent of pre-coronavirus levels. The start of level three saw an increase to about 30 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, while from April 29 onwards the daily average for lead volumes jumped to around 70 per cent of levels before Covid-19. 

“Although it’s far too early to make a call on the trajectory of customer enquiry in the market going forward, it’s great to see customer leads hitting dealerships despite such strong operating restrictions still being in place for dealers,” says Mike Pratt, of Marque Group NZ.

Over the past two days, test-drive numbers were sitting between 30 and 40 per cent of pre-coronavirus levels, while vehicle appraisals are sitting at more than 50 per cent of pre-Covid 19 levels. 

Matt Darby, pictured above, AutoPlay’s national product and operations manager, says: “This activity is great to see, particularly as test drives must be conducted in a contactless manner and sometimes away from dealerships. It’s great to see the ‘contactless test-drive tool’ we developed is helping the industry facilitate this step to a sale safely.”

Pratt adds: “We think strong appraisal numbers demonstrates the initiative dealers are taking in the service lane to appraise existing customers’ vehicles so they can present new options to customers.”