New Ways to Buy, Sell Cars Arrive at Baton Rouge Market | Business

Since the start of the year, several national groups offering different ways to buy and sell used cars have entered the Baton Rouge market.

Carvana, the second largest used car retailer, entered the market in February, offering customers the option of buying or selling a car online and receiving their vehicle or checking out the next day. Although the company initially did not have a physical presence in Baton Rouge, earlier this month the East Baton Rouge Planning Commission approved Carvana’s plan to open a dealership on Rieger Road.

In August, CarLotz, a national consignment auto dealer, announced that it would acquire the former Dodge City dealership of Salsbury on Airline Highway and open its first location in Louisiana there. Michael Bor, CEO, said the consignment model is the best deal for people who want to sell a vehicle with the convenience of avoiding a trade-in at a dealership or the hassle of selling to strangers.

Sonic Automotive, the sixth-largest used car dealership, purchased the old David’s Car Stereo location on Siegen Lane in October with the intention of building a used car dealership EchoPark. That same month, CarGurus extended its digital sales functionality, CarGurus Instant Max Cash Offer, to Louisiana. This feature allows customers to sell vehicles online to a network of approximately 7,000 dealers across the country.

The dramatic changes that online sales have brought to the retail industry over the past two decades are finally starting to hit the auto market, said Karl Brauer, executive analyst for iSeeCars.com, which touts itself as the most great online car search engine. The process of buying a new or used car hasn’t changed much from the way it was done 60 years ago, so customers are ready for an evolution, he said. declared.

“There are a good number of consumers who are not comfortable with the dealership experience,” he said. The ability for people to buy a car online without physically entering a dealership and without being placed in that environment, at a pace that you control, is very appealing. “

The move towards online sales and domestic used car dealerships comes at a time when the auto industry is facing a number of major changes, from the growing popularity of electric vehicles to manufacturers such as Tesla and Rivian who own their dealerships and sell vehicles directly to the consumer.

“There is a big question mark over the future of auto dealerships,” Brauer said. “There are a number of people who want to try something else.

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CarGurus, an online digital auction, introduced its Instant Maximum Cash Bids program in Louisiana in October. The service allows customers to sell their vehicles online and get instant offers from around 7,000 used car dealers on the platform. It takes less than 2 minutes for sellers to get a quote for their vehicle.

For people who are in the market to buy a vehicle, CarGurus offers millions of cars, trucks and SUVs listed online from dealers in the company’s network.

Lisa Iannucci, vice president of marketing for Massachusetts-based CarGurus, said the platform is an easy way for dealers to acquire used vehicle inventory, which has become a problem lately. .

“There is a very constant trend with consumers wanting to do more business online and that has accelerated during the pandemic,” she said. “Moving inventory acquisition online solves one of the biggest issues and challenges for dealers. “

David Fabre, owner of Acura in Baton Rouge and Infiniti in Baton Rouge, said online car dealerships and national used car chains don’t offer the customer service and expertise of a dealership local.

“The Carvanas of the world are really just Internet companies,” he said. “They have no after-sales service, no spare parts service, no showroom.”

Not only that, but online dealerships don’t create the dozens of well-paying jobs for skilled mechanics that local auto dealers do, Fabre said. “If you pick up a car from Carvana and it drives, what do you do?” You take it to a local dealer because we have people here who are trained to fix it, ”he said.

Fabre said local resellers can offer the same ease of buying and delivering online as national chains, as well as quality of service. “Buying online from a national retailer sounds good – if you don’t want the service,” he said.

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