Changes Impacting Automotive Retail over the Next Decade
January 11, 2022
Trends
Home » Trends » Changes Impacting Automotive Retail over the Next Decade

With the development of new technologies as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of industries are seeing remarkable changes these days. The automotive industry may perhaps see some of the most significant changes over the coming decade, according to industry experts.

As Steve Greenfield, CEO and Founder of Automotive Ventures, said recently, “It’s really exciting to be part of an industry that is going to see more change in the next 10 years that it’s seen in the past 100.”

Paul Walster, Chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), said as well, “In my 40 years in this industry, I haven’t seen more going on at once.

Greenfield listed out the following trends which will be impacting automotive retail over the course of this decade.

Economic Trends

Higher consumer expectations and business innovation fueled by the boost in eCommerce are resulting in the growth of:

  • Consumer preference for online shopping
  • Process automation/efficiency
  • Trends toward fleet ownership

Regulatory Trends

Increasing regulation is a growing theme leading to:

  • The growth of “smart cities”
  • Tougher emissions standards
  • Electrical vehicle tax credits and production mandates

Technological Trends

New technologies are leading to growing numbers of:

  • Connected cars (The connected car market is expected to grow to $191.83 billion by 2028.)
  • Autonomous vehicles (Experts are projecting that by the year 2040 there will be 33 million AVs on the road compared to 1,400 today.)
  • Electrification of vehicles (As Greenfield points out, McKinsey predicts that more than half of new passenger vehicle sales will be EVs by 2030.)

Social Trends

Fueled by social change, consumer habits are changing, leading to growth in the following:

  • On-demand manufacturing
  • Continued emphasis on sustainability
  • Car sharing, leading to a decrease in private ownership of vehicles
  • Urbanization, which will also negatively impact private vehicle ownership

Get Ready for the Future of Car Shopping

With so many changes underway, it’s important for OEMs and dealerships to take action now in order to stay competitive. A great place to start: Make sure you can offer consumers the online shopping experience they’re starting to prefer with Carzato’s online retail software.