25 October 2020
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Car Dealerships closed during Lockdown 2.0, but business continues online
With 1 in 4 customers buying cars virtually right now, Kearys Motor Group is already seeing the demand for their new ‘Deal & Deliver’ service rise again since the announcement of lockdown 2.0 around the country.
Launched in May 2020 in response to the first lockdown, ‘Deal & Deliver’ allows customers to engage in a virtual appointment with a Kearys salesperson via video chat, pay for a deposit online, get finance approval, sign documents, and even arrange a contactless 7-day home test drive, all from the comfort of their own home. Cars can be delivered to customers in as little as 72 hours.
To date, Irish consumers have purchased over 1,000 new and used cars using ‘Deal & Deliver’ across the Kearys group since May. Available cars range from new and used BMW X5s ( €85K+), to used 4-year old Nissan Micras (under €10K). Kearys has the largest stock of used cars in the country. The 5 most popular cars purchased using ‘Deal & Deliver’ include; Renault Clio (2019), Nissan Micra (2019), Hyundai Tucson (2017), BMW 330E (2017) and Kia Sportage (2017).
Brendan Keary, Director, Kearys Motor Group and Managing Director CarStore in Dublin and Cork, commented on the company’s new approach to car sales;
“As more customers browse our stock and apply for finance online, we can now provide an end-to-end automotive buying experience for them.”
Brendan Keary, Car dealer
He continued,
“Kearys are the first motor group in Ireland with this technology, and with more contactless transactions required across all industries, we are delighted to have introduced our ‘Deal & Deliver’ service.”
Kearys anticipates the country’s new restrictions will spark virtual car sales interest, as it did once before. The best part about this service is that if after 7 days of test driving, the customer does not want to purchase the car for any reason, a Kearys representative will come and take the car back, hassle-free.
Interestingly, Kearys had in fact begun their virtual car sales journey prior to March. Though due to the mandatory closure of their showroom due to COVID-19, the process was accelerated.