5 Auto Trends to Watch In 2018 And How They Could Impact Your Bottom Line

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The new year is upon us at last and it’s time to take a look at some of the top auto trends to watch in 2018 so that you can position yourself for success. Let’s just get right into it.
​1. Car Sales Will Be Stable. For The Most Part.

Car sales are expected to dip slightly in 2018, but for the most part they will be stable. One thing to keep in mind is that cars are more reliable than they have ever been, so consumers are getting less and less likely to trade up to a newer model each year.

You can expect to see more people buying used cars in 2018, as it’s simply more cost-effective and thanks to an overall increase in reliability used cars no longer carry the same stigma they once did. It would be wise to capitalize on this trend by streamlining your used car reconditioning process. The faster you get your used cars onto the lot, the better equipped you are to meet consumer demand in this area.

2. Brands Will Continue To Toy With Subscription Models
Brands like Porsche, Cadillac, and Lincoln have been toying with subscription models recently and they will likely continue to do so. Everything you need to get on the road is included in this monthly subscription and you get to change cars every week if you’d like.

On its face this seems like a good idea, the consumer gets a car, insurance, roadside assistance, tax, registration and maintenance all with one easy to digest payment. In reality switching cars every week is a hassle that few want to deal with.

3. Electric Cars Will Still Be Around
Carmakers are embracing electric cars wholeheartedly. Consumers, on the other hand, are still lukewarm despite incentives like federal tax credits.

The reality is that electric cars are still seen as impractical by the general public, with few public charging stations and high sticker prices.

The primary driver of the electric car rush is regulation, not consumer demand. Overall electric cars are still the way of the future, albeit a future that is not quite here yet, and carmakers want to be ready for this.

4. Ride Sharing Services Will Stay Popular With Millenials
Ride sharing services such as Lyft and Uber are more popular than ever and younger people are more likely to prefer ride-sharing services than car ownership, which presents a problem for automakers and car dealerships.

The reason  for this is that young adults don’t want to be tied to an expensive car payment. The millennial generation is more focused on having experiences than owning things. They’d rather backpack through Europe than buy a car, basically.

All the more reason for you to focus on your used car stock and used car reconditioning process, as the lower cost is more likely to attract younger car buyers.

5. Self-Driving Cars Won’t Quite Make The Cut
You’ve been hearing about self-driving cars a lot in recent years, but public adoption of this technology is still very far off. In the short-term you can expect more semi-autonomous safety features like lane departure warnings.

We wouldn’t expect autonomous driving technology to have any direct impact on your dealership anytime soon, but it’s still a trend worth keeping an eye on.

2018 is going to be a good year for used car sales, so it’s important to make sure your used car reconditioning process is ready for it. If you are not using some sort of reconditioning tracking program, you might be missing out on an important technology upgrade.

Please contact us at Green Cloud today to learn more about used car reconditioning and for a free demonstration of our powerful ReconTRAC software.