Automotive dealer advertising and attribution technology provider, PureCars, just released its weekly COVID-19 Dealer Report for the week of April 10, 2020. It is the third installment of its weekly report. The report offers weekly data insights on shopper trends to help auto dealers make up-to-the-minute decisions that are best for their business. Please download the full report here and see below for some of this week’s data highlights: 

Weekly Headliners:

• Sales Are Down WoW, Continuing Monthly Trend
• Domestics Are Out-performing Imports
• Incentive Promotion Remains the Play
• Dealers are Facing a USED Conundrum
• Repair Order Setback

Data Spotlight this week on Incentives and Repair Orders

Incentives:

THE INSIGHTS: Trucks still represent high share of new models, but taper off WoW. OEM incentives remain almost too good to be true (e.g. 0% for 84 Months), and customers have seized the opportunity. J.D. Power also reports the % of customers who are financing for 7 years (or greater) is at an all-time high. On the opposite end of the spectrum, without aggressive lease deals, luxury continues to take a hit.

TAKEAWAYS: Stay the course with incentive offer promotion, continue to reallocate search to social and other more efficient reach plays.

Repair Orders:

THE INSIGHTS: Overall RO?s are down 20% and more states enter lockdown with revenue falling comparably. Data continues to point out that customers are executing repairs when they are working from home and choosing to repair older vehicles vs looking for a (new) used vehicle. Specifically for Luxury, customers are being more cautious when contemplating a large purchase, and are instead opting for service.

TAKEAWAYS: We expect WoW drop in total ROs to rebound as stay-at-home become “new normal” and shoppers understand dealer’s FO departments are essential businesses. Digital execution across both parts and service is the strategy to maintain this key revenue stream. Ensure you are reaching out to your customers, utilizing 1st party datasets, updating Google My Business (GMB), promoting valet and “safety first” cleaning, while promoting aggressive offers to fill the service lane, specifically calling out social media channels due to lower than normal costs while providing greater reach.

Click here to review the complete report.