[Briggs]

Scion has set itself a goal -- make the whole process of buying a Scion vehicle take less than an hour.

To achieve this Scion has created what it calls "Pure Process Plus." This program is designed to integrate and streamline the car buying steps in order to cut down on the amount of time the customer has to spend in the dealership. The program is being implemented at about a dozen dealerships to begin with, and Scion wants to take the initiative nationwide in 2016.

Scion vice president Doug Murtha says:

“[the program] enables a customer to bring as much of the purchase process into their living room as they choose.”

Customers go online and "build" the car that they want. The program then lets shoppers search local dealerships for the availability of that vehicle and get pricing and financing information.

Initial customer reactions are positive.

One Automaker Hopes to Sell Cars in Under an Hour

 

[SiM]

Great thing to have these days when we're busy as ever. Greater for Scion too as all this means for them is more sales, the quicker people can buy and the more seamless it can be, the more attractive it gets.

 

[ToddMS]

And the less time they have in the finance office, the less time they think whether or not this is a good purchase.

 

[Gotcha]

I think that Scion is uniquely able to do this because it doesn't really have options. That means its very likely there will be stock in a nearby dealership, and it also means people are less curious about all the different options which means less time discussing such things with the sales person.

 

[Filmore]

Honestly though consumers seem to value the dealership experience somewhat. At least according to this survey/study....

Tesla Dead Last in Dealer Experience, First in PR

 

[Briggs]

To be fair, Tesla doesn't really even have dealerships. It doesn't seem fair to compare Tesla to other brands for dealership experience since they are using a different sales model.

 

[Filmore]

To be fair, Tesla doesn't really even have dealerships. It doesn't seem fair to compare Tesla to other brands for dealership experience since they are using a different sales model.

LOL you've missed the point. Tesla is the only manufacturer behaving differently then the traditional sales model. Clearly customers like something about the traditional model or logically every manufacturer would sell cars in malls.

Its totally a completely fair. No one told Tesla they had to behave this way...

 

[SiM]

Honestly though consumers seem to value the dealership experience somewhat. At least according to this survey/study....

Tesla Dead Last in Dealer Experience, First in PR

I would hate the mall experience, you'll naturally have a large portion of foot traffic that cant even come close to affording it, just wasting away time.

At least when going to a dealership, just about everyone there is serious.

 

[Gotcha]

LOL you've missed the point. Tesla is the only manufacturer behaving differently then the traditional sales model. Clearly customers like something about the traditional model or logically every manufacturer would sell cars in malls.

Its totally a completely fair. No one told Tesla they had to behave this way...

But I think that in regards to Tesla, it matters more what Tesla customers think of the sales process, not what the general auto customer thinks of it.

 

[SiM]

People that buy Tesla's aren't much different than the general auto industry customer, they just have the means to afford a tesla and desire to want one... like every other customer in the segment.