All Subarus now available online

Subaru has become the first mass-market vehicle brand in Australia to offer its entire model range for sale on the internet.

The expansion of its ‘Build and Buy’ service kicks off tomorrow (September 7).

Subaru first dipped its toe in the water with internet retailing when it offered the BRZ sports car for sale in 2012 only online.

It added the WRX STI in 2013 and the Impreza and XV in 2017. The new Forester, which launches this week, plus the WRX, Levorg, Liberty and Outback SUV now join the Subaru web inventory.

Luxury electric vehicle brand Tesla is the only other brand to retail its entire range via the internet, although Toyota Australia is trialling online retailing with 12 dealers and has reported sales of about 60 in-stock vehicles.

Of course, many car-makers have long offered the ability to customise and order a new vehicle online via a configurator on their public website, and Carsales allows anyone to purchase privately advertised vehicles online via Pay Protect.

But while Subaru is not about to do away with the traditional dealer network model, in this second phase of its ‘Subaru Do’ marketing campaign, the expanded Build and Buy platform allows potential buyers to select a model from the range, then choose a variant, colour, transmission, options and accessories, and be quoted a driveaway price before being directed to a dealer to book a test drive, get a used-car valuation and/or purchase the vehicle.

The sale is completed and the vehicle collected from a dealer nominated by the customer. Subaru has 140 dealers nationwide. A trade-in is facilitated by the process but also completed with the dealer.

“The online option is purely one option in a group of many,” said Subaru Australia managing director Colin Christie.

“Do is all about giving the customers the option they choose to take. There are customers out there who prefer to use an online process so we have provided that solution to them.

“We’ve made it very clear to our network that they are an incredibly part of our brand moving forward,” added Christie.

Shopping online is only part of a shakeup of Subaru’s retailing strategies, which have already included pop-up shops and a service centre based at a shopping complex.

Subaru is also trialling a new mobile test-drive service primarily in Sydney that allows potential buyers to have a salesman deliver a car to their door for a test drive. It will expand it nationally in 2019.

Pioneering technology being trialled at 10 Subaru dealers nationwide will eventually allow the entire buying process to be completed remote from a dealership, including the trade-in of a used car.

Subaru says Build and Buy currently generates nearly 15,500 builds per month and 100 sales leads for dealers per week.