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NEWS
Online a niche option for Subaru
Dealer network still the primary retail option despite adding STI web salesThe retailing of new cars via the internet will remain a niche strategy for Subaru Australia, even though the company has announced the new fourth generation WRX STI (pictured) will be available for purchase online from May 1.
The STI is the third Subaru model to be offered for sale through buyonline.subaru.com.au, following on from the BRZ sports coupe and the first 100 examples of the latest WRX to go on-sale here.
Originally, Subaru said the BRZ would be its only model offered for sale online.
"All the online really is, is taking advantage of the infrastructure we have in place with BRZ to offer it as an option for people who still may not be able to touch a dealer," Subaru Australia managing director Nick Senior told motoring.com.au.
"I expect it to be an extremely small percentage of sales," he added. "It would be lucky to be one per cent to be honest, but it just means someone who lives in a remote area has the opportunity to buy an STI online."
Senior stressed the traditional dealer purchasing method has absolute primacy at Subaru, with only 'specialised' models with limited availability being contenders for web-based retailing.
When the BRZ went on-sale in mid-2012 only 150 examples were available and they sold out in just three hours. Sales have now topped 1800 and supply from Japan has freed up. Subaru is forecasting 300 STI sales per annum.
Significantly, Subaru has expanded its STI specialist dealer numbers from 12 to 20 and dubbed them the Subaru Performance Network. It has also added 17 test centres, which will have demonstrator STIs available for test drives.
The 20 Subaru Performance Network dealers will have dedicated space for the STI, BRZ and WRX and have also invested in some specialist technical requirements.
In total, Subaru has 103 dealers and Senior says the online experience indicated that's still where most potential buyers want to shop for cars.
"People want to touch and feel the car," he said. "There will be people who still want to go through the process of negotiation, they still like that.
"They like the involvement of a dealer, they like the contact with a dealer. There are things you can't do at the moment to complete the process online in terms of finance. I think that will come in time, but there are elements that are a little bit restrictive or hard."
Senior also made the point that the tendency towards strips of new car dealers located together and a lift in standards were important in the continued dominance of the traditional automotive retailing method.
"There are so many automotive streets or malls around at the moment and that is why the traditional motor shows are disappearing. You can walk up Church Street in Parramatta and touch and feel and smell every brand and there are other places around Australia like that.
"The level of standards in dealerships has come a long way in the last 10 years. In a sense a lot of the negatives have been addressed in terms of the look, the feel, the approach, the confidence, the customer-centric of dealerships and I think to some degree it has probably usurped some of the need for an internet shopping model for new cars."
"It is a much more pleasant experience than it once was."
Senior revealed the 'back-end' preparations to sell the BRZ online had proved "very, very challenging" and that rival manufacturers here and overseas had approached Subaru Australia to purchase the system.
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Written byBruce Newton
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