5:21 pm, April 28, 2020
Sanitisation is a buzz word at the moment, and the motor trade is looking for solutions that can help them get back to work as quickly as possible.
On Car Dealer Live today (Apr 28), James Baggott was joined by IMDA chairman Umesh Samani, Renault Retail Group’s Richard O’Brien and MotorCheck’s co-founder Shane Teskey.
O’Brien explained how his business had been offering a sanitisation as an add-on product previous to the coronavirus outbreak, but could already tell consumers’ attitudes were changing.
He said: ‘I’ve been using the product for 18 months but things are going to change.
‘Customers now expect this and it’s the new norm. They think: ‘why should I pay for something that should be naturally done by the dealer?’’
He added that this was going to become a consideration for their technicians too who faced risks getting into a customer’s car as much as the customer would after.
‘As an aftersales tool, saying to your customers we’re going to fully sanitise your vehicle is a plus,’ said O’Brien. ‘You can justify your labour rate and it gives you a competitive edge.’
Samani echoed these thoughts, and said: ‘I think it is so essential that every car goes through a sanitisation process.
‘I think going forward this is going to be expected and it will give customers the confidence.’
He added that independent dealer body the IMDA has produced a checklist to help car dealers cover all touch points in a car when cleaning.
Teskey, from car history checker MotorCheck, explained why his business had decided sanitation was an important market.
He said: ‘Whereas we’re usually asked whether the car has been in an accident or written off, we think the question in the new normal is going to be ‘has it been sanitised?’’
The product, Sanity System, is already popular in Italy, according to the MotorCheck boss, who has a supply of the small setup designed to be used in cars.
‘Everything changed with Covid,’ he explained. ‘We reconnected with the distributor and asked if this could be an answer to the coronavirus, could it be part of the solution in the new normal?
‘When we looked at the science we realised it was ticking a lot of boxes for dealerships. It’s cheap, it’s portable, it takes 23 minutes and can be taken with the delivery driver to sanitise a car being delivered or the part-exchange you’re asking the delivery driver to bring back.’
To hear all about these solutions, watch the video by clicking play at the the top of this page.
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For more information, visit help.motorcheck.co.uk.
