Google Think Auto 2017: A Quick Recap
This past Thursday, we were fortunate enough to attend this year’s edition of Google Think Auto at the Toronto Centre for the Arts. Although the venue changed from the usual scene at Massey Hall and the direction of the event was slightly different by not having individual dealers out (check out our blog on the upcoming Think Dealer events!), the content was useful and provided a different perspective on our ever changing Canadian car buyer market.
The focus of this year’s event was on buyers falling into three main buckets:
- First Time Buyer “The Newbie” – represents 20% of the Canadian car buying market
- Brand Loyalist “The Loyalist” – represents 37% of the Canadian car buying market
- Brand Switcher “The Switcher” (or the promiscuous as they like to call them) – represents 43% of the Canadian car buying market
Here are some highlights of this year’s study:
- Video continues to be the hot topic going into next year, but the conversation has changed from OEMs being simply present, to being present in the right way and getting in front of the right audience.
- The Newbies and the Switchers are the top two buyers heading to YouTube, but they are watching different content. The Newbies are focused on expert and peer reviews of vehicles while the Switchers are watching on the road and test drive videos.
- On average, Canadian car buyers:
- Will visit 2 dealerships (down from 3 last year)
- Are in the market for 57 days
- Will consider between 2 and 4 brands
- 80% of car buyers said that digital will reduce the number of visits to a dealership, meaning they are using online resources to be more efficient
- 54% of car buyers said that they will not contact the dealership before going there
- This means that you have to WIN online to win the in-person visit!
- Google will be hosting Think Dealer events across the country to present more dealership specific information
We will have a complete summary to follow with more detailed info and stats, stay tuned!
