Which dealership strategy is the right one for tomorrow? Even Germany's largest car dealers ask themselves this question time and again when looking to the future. Because under the current conditions, long-term corporate planning is becoming increasingly difficult, even for the big players in the automotive industry. This is due to headlines such as:
- "We lack digital expertise."
- "The combustion engine will be a niche product in 2030."
- "Buying a car is changing."
- "Electric cars have priority."
- "In 2025, dealers will only sell one in two new cars."
For the twelfth time, the trade journal "kfz-betrieb" is presenting the success strategies of Germany's major car dealers at the end of the year. The special edition is an industry navigator for sales and service in the German automotive trade and a who's who of the major players for new and used cars and commercial vehicles. The editorial team shows what makes the good car dealers successful, which companies are among the top 100, how the network structures of the manufacturers and importers are set up and which dealers are most successful with which brands.
It is realistic to assume that Germany's independent brand dealers will sell even fewer new cars than today by 2025. A look back at the analog age reveals this: in 1998, brand-bound car dealerships sold around 3.3 million new cars. At that time, manufacturers only added around 350,000 new cars. Manufacturers now market well over a million new cars themselves every year. Dealer contracts or not, much-vaunted partnership or not - the share of new cars will continue to increase in the digital age in favor of the manufacturers.
Parallel to this development, retailers are also facing disasters such as the diesel disaster and the WLTP problem. In addition, the most important source of income, the service business, is likely to come under pressure in the future as a result of electromobility being propagated and promoted by politicians and car manufacturers.
"Even if the risk situation is different today, the future of car dealerships has always been at risk. Especially if you dream about the past in the present and ignore the future," says "kfz-betrieb" editor-in-chief Wolfgang Michel.
Journalists can order a free reading copy of the reference book "Die großen Autohändler Deutschlands 2018", which will be published on December 14, 2018, from: pressestelle@vogel.de
"kfz-betrieb" is the most widely read trade magazine in the automotive industry and has been informing the automotive trade and service sector for over 100 years. "kfz-betrieb" is the official organ of the German Motor Vehicle Trade (ZDK), the professional interest group for around 38,000 car dealerships and workshops. News from the entire automotive industry is available at www.kfz-betrieb.de and in the daily newsletter. The parent company Vogel Communications Group is one of the leading service providers for B2B communication in the German-speaking world. Its headquarters are in Würzburg. With four agencies in Berlin, the Group offers comprehensive communications expertise. The Group's services range from specialist media, corporate publishing, social media services, PR, trade fair services, networks and communities to market intelligence & insights and an in-house congress center.
