The pandemic forced automakers to rethink how they sell vehicles, with several now offering more robust online options for potential buyers. Mitsubishi Motors North America joined the list with its new ClickShop offering.
It’s a 24-hour “digital showroom” hosted on the company’s website. Using the portal is supposed to be, according to the automaker, “As easy as click, click, car.” The move is designed to make the process simpler and quicker.
“Mitsubishi Motors has so much to be proud of in 2021,” said Mark Chaffin, Mitsubishi Motors North America chief operating officer. The company revealed the 2022 Outlander on Amazon last month.
“We are delivering a bold, capable and stylish line-up of vehicles that will result in one of the freshest showrooms in the industry, and we are delivering a fast, fair and fun car-buying experience to our customers. Tools like ClickShop allow us to deliver on what really matters to the modern customer by using data in a thoughtful, strategic way.”
Clicking to a new vehicle
The company describes the new option as a “fully integrated, digital retail experience.” It’s designed to permit users to tap into the internet to check vehicle inventories in their area, build a vehicle and get a price without submitting any contact information. This limits the amount of interaction with dealers to the time in which a dealer is actually needed.
“We want people to feel good about buying a car, after all it is one of the most expensive purchases people will make in their lifetime,” said Richard Herod III, dealer principal at White Bear Mitsubishi in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, in a statement.
“This means we have to meet them where they are, be respectful of their time and sensitive to their budget, and we must be transparent. ClickShop allows us to show up for and support our customers, even before they walk in the door.”
With three updated vehicle introductions happening in the next few months, getting the new system in place is critical to the long-struggling brand.
Industry shift
Mitsubishi joins Nissan as well as Toyota and Lexus with new online sales portals. Additionally, Volvo Cars just announced it will be shifting to an online sales model as it moves toward an all-electric line-up. The company was short on details, but CEO Håkan Samuelsson did offer some insight to TheDetroitBureau.com last week.
“We’re not talking about online sales where you order online and pick them up at the factory gate, something independent of retailers,” he said. “That will never happen. What’s important is to really give the customers the transparency with very easy to understand product offerings.
“We will work with much more predefined cars you can choose and if you want to customize that car we build that (to order). We will use already (set) prices that you can only achieve online. But the retailers have a very important role, of course, still delivering the car and explaining it. And they will be compensated, exactly as today.”
Ford and Honda have introduced similar websites for their used vehicles.
