Fight for every customer

Fight for every customer

Times are anything but rosy: new car sales are lagging behind, the economic situation is subdued and customers' wallets have become looser. Bad times for the car trade? Nope. Because the used car business is more lucrative than selling new cars and keeps car dealerships afloat. However, the prerequisite for this is a presence in online exchanges, because the majority of today's customers find their dream car via the Internet. We asked four Willhaben.at motor network partners for everyday experiences.

Grünzweig car dealership

The car dealership in Mödling has been a Car4You customer from day one and now, after Car4You was taken over by Willhaben.at, it is also a partner in the motor network. Managing director Andreas Grünzweig states: "A good 100 percent of those interested in used cars come to us via the Internet. The result: less frequency but more deals." Because, says used car sales manager Christoph Spörr: “The customer wants and gets a lot of information online.” The Grünzweig car dealership sells around 600 cars a year. The collaboration with the Willhaben.at motor network works very well because you feel you are well advised: "Our contact person, Günter Leitgeb, visits us once a month or contacts us by phone and gets feedback from us. That really helps," says Christoph Spörr. But the car dealership still has one wish: “The exchanges should be developed in such a way that we, the car dealership, receive more direct feedback in order to be able to evaluate the system better,” says Andreas Grünzweig.

Automobiles Baschinger

The Upper Austrian car dealer Günther Baschinger in St. Agatha is also a long-standing cooperation partner and sells 1,000 new, young and used cars from all over Europe every year. The experiences with the motor network have been consistently positive, as sales consultant Philipp Schellmann summarizes: “We receive a lot of inquiries via the motor network – it works very well.” In contrast to the Grünzweig car dealership, direct contact with the Motornetzwerk employees is not as extensive, but according to Schellmann, this is not a problem at all: "If it works, then it works - and that's what it does for us. As it is, it's very easy and practical for us."

Holas car dealership

Alois Holas, managing director of the Seat car dealership of the same name in Vitis, has been a Willhaben.at Motornetzwerk customer for a year and is very satisfied. "The advantage of Willhaben is that the Eurotax codes are recorded when setting up, so the standard equipment is automatically adopted. This saves us time and provides the customer with more information. In addition, the number of photos is unlimited." Alois Holas sells 300 cars a year, but also points out: “The more exchanges you serve, the more work you have.”

Strauss car dealership

The Mercedes-Benz, Smart and Ford dealer from Stockerau has been a Car4You customer since the beginning and is now exclusively in the Willhaben.at motor network. Karl Strauss, head of the car dealership, estimates that around 60 percent of interested parties come to him via the online portal, "the remaining 40 percent are made up of regular customers and walk-in customers."
He finds the advice good and uncomplicated. “But I do think that the internet presence will become even more important in the future.” Are customers who come via the web more informed? "It's hard to say. I would think they might know the market a little better." Karl Strauss sells around 200 new and used cars every year.