The eMarketer report showed that the growth rate of car sales and auto parts sales in 2021 will decline by 0.3%, according to digitaltech.com. Competition in the auto industry is intensifying every day making it difficult for auto dealers to grow their business. With more innovative car models on the market, the entire industry is changing rapidly.
For this reason, dealers must not only implement marketing strategies in their trade, but also have a good knowledge of the evolution of the business. Understanding each stage of business development and preparing for the test in advance will help you never let your business grow slower, regardless of current industry stats.
Starting or introductory stage
The start-up phase is the most exciting but also the most stressful for any business. Startups face a lot of challenges at this point, but you need to focus on finding and acquiring customers, positioning yourself in the market, and managing your finances. In the automotive industry, it’s all about promoting a product and highlighting the aspects that make it unique. For example, you can talk about technical features like voice recognition, infotainment, fuel economy and remote control to attract customers.
Early growth stage
For the growth or survival phase, create a realistic marketing budget. Ideally, you will have high profits at this point, but the competition will also be fierce. Consumers will buy cars in large quantities and more competitors will gain access to the market. Meanwhile, automakers are investing more in brand awareness than in product features to make cars readily available. Marketers will advertise new brands as hot and display them in auto stores and related fields. As a result, consumers will have the opportunity to start comparing vehicles by model and performance based on their own preferences.
Rapid growth / expansion stage
By expanding the phase, you are confident that your hard work is finally paying off. You might even be planning to sell or expand your business. Since you’ll likely be creating space for investors and shareholders, it’s worth having accurate and up-to-date financial statements on hand. Keep in mind that expanding your business is still optional at this point. However, during the expansion phase you will be faced with operational challenges including poor planning and execution, budget creation and binding, additional training, and employee retention.
Once you get past the expansion phase, your business will slowly continue to mature. At this point you will already have a dominant identity in the industry, the maturity phase allows you to return to the expansion phase or find an exit plan.
