Official company website is the virtual face of its product line. An average buyer expects the official auto manufacturer’s website to give proper specifications, feature list, variants and prices. The thing that is lacking in some car manufacturer websites is the price of the car in different cities. The ex-showroom price in Delhi is shown on every website which is quite misleading, Delhi being NCT has lesser taxes and price. It is not difficult to show the rough on-road price as only few taxes and insurance have to be calculated. Updating offers on their products can be quite helpful for buyers.
The Missing Mobiles
It is quite surprising to see that hot-shot companies don’t even have a website for some of their models. Maruti Suzuki DZire Tour which was launched last year primarily for the commercial segment is no where to be seen on the company’s website. Same goes with the Bajaj Boxer which was primarily targeted for rural markets. Companies think that the commercial and rural customers don’t visit their websites. Now the problem arises when someone wants to consider these models as an option, then they virtually don’t have any idea about the specs and features and is forced to go to the dealer.
The Isuzu Case
Isuzu forayed into the Indian market this year and also accepted bookings for its Premium SUV MU-7 and the D-Max pickup but surprisingly it doesn’t even have a website of its own. A simple search takes you to the SML-Isuzu site for its commercial offerings!
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Companies always try to make their websites as innovative as possible but forget to keep a separate site for every model, while sometimes the flash animations and weird background music just irritates the common buyer! Fiat has taken a step by making its website as clear as possible by mentioning what model is shown and what features are standard to that model. Hyundai had a buggy website which it recently updated. Royal Enfield showcases all of its products but only a very few of them are available in India, which happens to be its prime market. Ford and Honda innovatively show a teaser for their upcoming models like EcoSport and Amaze before it was launched which generates a lot of interest among the buyers.
Mitsubishi has a reputation for the worst maintained website showing models like Lancer and Cedia which were phased out long back! Mahindra still doesn’t have a dedicated website for its automobiles! Ford on the other hand displays Delhi ex-showroom prices instead of city specific prices. Same goes with Volkswagen and Renault! These companies use this as a marketing strategy and ask the customer to request a quote and then the marketing calls start! It’s not that difficult to show the approximate on-road price as it does not vary much within a state.
We expect car companies to focus on their websites more in the coming future, making them as clear and innovative as possible thereby appealing more to prospective buyers.
