Recognising
the need to prepare over 20,000 auto dealerships to engage with customers in
the ongoing and post pandemic era, Automotive Skills Development Council (ASDC)
and Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) have joined hands with
Google India to bridge the digital skill gap in the country’s auto dealerships
and build their capacity in this critical growth driver.
Industry
experts believe that some customers may not wish to visit a dealership as many
times as before prior to making a purchase decision, and hence, there is an
urgent need for automotive retail to become virtual, lean, and flexible.
Tailor-made
by Google India under its “Grow with Google” initiative, the training programme
will be conducted via a series of webinars on Digital Marketing, Hyper Local
Marketing, and Full Funnel Strategy on Google India’s YouTube channel. The
focus of the programme is on empowering dealer principals to adopt digital
tools and platforms to engage with customers. In its second phase, the program
also aims to train frontline sales and marketing executives via a series of
vernacular executional videos. This will be followed by an online assessment
and certification by Google India, ASDC and FADA.
Commenting
on the initiative, Nikhil Bansal, Head of Automotive, Google India, said “Over
the years, the window to influence purchase decisions through offline efforts
has become smaller. The average number of visits to dealerships in India fell
by 50% over the last three years from 2016 to 2019. And now, COVID-19 has made
consumers further reluctant to visit car dealerships, and as a result, walk-ins
are even fewer. To aid business recovery, auto players are encouraged to take
their dealerships to customers, online. We have been working with leading auto
OEMs to help them digitise their dealership networks, and with this initiative,
we are now bringing our learning and support to handhold the larger auto dealer
ecosystem to go digital in collaboration with ASDC and FADA. We are really excited to join hands with the
industry in this first-of-its-kind initiative to help the dealer fraternity and
support them in this necessary transition. “
Nikunj
Sanghi, Chairman, Automotive Skills Development Council (ASDC), said, “We are
collectively experiencing an unprecedented time. COVID-19 has brought
significant change and our relationships have gone digital. Existing skills
will require a lot of redefinition and skilling will play a major role when we
re-enter the new world. We need to train the workforce on how to use digital
tools and train the entire ecosystem to monitor their efficiency. Hence to
maintain market continuity, both ASDC and FADA, with the help of Google, are
helping the dealerships become as active as original equipment manufacturers
(OEMs) on digital platforms. We are also constantly working towards enhancing
our skill development initiatives keeping in pace with the rapidly changing
technology trends and emerging industry needs. ASDC assessment and
certification will help in boosting the competency and competitiveness of
industry stakeholders”.
Talking
about the webinars, Vinkesh Gulati, President, Federation of Automobile Dealers
Associations (FADA),said “With the advent of technology and new channels of
communication, the classical approach to marketing products and services at the
local level has undergone a paradigm change. Gone are the age-old practices of
relying on inserts, banners, and small print ads to gain exposure. Today,
geo-location targeting, hyper local marketing and other sharply defined digital
marketing techniques have revolutionized the advertising industry. The digital
movement by the dealers’ community reaffirms FADA’s strong commitment to retain
the dynamism of dealer business in the automobile ecosystem and also assure its
participation in Government’s Digital India Movement in the post-COVID world.
The Google–ASDC–FADA webinars are hence aimed to prepare Dealer Principals and
their teams to stay ahead in the game in times to come.”
The
initiative focuses on training over 20,000+ auto dealerships across the country
to build an online presence, and providing digital skill training to 100,000+
auto dealers across the marketing and sales divisions.