Is The Indian Auto Industry Digitally Influenced?

As we all know, the internet has become an inseparable part of our lives. From buying a small pen to buying bigger things like cars, everything is now possible over the internet. Today, the average consumer browses the internet and researches about anything before making a decision.

Recently, Google, in collaboration with Kantar TNS (a market search company), has released a report stating the influence of digital media on car buyers’ decision. Christened “The Drive to Decade”, it states that 89 per cent of Indian car buyers are influenced by digital media. This number has gone up by 14 per cent when compared to last year. The report further states that among the 89 per cent, 96 per cent of buyers browsed through the internet before buying, while 80 per cent of the people watched videos before making the crucial decision. Smartphones have also played a major role with 88 per cent of people preferring mobile over PC for research purposes.

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As an effect of this digitalisation, the number of buyers visiting dealers has also gone down by 50 per cent in the last three years. About 66.6 per cent of car buyers search for dealers online. This shift has resulted in shorter and more efficient buying cycles. According to the report, the number of buyers who make a decision to buy a car in two months has increased 2.5 times. 

Further contemplating about the digital influence, the report also throws light on how online video streaming has become a preferred source of information among others. The percentage of online video streaming for car buying has gone up to 80 per cent from 43 per cent last year.

Here is a further breakdown of the content consumption in the video category.

The report also says that 79 per cent of the people who are watching videos are taking decisions based on that. This further strengthens the role of videos in the car buying process.

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Talking about this paradigm shift and the popularity of video content, Vikas Agnihotri, Industry Director, Google, said, “Online video has emerged as the biggest disrupter for the four-wheeler industry in India. YouTube has over 225 million* Indian smartphone users watching online video every month, auto content itself has witnessed an astounding 225% year-on-year watch time growth. From an advertiser perspective, what makes this trend even more relevant is that car manufacturers can now measure the exact impact that online is having on offline sales, and we believe that is a real game changer.”