If you’re an urbanite or a city slicker then you already know how hard it can be to make your way around the concrete jungle in your own car. Add in the ever present nuisance that is traffic and you’ve got yourself set up for a day-long migraine. Luckily for us, there are apps like Uber and Lyft which have made it unreasonably easy and unbelievably affordable to get around town with nothing more than a few extra dollars and smart phone.
With this level of convenience and comfort available to consumers at just the tap of a screen, people are starting to wonder – are car companies taking the brunt for the sudden imbalance in the market?
How Car Rental Apps are Affecting the Car Market
Of course, on the outside, it might seem like car sales should be affected by the dawn of these smart new innovations, but it actually remains unclear as to how extensive the effects might be. According to recent studies, car sales are only mildly affected by these applications and might not even feel much of the struggles of decreased sales for years to come. The biggest problem they face these days is how to market their cars better than before.
Car rental applications thrive on the internet – that’s basically where you go to book a ride. Their marketing scheme seems pretty predictable – stay accessible on platforms people are most likely to see you and maintain a strong visibility. Car manufacturers aren’t quite as aggressive when it comes to advertising, and this might be the beginning of troubles for many auto-manufacturers. Maintaining presence in the minds of consumers makes it possible to secure more sales – even if those sales are predicted to occur in the distant future. Today, the problem isn’t about the decrease of sales but the difficult to keep up with the fast and forceful marketing that these applications are putting to use. The sooner car companies can catch up with their competitors, the more likely they are to keep their sales up. Failing to drive side-by-side with these advertising heavyweights could spell more losses in the future.
At the end of the day, car manufacturers can sleep sound knowing that sales aren’t all that affected, but that doesn’t mean there’s no action to be taken. Slacking off at this point in the race could turn to decreased sales in the near future, so it’s best to plan ahead and make smart moves now before the race ends.