Automotive disruption has been disrupted – but are marketers prepared for what’s ahead?
The Australian automotive industry has been one of the most disrupted by the pandemic. For manufacturers, it’s generally been in a positive sense, with sales on the up. But can the momentum continue in a post-pandemic world? Mumbrella’s Damian Francis asks the industry experts.
Prior to the pandemic, Australia’s automotive market was in a particularly interesting position. A major crossroad that was likely to send the industry in a completely different direction.
While Mumbrella was running the Automotive Marketing Summit in Sydney and Melbourne, we were able to document this crossroad in a bit more detail. There were a range of speakers involved, from major manufacturers, car share companies, mobility brands, various businesses in and around the growing EV trend and more who were jockeying for relevance and position in real life and on our conference programs.
The direction it was heading was not good for manufacturers. VFACTS reported in early 2020 that the previous year’s sales figures had seen a drop in new car purchases by 8%. That was the worst figure since 2011. In actual numbers, that meant almost 100,000 fewer new cars sold that year by comparison to 2018.
