While the UK car industry has been through one of its most challenging ever years as a result of the Coronavirus crisis – with dealerships forced to close their doors in the spring and again in November – Cheltenham-based H.R. Owen Specialist Cars has embraced the digital sales model and evolved its offering in 2020, remotely serving its supercar customers’ needs like never before.
Situated on Tewkesbury Road in Cheltenham, Specialist Cars is H.R. Owen’s all-marques, pre-owned performance car dealership – showcasing supercars from around the world: Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati from Italy; Porsche, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW from Germany; and Aston Martin, Bentley, McLaren and Rolls-Royce from the UK.
Howard Ganderton, brand manager of H.R. Owen Specialist Cars, explains how Covid has evolved their car buying process: ‘Our customers are generally very busy people, so the new way of researching and buying cars fits around their lives better. They can WhatsApp us in the evening or take a video tour of a car during their lunch break, rather than having to find the time to come into the dealership.
‘We have invested in video technology for the showroom that allows us to produce professional live videos and edited snippets that can be tailored to customer’s individual requests. If they want to know “how easy is it to fold the back seats down?” we could answer this with a quick video, emailed to the customer, for example.’
And while the showroom is still crucial – as some customers like to see cars in the metal, explore the finer details and take them for a test drive – it’s now almost the very last part of the process after having researched a car.
Ever since the crisis hit and dealerships were able to reopen, H.R. Owen’s carefully thought-out appointment-only process has created a safe environment for customers and staff – with extensive new cleaning procedures of the space and vehicles.
Customers can also rest assured their new supercars will be delivered directly to their door, fully sanitised, without the need to even visit the showroom, if they don’t wish to.
‘In a restricted Covid world many of our clients were left with the car as their steadfast symbol of freedom. No aeroplanes, no Caribbean holidays, but a wonderful British summer and all of our great British beauty spots to explore by road,’ Howard added.
With the new digital services embraced at H.R. Owen Specialist Cars during this time sure to enhance its supercar sales process long into the future.
For more information, visit hrowen.co.uk/specialist-cars or call 0333 240 8484.
