Aim to train over 1 Lakh+ employees across 20,000 dealerships to digitise dealership platforms and capabilities
Recognizing 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 program 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 program 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, hyperlocal 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-COVIDworld. 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.
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