PSA launches first online new car sales in France

Launching the Peugeot Webstore and the Citroën Carstore (pictured), the PSA Group has become the first major OEM to offer online new-car sales in France. Autovista Group, which reported the launch, points out that PSA is responding to shifting consumer trends, with 90% now starting the buying process online. 

Especially the digital-native millennial generation expects to be able to buy anything online, from daily grocery shopping to big-ticket items like cars and houses. 

Last November in Brazil, PSA launched a similar site for Citroën, which so far has generated over 200 online orders. The first e-commerce site for Peugeot was launched in the UK last January, and PSA's luxury brand DS has had a website specifically for its DS7 Crossback in eight European countries since last March. 

The new French e-commerce sites will allow customers to do much more than buy cars; they can also trade in their used ones, finalise their order with a dealer and run financing simulations. By the end of the year, the sites will also accept online applications for vehicle financing. 

One othe OEM active in online new-car sales is BMW, but its sales platform (operational in Germany and the UK) nevertheless still uses its dealer network as an essential element in the sales process. 

Leasing companies are also getting in on the action, with Sixt aiming to make online new-car sales a core business area. Online retail giant Amazon has also been toying with the formula in certain markets.

Meanwhile, dealers are increasingly concerned that the continued rise of online new-car retailing will eventually cut them out of the process. One calculation estimates that 20% of new cars could be sold online in the UK by 2027, which would result in the loss of 27,000 jobs in dealerships, Autovista reports. 

Image: Citroën