Online search for vehicles on the rise - Carmudi

Online search for cars is on the rise with buyers getting into the digital world fast, research by Carmudi, an online car classified entity, revealed.

In a report it states that the motor industry in Sri Lanka has witnessed a number of changes in recent years. Prices fell sharply in 2010 due to cutback of duty charges, which resulted in a surge of vehicle imports. New motor vehicle registrations in 2011 jumped 46% compared to the previous 12 months. Import duties were revised in 2012 to regulate rising motor vehicle imports, presenting a major impact on the volume of imports.

The Carmudi study found that 70% of car dealers in Sri Lanka reported an increase in car sales over the past 12 months due to the changing economic climate, while 20% of car dealers surveyed reported a decrease.

The President of the Sri Lanka's Vehicle Importers Association told the media that vehicles with an engine capacity of 1000cc or less were reduced by about Rs. 300,000 to revive the sluggish attitude of the overall motor sector and to have a positive impact on all motor sector players.

Car dealers in Sri Lanka have reported that over 30 percent of car buyers turned to the Internet and 10 percent to dealer sites when searching for cars. Car dealers also reported that 60 percent of car buyers still use offline media such as newspaper classifieds as a source of information when searching for a car.

This proves that offline media such as newspaper classifieds are still highly used in Sri Lanka as a source for buyers. Despite Sri Lankan car dealers getting more and more digital when advertising their listings with 40 percent of car dealers primarily focused on advertising their car listings online, 60 percent of the car dealers are still focus their listings on offline media such as newspaper classifieds.

"The forty one percent YoY automobile sector search query growth is a fantastic indicator of the potential within the Sri Lankan market.

Even though data shows that a majority of Sri Lankans use offline media to source information historically, we see that online sources are also another stop before a buying decision is made," said Managing Director, Carmudi Sri Lanka, Firaz Markar.

"We will see a shift in this situation over the next couple of years, looking at online usage rates, where the online medium will be a clear frontrunner when buying a car.

Carmudi is well positioned to cater to demand through its cutting edge website design, created for car buyers to source their dream vehicle among thousands of vehicles already online in a few clicks while also allowing car sellers to upload within a matter of two minutes," he said.