F.Y.I.

Carsales announces Melbourne dealer fee rebate

Carsales has announced a dealer fee rebate package for Melbourne metro business affected by COVID-19 stage four restrictions.

The announcement:

carsales has continued its unprecedented support of the automotive industry with a dealer fee rebate package for Melbourne metro business affected by the stage four COVID-19 restrictions.

The new tranche of dealer support measures will take the value of carsales’ total support for calendar year 2020 to in excess of $30m.

All metropolitan Melbourne dealer fees will attract 100% rebates until the end (government notified) of stage four restrictions. This includes all fixed fee advertising services and sales lead charges, and the support is available to both new and existing customers in metropolitan Melbourne.

The support extends beyond car dealers and includes dealership businesses in all of carsales verticals including motorcycles, boats, trucks, caravans and more.

carsales’ Employee Assistance Program services have also been extended for metropolitan Melbourne dealers and their employees to provide any necessary counselling.

Australia’s #1 for cars has been at the forefront of the industry’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and, earlier in 2020, the bushfire crisis – from providing advertising at no charge and fast tracking dealer buy-from-home technology, to offering access to its Employee Assistance Program services for affected automotive businesses.

Along the way, carsales has also extended payment arrangements for dealer advertisers and provided a number of marketing products and services free of charge for affected businesses.

“Our support has assisted hundreds of dealers across cars, boats, bikes and other verticals with their short-term operating costs, and we are continuing to assist dealers in metropolitan Melbourne,” said carsales CEO, Cameron McIntyre.

“Our priority is to help dealers keep trading. We’re very proud to have played our part in supporting the industry earlier this year, and continue to play our part now,” McIntyre stated.

To assist dealers large and small across Australia, carsales rebated a range of advertising and subscription fees in April and delivered a 50% discount on others in May. The support measures also allowed its customers to defer payments.

carsales brought to market a number of services during the height of the pandemic that immediately allowed dealers to better service car buyers during the period of lockdowns.

carsales’ brand new ‘Buy from home’ was created to meet the unique trading conditions for dealers and customers. The product allowed promotion of dealers’ virtual showrooms so buyers could shop for and even take delivery of new cars from their own homes.

“The support has helped dealers to be in a position to capitalise on improving conditions and we are continuing to introduce new products and services,” said McIntyre.

“Our research during the wider lockdown showed there was a substantial number of Australians who were shopping for a car for the first time or looking to add another car to their family driveway. Right across Australia that trend has only accelerated.

“Keeping dealers in business and able to address consumers’ needs is important for the wider economy,” McIntyre stated.

Source: Carsales media release

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