As car distributors prepare dealerships for the move to Alert Level 3 next Tuesday, some brands admit that customers may not be ready to shop for vehicles.

With more than a month of no new vehicles sales, brands will be hoping that Kiwis will be wanting to upgrade their cars or purchase a new one. Most new vehicle dealerships will either be offering a video call with potential customers or a chance for them to test drive a vehicle.

New Zealand’s largest car company, Toyota, is offering flexible test drives while its service departments will be open with owners able to use an online booking system.

Toyota’s chief operations officer, Neeraj Lala, told AutoMuse that under Toyota’s new business model introduced two years ago, potential customers don’t need to worry about negotiating prices.

“Under level 3, our haggle-free pricing for private and fleet customers of various fleet sizes, means the car buying experience is easier as you don’t need to negotiate a price over email or phone.

“We have also been operating flexible test drives for the same period which means customers have the flexibility to collect a vehicle and enjoy the experience with their bubble without any face-to-face contact and safe distancing on collection.” 

New Zealand’s second largest brand, Ford, says it will be operating under Motor Industry Association and Government guidelines.

“Although our dealers won’t be fully open, we’ll still have contactless servicing and test drive options available. When visiting Ford, customers can rest assured that we’ve put in place strict controls and rules around sanitation and contact tracing to keep customers and our staff as safe as possible,” said a Ford NZ spokesman.

Hyundai NZ’s dealerships will reopen for contactless servicing and test drive options.

Dealerships will not physically be open to the public in Level 3, customers who have a vehicle due for service will have a range of pick-up and drop-off options available to them, both at dealership and home. 

For those interested in taking a test drive, they will be taken through the respective vehicle’s features by video call and supporting video resources, before picking up the vehicle in a contactless manner that could include having the vehicle delivered to their home. 

“As a 100 per cent Kiwi owned company the safety and wellbeing of our customers, staff and community remains our highest priority. We are following the Ministry of Health’s guidelines and have implemented stringent measures to ensure everyone remains safe,” says Hyundai New Zealand general manager, Andy Sinclair.

Cleaning and sanitisation standards will be increased to protect both staff and customers, which includes disinfecting dealership and vehicle touch points, keeping cleaning logs, and the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). 

To ensure Hyundai complies with contact tracing guidelines, contact information of visitors to dealerships will be fully captured.

Mazda NZ is also offering contactless service and sales for customers but realises Kiwis may be hesitant to leave their bubbles.

Mazda NZ’s managing director, David Hodge, said at this week’s virtual press launch of the CX-30 that the process would start “very very slowly as a lot of people will be reluctant to go to a dealership”.

“Some people will be keen to get back to some form of normality and our dealers are ready for that.”

Hodge also reassured Mazda owners that their warranty will be expanded to include the lockdown period and that overdue servicing will be caught up.

“Late servicing of your vehicle will not impact on the warranty.”

If you are interested in purchasing a car in Alert Level 3, the best advice from the industry is to go to the brand’s website first for instructions