Ford Testing New Storefronts in Shopping Malls
With the American public growing less inclined to visit car dealerships, Ford Motor Company is toying with an interesting solution — setting up shop in your local mall. The concept will be similar to the storefront Jake and Elwood crash through in The Blues Brothers after noticing “ the new Oldsmobiles are in early this year.” It’ll be small, limited to a couple of showroom models, and will serve as a satellite for local dealerships.
However, shopping malls aren’t nearly as popular as they were in the 1980s. Back then, people actually left the house to do their shopping. But there’s still hope. Many malls are rebranding themselves as shopping centers and focusing more on experiential services and the kind of goods you wouldn’t want to purchase sight unseen. The rest continue to wither on the vine.
Ford has dabbled in experience centers before. Lincoln set up a handful of small, boutique shops in more-affluent areas while the mainstream nameplate set up “FordHub” in New York’s Westfield World Trade Center shopping mall — hoping to educate consumers about its new mobility projects. The new pilot program is more straightforward. It’s all about pushing existing products and hoping to connect consumers with dealerships during a period of dwindling auto sales.
“This is a tremendous period of change for the dealers,” Isabelle Helms, vice president of research and market intelligence at Cox Automotive, told The Detroit News. “This started several years back. Every year, the number of dealerships visited by car buyers declines.”
From The Detroit News:
Ford plans to try the concept at an as-yet-unannounced mall in the United States, according to Rob De Filippo, Ford’s director of global in-store retail experience. He said the test locations — one in Quebec City, the others in cities in Italy, Belgium and Germany — are generating hundreds of new sales leads that might have otherwise been missed.
The storefronts or stands house a few Ford vehicles. Employees can answer questions and pass leads to salespeople. Passersby are able to test-drive vehicles parked outside in some locations. Although shopping malls have been struggling, De Filippo said satellite locations could pop up in other locations.
Ford claims these shops aren’t intended to replace traditional dealerships, though some locations in Europe do allow customers to sign purchasing or lease agreements on site. “We’re trying to ensure the long-term dealer sustainability,” De Filippo explained. “This is all about learning and testing new concepts. The large-dealer format is going to come under a lot of pressure. So we’re looking at how do we transform retail for the future.”
[Images: Logan Bush/Shutterstock; Ford Motor Co.]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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OK why does that sign say "Bunk"? (Third picture, serious question.)
Ford needs to think about this some more before they do this. The message might be an unintended one that the US auto industry could end up like the shopping mall, out of date and dying.