with all these developments whats abundantly clear is the auto industry in the post covid19 era will unlikely to resemble the one before itnew delhi undoubtedly the coronavirus fallout has shaken the indian automobile industry in many dimensions vehicle sales are being hit badly as customers traffic at dealerships dwindled due to threat of virus spread coupled with subsequent nationwide lockdownas the global pandemic is spreading at an extraordinary pace things are likely to get worse before they get better and this means the endconsumers will put off bigticket purchases if they dont see a safe secure and easy buying medium so at a time when dealerships are shut both oems and retailers are starting to look at serious steps to enhance their online presence across the country advt though not new online pathways are still an uncharted territory especially when it comes to automobile sales in the past many companies in particular the two wheeler ones like hero motocorp tvs and honda motorcycle and scooter india had tied up with various ecommerce platforms like snapdeal and flipkart for sales and delivery started a few years back this concept of digitally induced sales could not sustain for long and most of the players opted out because the customers prefer touch and feel of vehicles that are pertinent for effective sale of the product as various safety and technical aspects are involved we are gearing up to newer ways for customers to experience and consume our products which also includes subscriptionbased modelsvivek srivatsa tata motorsadditionally lack of standardised platform rigid online sales agreement and little research on the strategies by the companies also prevented buyers from choosing the digital means thus faraccording to global research firm gartner coronavirus containment measures are forcing the closure of car showrooms in many countries and this is also increasing the requirement for a full and effective online purchase processunderscoring the need for contactless aftersales services it further added that online indulgence will keep the order book alive and enable faster recovery given factory and showroom closures it is essential that carmakers draw up a strong online order book to ensure that once factories and showrooms reopen they can quickly rebound financially said pedro pacheco senior research director at gartner advt he further asserted that oems and car dealerships must set up direct sales platforms on which users can buy a car in just three clicks and have it delivered to their homeread alsolockdown auto makers go digital to sell bsiv inventorycoronavirus drags car dealers into digital commerceanalysing the gravity of the situation automakers in india are revisiting and expanding the baby steps they have taken earlier in this directionfor instance luxury carmaker mercedesbenz which plans to draw onefourth of its total sales through online by 2025 launched its ecommerce platform last year the entire customer journey is expected to get a comprehensive online makeover sales finance insurance as well as service areas where the car companies are looking to go online martin schwenk managing