Influencing of car apps to the marketing strategy and after-sales service in automotive industry : a case study of Dongfeng Peugeot

Abstract

With the popularization of intelligent mobile terminal and the rise of auto third-party software - auto apps, the auto industry in the dilemma of traditional marketing will greet the new phase of automobile marketing and after-sales service where auto apps are becoming the focus of auto makers and their features decide that they will surely be the main approach to automobile marketing and after-sales service in the future. Compared to the traditional mode of automobile marketing and after-sales service, auto apps are cheap, accurate and convenient with no time and space limitations and high adhesiveness of users, quietly grabbing market share and bringing unprecedented opportunities to the auto industry. Their emergence not only breaks the pattern of traditional automobile marketing but also makes the aftermarket face a reshuffle. As BMW, Audi, Volkswagen take the lead to tentatively launch their branded apps with great success, auto makers follow suit to expect a market share; besides these branded apps, a large number of other auto apps are coming on to the market, bringing fresh vitality to the industry and convenience to car owners and potential buyers. However, everything has two sides, where there are opportunities, there are challenges. It is inevitable that auto apps in the intelligent mobile terminal replace computers as a main pattern of automobile marketing and after-sales service. But in the meanwhile, the hot market will see more intense competitions between like products, and gaining share is not an easy task though there is a great temptation. A flow of these apps makes an auto market with serious homogenization, especially in the aftermarket. Any enterprise or group attempting to introduce a new auto app has to ¿pour much money¿ into marketing, which has no essential difference from the traditional marketing. In the age of intelligent mobile terminal, we may not conclude that user experience and demand are changing irregularly or invariable though users have more free choices. In a word, only by suiting to the user needs and continuously improving apps can enterprises survive in the market.