Mobile Phones To Be Primary Car-Buying Tool Of The Future: Google

The smartphone will not only burrow its way further into your car’s infotainment system in the coming years, but is already on a trajectory to become the main research tool for the majority of Australian new car buyers.

Speaking at the Google Think Auto conference in Melbourne, Google’s head of Sales, Telecommunications and Automotive, Richard Wolstenholme, said the shift from desktop to mobile search traffic was gaining steam and forcing dealers, manufacturers and the media to react.

“This is having a fundamental impact on our industry and our consumers - auto shoppers in australia,” Wolstenholme said.

“If you look at the growth in search queries with automotive keywords in Australia in the past five years, you can see the sustained growth. Online search has become the number one source of information for people in-market shopping for an automobile in Australia.

“Mobile is driving that growth.

“Right now, 44 percent of all auto-related queries are done on a mobile phone. We expect that to pass 50 percent at the end of the year. It doesn’t matter where they are in their car-buying journey, consumers are reaching for their phones.”

Odds are, a good proportion of you are reading this article on a phone right now.

Site designs optimised for viewing on a small screen are obviously vital - not just for an editorial website like The Motor Report, but for dealerships and manufacturers too. A responsive and user-friendly online contact form system is another must-have, and one that must function flawlessly through the small screen of a phone.

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