When looking at the current economic climate, the technological advancements in the past ten years, and the addition of the millennials to our world, we cannot but ask ourselves what will become of so many things we have accepted as the norm.

One such thing is the motor dealership. After discussions with a couple of people in the motor industry, it is clear that people do not have money to buy new cars and there is a tendency to drive your car for longer as a result of the advancements in technology, it is no longer a problem to drive a car way beyond the 100 000km mark and still be able to get a high resale value for it.

To add to the mix, Uber started in South Africa in 2013 and today has twelve thousand (12 000) active Uber drivers and almost one million (1000 000) active riders and the number continues to grow. This indicates that more people are opting to be driven around rather than drive around themselves and as a result, the mindset of having two vehicles per family is rapidly changing and families are starting to only have a single-vehicle and in some instances no car at all. Another game-changer will be the autonomous car which undoubtedly is going to change the way people think about commuting and will both, directly and indirectly, influence the future of dealerships and the way dealerships are designed and perceived.

When looking at the future of the design of Motor Dealerships in South Africa, one needs to go beyond what meets the eye and understand what is happening in the world around you. What is the future of oil, and how long will this resource still be around? We have a responsibility to our environment and the materials we use. If this is not a big enough challenge on its own, we need to also look at what makes people tick and differentiate them by their Generational group. (Generation X and the Millennials).

For those of you who have had dealings with these two generations (I am pretty sure there are very few that haven’t), you will fully understand the difference in needs and expectations between the two.

On one side, Generation X wants to see, feel, smell, and touch the new car they are about to spend their life savings on.  Generation X is in search of meaning, while on the other side, the Millennials have grown up in an electronics-filled and increasingly online and socially networked world. Millennials are buying their new car over the internet! They want to publish it on social media so that their friends can share in the excitement of their new acquisition and can’t wait for it to be delivered to their doorstep. Unlike Generation X, Millennials are confident, ambitious, and achievement-oriented.