Many of us still crave a good buying experience. Parting with our hard-earned money can be so much more than a simple transaction. Regardless of pictures and lists of tech spec, when it comes to motoring, most of us still want to see the goods.

However, online sales are increasingly easy and convenient. Certainly, for lease renewals or a new model of the same car, it is an efficient process in a busy life. Perhaps brand new entrants to the market could position themselves online only from the start, but they will still need an aftersales presence. The question is, does this have to be next to a glossy showroom?

Likewise, if a self-driving vehicle gets itself to the workshop, the need for appearances to be kept up reduces in line with the opportunity for consumers to have something catch their eye in the showroom. That certainly has a cost-cutting potential for the dealer. Prime sites are expensive.

Electric Vehicles are only going to increase on our roads and over time this will be factored into the aftersales offering. Clearly, tyres, bodywork and smart repairs will still be required, and the potential of in-car digital connectivity opens up new aftersales opportunities.

Perhaps the traditional model of combining an expensive dealership and aftersales department on the same premises is less concrete than it once was, but for the time being, there’s room for both.

Caltec Calibration provides a range of calibration and inspection services for onsite tools and equipment for over 3,000 customers in the UK