After a man recently bought a new plug-in electric car, his salesman tried to sell him a service agreement that included periodic oil changes. Even after the buyer protested that his new electric car didn’t have any oil and didn’t need oil changes, the salesperson continued to make his sales pitch.

That story was written up in newspapers and reported on the radio and cable news. And perhaps it doesn’t come as a big surprise that the salesman was trying to sell oil changes for a car that didn’t use oil. After all, automotive technology is changing fast. Salespeople, service people and just about all professionals who work around cars need up-to-date training to provide customers with appropriate service options.

Here are some trends that make the need for good automotive training especially acute today.

Trend One: All-Electric Cars

As noted above, purely electric cars don’t need oil changes. They also don’t need many services that have been the “bread and butter” money-earning services in the past, including transmission service, traditional tune-ups, fuel injection service, spark plug changes, exhaust and muffler replacements, and more.

Part of the challenge today is to train salespeople and service people to explain and sell services that customers still need, such as brake repairs, battery pack testing, air conditioning service, tire replacements, new windshield wipers and other basic services.

To complicate the issue even more, employees need to understand that hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars are different from purely electric cars; they still use traditional gas engines, and still need oil changes, transmission service, muffler repairs, and all the services that have been done for decades.

Trend Two: Advanced Self-Driving Cars

You might assume that because fully self-driving cars won’t be marketed within the next few years, your staff doesn’t need to know about them yet. Not so, because many self-driving features are already appearing on cars and trucks; they include assisted braking systems, pedestrian avoidance systems, lane-holding optical systems, blind spot monitors, smart cruise control systems, and more.

All those systems are complex to explain, understand, and use. Specialized training is needed for your salespeople, service people and other employees.

Trend Three: Leasing

Thanks to an increase in the number of customers who lease cars and keep them for only a few years before trading them in, the service departments at new car dealers are doing more basic maintenance, such as oil changes and basic engine checks. At the same time, they are performing fewer major services like installing new transmissions or replacing engines.

Unless a new car dealer’s automotive service department is trained to stress the importance of routine maintenance, visits to your service bays can fall.

A New Need for Superior Training

In a time when the world of automobiles is changing quickly, are your employees up to speed? Why not call Tortal Training today to discuss how training can help you meet the new challenges of doing business in the automotive sector today.