Automotive industry caught on film

This is the year the automotive industry will create film stars – and we’re not talking about the new Top Gear line-up.

Bodyshops, dealerships and workshops recorded more than 65,000 hours of video last year, average more than 8,000 videos a day.

Automotive innovator CitNOW believes that trend will only continue, urging businesses that haven’t yet adopted video technology to do so now or fall behind.

It says three million personalised videos were created using its app last year, an increase of 182% on 2014, while the number of CitNOW apps in use in the UK increased by a staggering 142%.

CitNOW chief executive Alistair Horsburgh said, ‘Last year saw an unprecedented phase in the adoption of video technology, as automotive businesses switched on to the tangible benefits it could provide.

‘Our customer-base is littered with stories of how video raised the bottom line, increased red work conversion and extended the reach of dealerships and their workshops.

‘Now that the technology has made its mark and proven its worth, 2016 will be the ‘Year of the Video’. With more than 50% of the UK’s franchised dealerships using video in sales and/or aftersales, we are at a tipping point for the industry.

‘Those dealers not using video are already being left behind; given the sheer volume of videos being produced, we will see consumer expectation driving demand by the end of the year.’