COVID-19 pandemic will bring downstream challenges as well, and with some unusual new ways to differentiate your dealership.
As this is written, we are deep in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the top-of-mind issue for virtually all Canadians, as well as many others all around the world. As it should be. It is the greatest global challenge of our lifetimes and it is far from overcome.
The Prime Minister has just advised that it could be many more weeks, perhaps even months, before restrictions on personal movement and on businesses can be eased. And huge numbers of people — perhaps including customers, staff, friends or family — may be infected in the meantime.
Even once restrictions are reduced, it won’t be over. “We will have to continue to be very vigilant about our behaviour in returning to work to ensure that we won’t be facing a new epidemic or worse, that everything we have done in these past weeks will have been for nothing,” said Prime Minister Trudeau.
In other words, normal is a long way off, and it may never fully return.
One of the many “normal” things that has been victim to the pandemic is people’s inherent sense of safety and security with and around each other. Suddenly, every other person has to be considered a potential carrier, as do things they may have touched or, even worse, perhaps coughed on.
Ships and aircraft that have carried passengers with confirmed diagnoses of the virus have become virtual pariahs. Which raises the question, what about cars?
As restrictions are eased and customers slowly come back to dealerships to buy vehicles, new and used, it is unlikely they will just flip a switch and return to those intrinsic levels of trust that were there before. They will be cautious of interactions not only with staff but with the vehicles themselves.
The term “clean car” will take on new meaning. However small the chance may be, consciously or subconsciously, customers will want assurance that the cars themselves are not potential carriers of the infection before they take delivery or perhaps even sit in or test drive one.
To that end, it is important to understand just what the risks may be. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), while surface transmission isn’t the most common form of spreading the virus, it is a possibility.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says an infected person can transfer the virus by coughing or sneezing on a surface or touching their face and then touching a surface. If another person touches the same surface soon after, and then touches their own eyes, mouth or nose, for example, they may become infected.
Plastics and metals are of particular concern in the context of vehicles. According to a study from National Institutes of Health, CDC, UCLA and Princeton University scientists, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, a coronavirus remained detectable for up to 72 hours on plastic and stainless steel. That’s three days!
Key fobs, door handles, steering wheels, seat-belt buckles, levers and knobs and especially touch screens immediately come to mind as areas of concern for potential contamination. For that reason, keeping those areas clean on all vehicles in stock or in service becomes essential in terms of ensuring workplace safety for staff and customers.
Keeping and posting a record of such cleanings, as many restaurants and other businesses already do with washrooms, may become the new norm. It simply makes good sense in the circumstances. And it may even prove to be a competitive advantage.
How should those areas be cleaned? The CDC recommends cleaning surfaces with soap and water first, then using a household disinfectant.
Health Canada recommends cleaning and disinfecting hard surfaces using approved products listed on its website (https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/disinfectants/covid-19/list.html). That extensive list includes such regular household cleaners as Lysol Disinfectant Spray, 3M Surface Disinfectant Cleaner Wipes, and Purell Professional Surface Disinfectant, among many others. While these products don’t claim to kill the virus, they can certainly help limit its spread.
Of course, it is important to check the vehicle manufacturers’ recommendations for cleaning all surfaces and materials before doing so, so as not to damage them.
Along with everything else, it’s hard to come to grips with the fact that how well a car is cleaned may play a major role in selling or servicing it. But that is the reality of the times and it is likely to be so for the foreseeable future. How well we adapt to this new reality at all levels could be the determinant of our own futures.
