CDK Global has urged dealerships to give marketing managers a more “central role” when it comes to making decisions on technology.

Following a recent survey of dealerships across Europe to examine how important marketing managers and departments are to technology decisions, CDK has found only 25% of marketing managers make “high-level decisions”on technology.

The research also revealed that only 35% of car dealership respondents claim to be “big influencers”, and an additional 35% have “some influence”, in technology decisions.

This is despite the fact Deloitte has reported that 58% of consumers rate the dealer relationship as “somewhat to very important” in the car buying journey.  

CDK Global’s managing director UK and Ireland, Stuart Miles, said: “These findings really reveal how dealerships involve their marketing teams in their technology investment decisions.

“The figures indicate that there is a lack of recognition in the importance of marketing when it comes to technology implementation, something that is surprising when it comes to the increased focus on lead generation and customer experience in the car buying journey."

CDK believes that customer rapport with the dealer starts at the outset of the car-buying journey, through the dealership’s customer marketing, and feels it is “crucial” that marketing managers play a more central role in technology decisions.