Good dealers have addressed ideas and forces that have threatened their businesses over the last few years. Now another formidable foe has been brought down. The Internal Revenue Service itself. Yes sir, a car dealership went toe to toe with the...
The model year-ending close out incentives are now in full swing and dealers everywhere are scrambling to sell the balance of their 2002 models to make way for new inventory. In our quest to take advantage of each potential sale, we sometimes are...
I watch the monthly performance of our client dealers, looking for trends in floor-plan costs. Some dealers can consistently manage their inventory with respect to floor plan expenses. Yet other dealers with the same franchise, consistent volume...
October was probably the best new-vehicle sales and profit month in the history of the franchised automobile business. But as you know, used vehicle sales failed to keep pace with that month's new vehicle sales rate which, for many dealers, has...
ZERO PERCENT FINANCING MAY BE GREAT FOR vehicle sales, but it's creating a potential tax problem for many dealers. They're worried about year-end inventory reductions causing substantial losses to their LIFO (last in, first out) tax benefits. This...
The possibility of fraud goes with maintaining an inventory. A typical parts inventory contains many products that can easily be converted to cash. This makes the inventory a likely target for theft. You must acknowledge that fraud can easily...
Nearly half of automobile dealerships (48 percent)in the United States are using the Internet to purchase used vehicle inventory - a dramatic increase from a year ago, according to a new study by Q2 Brand Intelligence. A similar study last year by...
U.S. new-vehicle sales will be negatively impacted in September because of last week’s national tragedy. It’s difficult to determine how great the loss will be, but Ward’s estimates the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) will...
The news is that 2001's second-half sales look stronger than originally expected due to high incentives and growing volume for import brands. Question: Other than 60 days and obviously the climate, what's the difference between Aug. 31 and Oct. 31...
Show them the money Are you looking for a way to spice up your product knowledge training? Tell your sales consultants in advance to prepare for a quiz on a particular model in your franchise line. On the day of the quiz, circle everyone around...