Dealers: Page 103
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Courtesy of WardsAuto
Traits of Best F&I Managers
What defines the best business manager? Is it per vehicle retailed? Total gross profit? High customer-satisfaction scores? Could it be highest product penetration? Maybe it is the one who has the least mistakes made. I hear a lot of comparing among fellow business managers about who is better. The truth is, there is no best. You absolutely cannot compare yourself to anyone but yourself. Maybe, just
By Chris Cochran • Sept. 1, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Auto Dealership Systems Are Vulnerable to Hack Attacks
Hackers are increasingly attacking small businesses, including auto dealerships, because many of these operations lack tight data network security-monitoring systems. For instance, hackers broke into a Kansas dealership's accounting system, set up a number of phony employees and siphoned away a fast $63,000. By accessing dealership bank accounts, hackers can set up bogus accounts, first transferring,
By Jim Leman • Sept. 1, 2011 -
Explore the Trendline➔
Courtesy of Kia Corporation
TrendlineArtificial Intelligence
Automakers and dealers alike are increasingly seeing the use case for AI within their operations. Explore some use cases in this trendline.
By WardsAuto staff -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Today’s Auto Dealerships Rely More and More on F&I
A finance and insurance manager at a Tennessee dealership says he has learned the two most powerful questions to ask customers are, Which would you prefer? and Is that the way you want me to set it up? Those closers in the selling of F&I products, work like a charm, he says on a social media site called Ethical F&I Managers. F&I revenues add a charm of their own to dealership bottom lines. Lithia
By Mac Gordon and Steve Finlay • Sept. 1, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
UAW’s King Touts Global Cooperation by Labor
The disparity between labor markets will be addressed “not by bringing us down, but by bringing everybody else up,” says UAW President Bob King.
By Eric Mayne • Aug. 29, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Jeep Eyes ‘Bigger Plans’ for Wrangler Marketing
Jeep is contemplating a more comprehensive campaign to help the iconic SUV maintain marketplace momentum that in July triggered its best-ever monthly sales total.
By Eric Mayne • Aug. 22, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Dealer Group Wilde, But Far From Crazy
“We vowed long ago to focus on the best brands that rounded us out as a dealer group and make them the best they could be,” says Pat Donahue, a vice president at Wilde Automotive Group.
By Lillie Guyer • Aug. 18, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Ward’s 2011 Dealer Service 150
Rank Dealership Owner/Principals City ST Service Revenue Body Shop Revenue Parts & Accessories Revenue Total Fixed Operations 1 Fletcher Jones Motorcars Fletcher Jones, Jr. Newport Beach CA $23,398,476 $13,699,844 $22,905,591 $60,003,911 2 Braman Motorcars Norman Braman West Palm Beach FL $28,889,117 $- $22,246,720 $51,135,837 3 Braman Motors Norman Braman Miami FL $18,802,530 $- $29,485,803 $48,288,333
Aug. 1, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
New System Gives Online Car Shoppers Specific Payment Info
It's theoretically possible, but very few consumers use the Internet to perform every step necessary to buy a car online. Dealership chain AutoNation has experimented with that A-to-Z idea, then dropped it due to lack of consumer interest. At some point, customers want to see the car and the dealer. Still, surveys indicate many people like to use the Internet for much of the car-buying process before
By Steve Finlay • Aug. 1, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Ray Catena Loves Cars
I have always been possessed with cars, says Ray Catena, president of the Ray Catena Auto Group. That was after revealing he bought his first vehicle at the age of 12 in his hometown of Kearny, NJ. Catena began his career as a used-car dealer early in life in Kearny specializing in quality pre-owned vehicles with his signature guarantee on any vehicle he sold to his customers a practice he has kept
By Lillie Guyer • Aug. 1, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
FROM THE BLOGS: Satisfied With Dealership? Heck No, But
So what do customer-satisfaction surveys accomplish, anyway? A perplexed couple asked that after their unsatisfying experience at a local car dealership. They've done business there before, so they should have received the red-carpet treatment. Instead, they angrily saw red. As editor of Ward's Dealer Business magazine, I hear stories of great customer treatment at superior stores. I also hear the
By Steve Finlay • Aug. 1, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Cobalt’s Dealer Command Center Puts Dealers in Control
A new online feature from ADP Dealer Service's Cobalt division allows dealers to better understand customers and track online marketing effectiveness. Cobalt says extensive dealer input guided the development of its Dealer Command Center, a digital-marketing platform enhancement that is free to Cobalt customers. The aim is to increase dealer control and flexibility. Features include: An analytics
By Steve Finlay • Aug. 1, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Top Dealership Service Departments Shine
The Ward’s Dealer Service 150 members collectively took in $3.3 billion in fixed-operations revenue in 2010.
By Steve Finlay • July 28, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Car Buyer at Age 12, Successful Dealer Now
Ray Catena and wife Elsie have worked together through both the good and the tough times, often into the late hours.
By Lillie Guyer • July 26, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Ford Surrenders Brand Marketing to Masses
“The brand isn’t what we say it is. It’s what our customers say it is,” says Ford social-media guru Scott Monty, a proponent of online forums.
By Eric Mayne • July 14, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Cobalt’s ‘Dealer Command Center’ Aims to Improve Digital Marketing
It is sometime hard for dealerships to know which digital marketing channels are most effective at driving sales, says John Holt, Senior Vice President of ADP Digital Solutions.
By Steve Finlay • July 7, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Most Dealers Get Good Marks
There still are some slow learners, but most car dealers got good grades from consumers who reviewed their online customer relations, according to a new study. Fifty-six percent of dealers received four or five stars, 10% three stars and 34% rated only one or two stars. That's based on a review of more than 1,000 written reviews from active car shoppers posting their views with CarGurus, an automotive
By Steve Finlay • July 1, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Sun Still Shines in Sweden
AS WE PUT PEN TO PAPER FOR OUR CRITIQUE of the new-for-'11 Saab 9-4X, the affable Swedish auto maker's future stood in doubt, cash-strapped and hunting the four corners of the Earth for investors. Saab appears to have found its white knight in the form of Chinese dealership giant Pang Da Automobile after its initial savoir, Hawtai Motor Group, withdrew. But if Saab's recent rollercoaster history is
By James M. Amend • July 1, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Time Is of Essence in F&I Office with Clock-Watching Customers
At car dealerships, there always is the element of time, and how much of it consumers want to devote to car buying, financing and hearing presentations on finance and insurance products. The F&I office has never been a place where people like to linger, but today's customers in particular are more time sensitive, says Dave Duncan, senior vice president of Safe-Guard Products International, an F&I
By Steve Finlay • July 1, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Educated Consumers Get ‘A’ in Auto Financing
Today’s car buyers are different, says Tim Blochowiak of South Protective, an F&I provider. “They are more educated and less likely to make impulsive purchases.”
By Steve Finlay • June 27, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Why People Like, Dislike Car Dealers
Poor communication and deceptive business practices dominated the negative reviews. Friendly service and upfront, timely communication were cited most often by happy customers.
By Steve Finlay • June 24, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Rebuilding a Dealership, as Well as a Town
“People are doing things together and for each other that before the tornado I don’t think would have ever happened,” says Duce Lett, a general manager of a Joplin, MO, dealership.
By Tony Bittick • June 23, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Survey Says Car Dealership Professionalism Trumps Price
In giving 5-star reviews, highly satisfied buyers ranked dealer professionalism as the most important factor 47% of the time and price only 14%.
By Steve Finlay • June 20, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Ward’s Dealer 500 Hall of Famers
Here’s a quick look at some regular members of the annual list of top dealers.
By Steve Finlay • June 7, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Quarter-Century of Listing Best of Best
Much has changed since the first Ward’s Dealer 500 ranking, but some things stay the same.
By Steve Finlay • June 6, 2011 -
Courtesy of WardsAuto
Nation’s Biggest Car Seller Targets Texting Scourge
AutoNation CEO Michael Jackson says his dealerships see the results of drivers texting while on the road in its auto-body shops every day.
By Herb Shuldiner • June 2, 2011
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