Dealers: Page 124

ADP’s View of the World

Hoffman Estates, IL Steve Anenen has been at the helm now for one year as the president of Automated Data Processing Inc.'s Dealer Services Group. And it has been a good year. Recently, the company signed contracts to be the sole dealer management system (DMS) provider for two large public dealer groups, AutoNation Inc. and the Sonic Automotive Group. Additionally, ADP has increased market share slightly

By Cliff Banks • Sept. 1, 2005

Delphi to Accelerate Diversification, Global Expansion

TRAVERSE CITY, MI – Delphi Corp. is stepping up its efforts to expand globally and move into non-automotive product areas, Rodney O’Neal, president and chief operating officer, tells attendees of the Management Briefing Seminars here. “Clearly, we need a new play,” O’Neal says. “We know we need a new play, customers know we need a new play, even our union knows. We’re going to step up and it’s going

By Drew Winter • Aug. 3, 2005

Explore the Trendline➔

Artificial 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

Covisint to Target Health-Care Costs

TRAVERSE CITY, MI Covisint, once best known for its global automotive components auction, is expected to reveal here at the Management Briefing Seminars on Thursday, Aug. 4, a major health-care cost-cutting partnership with a large Michigan health-care provider. A Covisint source declines to identify the provider but says, together, the firms will tackle soaring health-care costs in the automotive

By David C. Smith • Aug. 2, 2005

Loans Longer, Stronger as Delinquencies Fall

The auto financing scene has been marked by not only longer loans but stronger ones, as delinquency rates have continued to fall. These are the key findings of the annual survey on automotive finance of the Consumers Bankers Assn. (CBA). The survey noted that contracts of 60 months or more rose in 2004 to 45% of new vehicle loans, from 40% in 2003 and only 21% in 2000. Over the same time span, loan

Aug. 1, 2005

18 to 24 Year Olds Like New-Age Ads

When it comes to new media, the 18- to 24-year-old age group has cornered the market and complicated most marketing models advertisers use today, according to a survey by BIGresearch, a firm that studies consumer behavior. When marketers wonder what happened to 18-24 year olds usage of traditional media like TV, the answer is they are early adopters of new media, says BIGresearch, citing its survey

Aug. 1, 2005

Acquisition Mates Techno, Creativity

Touted as matching one firm's technology savvy to another's creative skills, iCarMagic has acquired DealerSite.com, a website production company for auto dealers. Combining iCarMagic' tech team with DealerSite's creative staff will position iCarMagic as one of the strongest Web development firms serving auto retailing, says iCarMagic Vice President Keith Latman. In DealerSite we have acquired a cutting

Aug. 1, 2005

Saturn Store Is a Big Deal

A Saturn dealer is the latest to close on land and target a 2006 opening at Gilbert, AZ's Santan Motorplex. It won't be just any Saturn dealership. It will be one of the country's largest at what will be the largest auto park in the U.S when it opens. Dealerships at the 130-acre Santan Motorplex are expected eventually to sell 40,000 vehicles per year, making it one of the highest grossing sites in

Aug. 1, 2005

Universal Underwriters Sold to Equity Group

Universal Underwriters, an 83-year-old dealership insurance provider, is getting a new owner this summer. A San Francisco-based private equity firm, Hellman & Friedman LLC, is purchasing Universal from re-insurer Zurich Financial Services Group for $1.1 billion. Based in Overland Park, KS, Universal entered the retail F&I business with service contracts and credit insurance in 1968. It began operations

July 1, 2005

Hawaii Dealers Get Involved

It began nine years ago with a parent asking Hawaii dealer Mike McKenna for a $100 donation for a prize at a high school graduation party. He gave more than expected a car. That donation set into motion a series of events in which the state's auto dealers stepped up their support of education, then spearheaded Hawaii public education advances in an unprecedented way. The Hawaii Automobile Dealers

By Steve Finlay • July 1, 2005

Evans Leaves Both AIADA and AutoNation

After serving only four months of his term of Chairman of the American International Automobile Dealers Assn. (AIADA), Jim Evans Jr. has resigned effective this August. AIADA Chairman-Elect Don Hicks will replace Evans and serve an extended term through January 2007. Vice Chairman Don Beyer will serve as Chairman-Elect for the association. The board is expected to hold an election to fill the vacant

By Cliff Banks • July 1, 2005

ADP Breaks Out the Bubbly After 2 Big Wins

ADP Dealer Services scored two significant victories after two of the three largest automotive dealer groups signed contracts to consolidate all of their dealerships' technology systems to the ADP platform. AutoNation Inc. and the Sonic Automotive Group are the latest groups to make the move to one DMS (dealer management system), providing ADP with the bragging rights to five out of the top 10 dealer

By Cliff Banks • July 1, 2005

Reynolds Launches New Anti-Virus Service

Forty-four percent of surveyed dealers name viruses as their top concern when using the Internet for business. Accordingly, a new anti-virus service is being offered by The Reynolds and Reynolds Co., an automotive information technology provider. Reynolds Anti-Virus Service lets dealers manage virus protection for their whole network from a single PC. Viruses, Trojan horses, worms and other bits of

June 1, 2005

Accused of Bilking Dealers

A trial is scheduled this month for a man accused of bilking money from several auto dealerships by sending them false invoices. Scott G. Sanders faces seven counts of mail fraud. The trial is on the docket of the U.S. District Court in Dallas, TX, however the case involves dealerships throughout the country. Each of the seven counts represents dealerships that received and paid invoices submitted

By Steve Finlay • June 1, 2005

Brown Back in Game with Big Plans in AZ

Henry Brown, a former top Chevy dealer before he sold his store to a dealership chain, is back in the game with ambitious plans at a new auto mall under construction in Gilbert AZ. Brown says an original 13 acres wasn't enough. So he is buying 15 more acres at the Santan Motorplex. The 130-acre site will be the nation's largest master-planned auto park. Its dealerships are forecast to sell about 30,000

June 1, 2005

Dealer Knew What He Wanted

BOWLING GREEN, KY – Since his college days in the late 1960s, Cornelius Martin knew he wanted to be a car dealer. Now ...

By Cliff Banks • May 12, 2005

Trade-Ins are Shoo-Ins

As a used-vehicle manager, I was told that to increase sales volumes, I needed to stock vehicles that could retail for half their original manufacturer's suggested retail price. I'm not sure I fully understood the significance of that tip until later in my career. That advice is probably more applicable now than at any point in recent memory. We are all familiar with the vulnerability and volatility

By Tony Noland • May 1, 2005

Dealers Were Screaming for It

If someone has a driver's license without knowing how to drive a car, you don't want to be on the road with that person, says Bruce Foster, who oversees finance & insurance training for the JM&A Group, an F&I product and service provider. Likewise, an accident waiting to happen is a dealership employee who may know F&I laws, but fails to use that knowledge in customer interactions. That can land the

By Steve Finlay • April 1, 2005

Buying Pools Catch On

Dealership expenditures, excluding cost of goods sold, reached $81 billion in 2003, up from $60 billion in 1998, according to the National Automobile Dealers Assn. Total retail sales totaled $700 billion in 2003, up from $534 billion in 1998. The expenditures were about 12% and 11% of sales respectively for those years. This 1-percentage point increase in five years of record is huge, considering

By Don Ray • April 1, 2005

CNA National Reps, Execs Get AFIP Certified

The Association of Finance and Insurance Professionals (AFIP) certified more than 50 employees, agents and executives of CNA National Warranty Corp. at an annual conference in Las Vegas. Our company is pleased to support AFIP's efforts to promote professionalism and ethical behavior in the F&I process, says CNA President and CEO Joan Saunders. Certification includes a rigorous 150-question final exam

April 1, 2005

He Joins Cal Ripken as Streak Champion

Art Grayson, a Pontiac dealer from Knoxville, TN, had his come to an end after more than four decades. He has been a member of NCM's The 20 Group, formerly The Pontiac 20, since the assemblage's inception in 1962. Prior to his absence, Grayson had not missed a session in 42 years and 125 meetings. For that, group moderator Jeff Lampton presented Grayson with a special Iron Man award. Now Grayson goes

April 1, 2005

Love, e-100 in the Air

April the time of year a young man's fancy turns to baseball, spring, and maybe romance if he's lucky (or good) and in my case, the Ward's e-Dealer 100. Actually, that is all I think about this time of year. Then again, I'm not so young. I'm a bit grayer than I was five years ago when we began our e-100, the industry's first ranking of dealerships based on Internet-related sales. The gray, I suspect,

By Cliff Banks • April 1, 2005

Call Us? We’ll Call You!

Call centers using existing customer data bases and customer relationship management (CRM) systems can bring in lots of extra business at a small cost if done correctly. A most important element of this process is finding a call center manager who can lead and train and who knows the CRM system inside and out. Fortunately, our dealership group had a receptionist who knew the system almost as well

By GILBERT A. CHAVEZ • April 1, 2005

Go-Getter Dealer Gets Woman of Year Award

Manheim Auction's first annual Automotive Woman of the Year Award goes to Marcy H. Maguire, president of Maguire Automotive Group in East Windsor, N.J. The award honors a woman who is an industry leader and contributor. Maguire and future award recipients receive a $15,000 contribution in their names to a scholarship fund for female students at Northwood University, a school specializing in auto retailing

April 1, 2005

Marketing Key to GM Success

NEW YORK – General Motors Corp. kicks off an “Only GM” ad campaign as part of its commitment to upping its marketing effort in 2005 in order to pump up a declining market share and slow-out-of-the-gate product launches. The campaign touts technologies GM deems exclusive to the brand, such as Onstar and Stabilitrac, GM North American President Gary Cowger says during a breakfast kicking off the auto

By John D. Stoll • March 23, 2005

New Age Marketing

Something strange is happening on Wisteria Lane. Between the adulteries and murders, Mike Delfino, the hunky plumber/private investigator is taking time out of his hectic schedule to do a little yard work. As the camera pans deliberately over his chiseled physique, another hard body also makes it into the frame: that of a Nissan Titan pickup truck. At the same time just down the street, town tramp

By Christie Schweinsberg • March 2, 2005