Dealers: Page 138

AVOID USED-VEHICLE WHOLESALE GOOFS

One of the areas where a dealership is the most vulnerable is in used-vehicle wholesale. How can this be when selling cars and trucks is our business, and we are "on top of the market"? What creates this vulnerability? There are several possible answers, but, in my opinion, a lack of discipline is the number one reason.We're human. So we sometimes make a mistake when trading for a used-vehicle and

By Tony Noland • Feb. 1, 2000

Auto Talk: Car-like ‘02 Bravada Will Debut in NY

The next-generation '02 Bravada will feature a car-like design and will nearly double sales of the current Oldsmobile sport/utility vehicle (SUV) when it goes on sale in January 2001, the GM division's Marketing General Manager Karen C. Francis tells WAW.The '02 Bravada will be unveiled at the New York auto show in April."If you look at the new Aurora, and then squint your eyes and make it sport/utility,

By WARD'S AUTO WORLD STAFF • Feb. 1, 2000

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

Dealers say what’s what

Auto retailers from across the country speak out The economy is cooking, but for how long? The Internet is being described as a great selling tool, but for whom, really? And what's the deal with manufacturers getting into the car-selling business?Those are some of the questions dealers raise as we close out our annual "State of the Industry" series. In the December edition, domestic auto executives

Feb. 1, 2000

Sometimes you just have to create a demand for maintenance

Most dealership service departments realize the importance of marketing to their customers. The question is do they "push" the products or services to their customers or do they create a "demand" (need) and subsequently have the customers ask for it. Both approaches should be utilized to maximize effectiveness and profitability."Product Push" is when the service advisor/technician recommends the replacement

By DAVE SKROBOT • Feb. 1, 2000

‘00 LEASING, NOT SALES, MAY SLOW DOWN

PHOENIX - Predicters of a new-vehicle sales dive this year could be in for a big sur-prise "again," declares Bank One's chief eco-nomist Diane Catherine Swonk.Income growth, used-unit sales strength (despite the surge in off-lease products) and the "dramatic growth in home equity wealth" counteract the kind of cyclical plunges experienced as recently as 1990-1992.That's what Ms. Swonk tells a Bank

By Maynard M. Gordon • Feb. 1, 2000

FATHER OF LEASING SEES GOOD & BAD

HE'S CALLED "THE FATHER OF LEASING." ROBERT REWEY laughs off that title. Yet he was Lincoln Mercury's general manager when that Ford Motor Co. division pioneered non-commercial leasing in a big way in the late 1980s."We had quite a lead," recalls Mr. Rewey, now Ford's group vice president of marketing, sales and service.And quite a task."There was a lot of dealer training and educating because they

By Steve Finlay • Feb. 1, 2000

MANHEIM AUCTIONS BUYS ADT FOR $1 BILLION CASH

The largest and second largest auction chains in the U.S. are merging with Manheim Auc-tions'$1 billion cash purchase of ADT Automotive.Manheim, owned by Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises, Inc., runs more than 80 auctions. The 28-auction ADT group, head-quartered in Nashville, TN, was a division of Tyco International Ltd., which says it sold the auction business because it did not 'fit well' with its

By Mac Gordon • Feb. 1, 2000

This lending firm sees dealers differently

Time was, dealers had few alternatives, short of signing their lives away, if they wanted to take out a loan to expand or improve their businesses.These days offer a couple of ways to raise capital: enter into a real estate investment trust (REIT) or sell the dealership to a consolidator. Both have advantages and disadvantages.But if dealers want to keep their real estate and their controlling interest,

By Tim Keenan • Dec. 1, 1999

LEAVE THE RETAILING TO GM DEALERS!

General Motors intention to enter into the retailing marketplace for new vehicles would be a serious mistake with dire consequences.The reality is automobile manufacturers do not know how to sell cars profitably one by one to Mr. and Mrs. Consumer.During my half-century career in the retail automobile business I have never known of a profitable GM retail store. If a retail store existed, it was the

By Nat Shulman • Dec. 1, 1999

Dealing in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS - How fast has this fast-paced town grown?Ping-Lee DeRogatis, general manager of Desert Dodge on West Sahara, gives her own perspective of a city on a roll.She says, "When I moved here in 1989, there were about 700,000 people living in Las Vegas. Now there are about 1.3 million."When I came to work at this dealership there was desert on all four sides of the building. Now this intersection

By Steve Finlay • Dec. 1, 1999

LOOKING BACK AT ODOMETER ROLLBACKS

NEW-VEHICLE CONSUMERS CURRENTLY POSSESS THE most favorable warranties and consumer protection laws in American industry. My experience with other warranties on major appliances shows a vast imbalance between a 36-month/ 36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty with other major non-automotive manufacturers who warranty their products for a matter of days.Today's blanket of protection for vehicle buyers

By Nat Shulman • Nov. 1, 1999

BODY REPAIR INDUSTRY’S NO. 1 ISSUE

Body shop owners and managers seemed skeptical, but not surprised in September when Allstate Insurance announced a goal of 72-hour turn-around on most of its customers' collision-damaged vehicles it repairs.This new focus on cycle time - an insurance industry term that defines how many days pass between when a claim is filed and when the vehicle is repaired - is bound to affect dealership body shops

By John Yoswick • Nov. 1, 1999

HE LIKES BOTH OLD AND NEW IDEAS

ROSEVILLE, MI - Dealer Jeffrey L. Tamaroff likes new ideas as well as old ones that work. That's how he and his general manager of 16 years, Rodger D. Lau, run the six-franchise Jeffrey complex in suburban Detroit.As an innovator dedicated to employee training, Mr. Tamaroff, 45, is applying experience gleaned from the"family business."His father, Marvin Tamaroff, 72, is a pioneer Buick-import dealer

By Maynard M. Gordon • Nov. 1, 1999

Key system works around the clock for service customers

Expanding operating hours is one way to make dealership service more convenient for customers. Another way is to allow customers to drop off and pick up their vehicles after business hours.The Service Express 24 key system allows that, according to its manufacturer, Spectrum Composites Inc. (SCI) of Troy, MI."Consumers today have a broad range of choices where to service their vehicles," says SCI

By Tim Keenan • Nov. 1, 1999

PROPONENTS BET ON BUY-HERE, PAY-HERE

LAS VEGAS - Many people come here to win money. But several dealers attended a Las Vegas conference to learn how to make money - potentially lots of it - in the sub-prime market's buy-here, pay-here financing.Touted as sub-prime's could-be jackpot, buy-here, pay-here is where dealers, rather than third-party lenders, bankroll their own lending to customers with spotty credit.It's a gamble but with

By Steve Finlay • Nov. 1, 1999

“My greatest fear is that my son will fail”

My greatest fear is that my son with fail if he succeeds me at my dealership."This recent quote from an auto dealer client of mine reminded me of how important a role emotions play in succession planning. The interesting part is that this dealer's son is doing very well as general manager of a very profitable dealership. So what's the problem?Like many dealers who started from nothing, you know what

By Hugh B. Roberts • Nov. 1, 1999

STICKER PRICES UNFAIR TO DEALERS

MANY THINGS ARE UNIQUE TO THE RETAIL automobile business. But nothing is more unique than the retail price sticker on pre-delivered new vehicles.Why is this important U.S. industry required by law to display their retail prices on their products?When the new vehicle labeling law was enacted on July 7, 1958, Congress's intent was explained in the House Report accompanying the legislation:"The primary

By Nat Shulman • Sept. 1, 1999

The quest for the perfect close

I recently received some feedback from a talk I gave a few months ago at the Wisconsin Automobile and Truck Dealers Assoc. in Madison that I think might interest you.The seminar on closing and handling objections was slated to be three hours in length. I had trouble cutting things short because of the participation of the group. They were great. As any speaker knows, the reward is in finishing your

By Jon Quade • Sept. 1, 1999

SELLING CARS TO THE NOSE-RING SET

A young person wearing clothes three sizes to big and body-piercing jewelry that wouldn't clear an airport metal detector saunters into your dealership.What do you say?"Someone call the cops!""Does that nose ring hurt?""Let me show you around?"The answer is "C," says Julie Roehm.She's young and hip. She also has an M.B.A from the University of Chicago and is the brand manager for Ford Motor Co.'s

By Steve Finlay • Sept. 1, 1999

Wynn’s Warranty hooks up with e-fin

The Wynn Oil Company enters a strategic alliance with e-fin, Electronic Financial Mark-etplace (www.e- fin.com), an online, indirect auto finance channel.Wynn's Warranty Division markets vehicle service contracts and product warranty programs to car buyers through approximately 10,000 franchised and independent auto dealers.Vice President and General Manager Don DiCostanzo of the Wynn's Warranty Division

Sept. 1, 1999

INTRODUCING THE USED-CAR SUPERSITE

As consumer interest in Internet shopping grows, so do the web sites where car buyers shop.The appearance of new Internet car-buying services - such as Cars.com, Drive Off.com, Cars Direct.com - on the heels of pioneers such as Auto-by-tel, AutoWeb, AutoVantage and CarPoint, is but one indicator of the buying and selling power offered to consumers and dealers alike by the new world of electronic commerce.The

By Fred Bonnie • Sept. 1, 1999

Unions say they help dealerships but dealers aren’t so sure about that

Unions Pro For most people, the words trade union conjure images of auto factory workers, coal miners, steel workers and truckers - not car dealership employees.But in some parts of the country, notably the San Francisco Bay area, Chicago, and New York, a significant number of dealership employees, well over 100,000 it is estimated, are organized and have been for many years.Two major unions, the

By Fred Bonnie • Sept. 1, 1999

“MY SON DOSEN’T WORK AS HARD AS ME!”

Dad, the aging dealer, doesn't think his off-spring is as hard-working as he is. Sound familiar? Sound like something you have said?All too often this concern roadblocks dealership succession planning. It's generally the fear of a father, who lived through the Great Depression, towards a son or daughter who's active in the dealership.The underlying paternal feeling is that if you are going to succeed

By Hugh B. Roberts • Sept. 1, 1999

Capitalizing on the non-prime customer

How many sales opportunities are you missing when a customer has a negative credit rating? Does your dealership offer financing alternatives to these customers? Do you know how to profit from alternative finance programs?Call it non-prime, secondary finance, special finance or sub-prime.Whatever term you use, your dealership is probably seeing a significant number of buyers in the "credit challenged"

By Chris Leedom • Aug. 1, 1999

STEERING CUSTOMERS TO DEALERSHIPS

Manufacturer dealer collections, consolidators and Internet buying services: everyone is looking for innovative alternative automotive retail methods. What's next? Buying a car atSears, Kmart or Wal-Mart?Don't laugh. Customers already can get at least adequate service at Sears and Kmart. They can buy insurance and get their taxes done at Sears. Why not vehicles?Wal-Mart's Sam's Club is bringing dealers

By Tim Keenan • Aug. 1, 1999