Dealers: Page

Woody’s World

HAMTRAMCK, MI - An elderly couple walks down one of the main streets in this Polish enclave, when a passing child recognizes the man. "Mommy, that's the nice man from the TV," the child says.Pleased he has been recognized from his folksy dealership commercials, the man reaches into his pocket and gives the child a crisp one-dollar bill.He's 92-year-old Woodrow W. Woody, owner of Woody Pontiac Sales,

By Tim Keenan • Oct. 1, 2000

AVOID THINKING LIKE ALFRED E. NEWMAN

"The future is not what it used to be." - Paul ValeryTHE IMPORTANCE OF CREATING A VISION FOR YOUR organization's future cannot be overstated. It also is one of the most difficult challenges to confront. As an admired and astute car dealer friend of mine recently remarked, "Your ultimate success will be determined by how you manage your business during good times."You can't see the undercurrents on

By Mark Rikess • Oct. 1, 2000

Explore the Trendline➔

Top 5 stories from WardsAuto

Automakers are evaluating their long-term strategies, revisiting their product mix, and approach to both retail and manufacturing approach along the way.

By WardsAuto staff

A NICE GUY TELLS HOW TO TAKE IT EASY

BOB KAMM IS ONE OF THE NICEST GUYS I KNOW. He's upbeat, friendly and, best of all, genuine.He's a dealership sales veteran who became an industry consultant. He cares about automotive retailing. He helps give it a good name.Some people say bad things about the dealership world. They fail to realize, mostly out of ignorance, how many truly good people inhabit that realm. Mr. Kamm is one of them. So

By Steve Finlay • Oct. 1, 2000

LET YOUR ADP SYSTEM WORK FOR YOU

Are you having difficulty instantly finding a deal or deal status on the finance & insurance screens of your ADP computer?A deal has a possibility of being in the F&I department, the sales manager's office or the accounting office. Once the deal is in the office, it could possibly be with the title clerk or finished and filed. Was the deal titled or plated? One store found a way to stop wasting valuable

By WARD'S DEALER BUSINESS STAFF • Sept. 1, 2000

MOVING DMS TO WWW NOT EASY AS ABC

Once the Internet became such a force in the communications field, it was a matter of time before the auto industry would seriously start moving toward web-based dealer management systems and dealer communications systems.As easy as it may sound, considering so many industries are doing business over the Internet already, it's a tough move. For one thing, it's expensive. Other issues concern standardization

By Tim Keenan • Sept. 1, 2000

Dealer recalls the fine “Art” of running

I enjoyed the article on Earnhardt Dodge. I do not know anyone who is more focused and has more passion for the car business than Art Schaier. He applies his passion to excel in all walks of life.I can remember running with him at a Dodge Charger meeting in Puerto Rico. We were jogging out, and 40 minutes into the run I said, "Art, I normally only run 40 minutes. Let's head back." Art said, "Hey,

By WARD'S DEALER BUSINESS STAFF • Sept. 1, 2000

Dealership supplies and parts offered on-line

Autobex.com Inc. is introducing an on-line marketplace that supplies automotive retailers.Powered by the Commerce One Net Market Maker Solution, the Autobex.com Market (www.autobex.com) provides a single location on the Internet where dealerships can find and purchase supplies and parts.The company says Autobex.com e-marketplace helps automotive retailers save time and money in their day-to-day purchases

By WARD'S DEALER BUSINESS STAFF • Sept. 1, 2000

Daewoo Auction Aftermath

SEOUL - To the casual observer, things appear quiet in the camps of rival bidding alliances Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd./DaimlerChrysler AG and General Motors Corp./Fiat SpA following Ford Motor Co.'s stunning $6.9 billion preliminary winning bid June 26 to buy troubled Daewoo Motor Co. Ltd. Ford has until this month to seal the deal, which will provide it a key production base in Asia, a quarter of Asia's

By Vince Courtenay • Aug. 1, 2000

How to handle a top performer who steps on others’ toes

Prima donnas - highly productive employees who consistently engage in self-centered, some-times bullying behavior. As a dealer or manager, there are few challenges you will ever face that are thornier than the question of how to handle them. But handle them, you must, for two reasons.First, their star performance is not what it seems. Sure, you can measure how many cars they sell or how many hours

By Bob Kamm • July 1, 2000

GMAC’s new system to speed up processing loan applications

Moving with unusual speed to outpace its competitors, GMAC has set an early 2001 national rollout date for its streamlined "MAPS" procedure of clearing loan and lease applications.A 15-member dealer advisory council of GM dealers is being installed as a prelude to the rollout. Pilot programs will begin in late 2000 at a group of dealerships.The council will consist of three dealers from every one

By Maynard M. Gordon • July 1, 2000

Common parts, branding can work together

Jim Wehrman got a new car a few months ago. A Honda man all the way, he traded in his Accord coupe - a car he adored - for a more upscale Acura TL. The two cars are on the same platform and are built on the same assembly line in Marysville, OH."When I traded in the coupe it was fully loaded, it had leather. To be honest, I really wasn't sure if I wanted to do this or not," Mr. Wehrman says."So I make

By Tom Murphy • July 1, 2000

A TO Z OF SUCCESSFUL FIXED OPERATIONS

With maintenance times on today's better built cars getting longer, what is a poor service man-ager to do?Sure, you can keep the technicians busy by looking for more warranty work to do on one- to three-year-old vehicles. But this could lead to an unexpected warranty audit. Better yet one can be proactive in aggressively pursuing and keeping more of your customers.The following A-Z list gives ideas

By DAVE SKROBOT • July 1, 2000

HOW IMPORTANT ARE THOSE WEBSITES?

Not too many people order their new car or truck over the Internet today - only about 5% of purchases are ex-pected to be made that way in 2000. So how important is it for dealers and manufacturers to maintain a state-of-the-art website?It's critical, says Gordon Wangers, managing partner in AMCI, a Vista, CA-based automotive marketing consulting firm that studied how auto buyers relate to the Internet.A

By David Zoia • July 1, 2000

The way dealers pay

The number of dealership employees working on straight commission is dwindling. Large dealerships, particularly those in the western United States, are the most generous in compensating their employees. And employee turnover is a bigger problem for larger dealerships than smaller stores.These are some of the key findings in this year's Ward's Dealer Business auto dealership compensation survey.About

By Tim Keenan • July 1, 2000

Purchasing a store from AutoNation is no bargain

AutoNation's 1997-1998 buying binge made it the undisputed dealership consolidator champion. Last year, however, the mighty corporation became something of a seller rather than a buyer of automotive retail points.It was done quietly, but AutoNation sold off more than 20 individual dealerships. These were stores that came as part of groups that were either too removed from the company's other stores

By Tim Keenan • July 1, 2000

Optical disks eliminate lots of paperwork woes

Dealerships generate a lot of paper requiring banks of file cabinets and long-term storage, file clerks and aspirin for headaches that come on when documents are lost or misfiled.Dealers hate this paper chase and customers haven't the patience for it when their paperwork isn't ready.Dealers who have done away with it report significant savings, better staff utilization and improved customer satisfaction.

July 1, 2000

Balloon loans are rising in popularity

Balloon loans are gaining more play among financial institutions as an alternative to leasing, especially in states which impose a property tax on leased products, like Texas.But there are other differences that could motivate vehicle purchasers to opt for a balloon, says William Hudson, assistant vice-president at Lee & Mason, a finance firm in Hunt Valley, MD.He says more balloon notes offered by

July 1, 2000

Subprime lenders are staying busy

Subprime lenders are busy with a number of new initiatives.Credit Acceptance Corp., based in Southfield, MI, followed up a pilot program by creating two business units to expand activities in used-vehicle leasing. They are AutoNetFinance.com, a Web site, and CAC Leasing, Inc.Donald A. Foss, chairman and CEO of Credit Acceptance since its establishment in 1972, said he anticipates that leasing "could

July 1, 2000

8 SECRETS TO MARKETING SUCCESS

The profits of a business are totally dependent on marketing. Other-wise few, if any, sales will be generated. But, what is marketing anyway?Marketing is doing what it takes to convince enough customers to pay the necessary price for your products and services to produce the desired profits for the business.Let's discuss the eight secrets dealerships can use to greatly improve their marketing success.Secret

By Bill Dueease • July 1, 2000

DEALER STARTS UP INTERNET AUCTION

Third-generation dealer Joseph Shaker recalls taking his friends to auto auctions and letting them put their cars on his lot to improve the value of their used-car buying and selling.Now, he's doing what amounts to the same thing for anyone with CarDay, an online used-car auction that involves franchised dealers."Unlike other players in this space, CarDay realizes that a brick-and-mortar component

By Tim Keenan • June 1, 2000

NO ADS OR USED-CAR RETAIL? NO SWEAT

TROY, MI - They don't advertise, retail any used vehicles or have a body shop.But they do all the other things so efficiently, Somerset Pontiac-GMC in suburban Detroit keeps rising on the Ward Dealer Business 500, in 1999 surpassing the $100 million mark in total revenues for the first time."After 25 years in business at the same location, integrity has become our hallmark for customer and employee

By Maynard M. Gordon • June 1, 2000

“Happy with our size”

Some of the most inter-esting dealerships are the ones on the lower tier of the Ward's Dealer Business 500.They tend to be privately owned by individuals with a lot of grit and entrepreneurial spirit. And although they are not taking in hundreds of millions of dollars like the dealerships at the top of the list, $65-70 million in annual revenues is far from chump change."We're happy with the size

By Laurel Wright • June 1, 2000

Back shop champs focus on customers

Most dealerships in the Ward's Dealer Business 500 excel across the board. But some really stand out - like those with top service, parts and body shop operations.Becoming a back-shop champ is tough these days. Vehicles are built to last 100,000 miles or more, with little maintenance."The back shop is an interesting place right now with the improving vehicle quality and reduced warranty costs," says

By Tim Keenan • June 1, 2000

30 guidelines to manage successful dealerships

Nothing succeeds like success.The head honchos of the 17-dealership Keffer Management Co. chain put it another way:"Nothing succeeds like our 30 guides to success."Chairman Richard W. Keffer Jr., and President Bonnie L. Hunter developed the 30 guidelines over the past 12 years of owning, managing and selling dealerships in the Carolinas, Florida and Georgia.Now based in Charlotte, NC, Mr. Keffer and

By Maynard M. Gordon • June 1, 2000

EuroMotorcars opens service, parts facility

EuroMotorcars of Bethesda, MD, relocated its Mercedes-Benz service and parts department into a larger, newly renovated facility, which used to house EuroMotorcars Acura.The new 14,000-sq.-ft. service facility is more than double the size of the previous location and is one of the largest car dealership service and parts facilities in the area, according to Nick Scanniello, executive vice president

June 1, 2000