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How to handle the unbankable customer

We believe that growth rate of the unbankable customer segment of the automobile market will accelerate during the next 12 months. How do you handle the unbankable customer in your dealership? Are you recognizing your share of this potentially profitable market? What opportunity does this segment of the business present? How is the market changing? Where is the market headed over the next 12 to 18

By Christopher Leedom • Aug. 1, 2001

A Purist’s Lament

Want to get to a hydrogen economy sooner? Make all the cars in the Indy 500 run on it. This is one of the few industries in the world that has a sport organized around its products. Motor racing attracts millions of spectators around the world who enthusiastically cheer on their favorite cars, teams and drivers. It's a phenomenon that the computer, bio-tech, or financial service industries will never,

By John McElroy • Aug. 1, 2001

Treadwell Takes Over at ASC

Industrialist Heinz Prechter, who was found dead at his home in Grosse Ile, MI, from an apparent suicide July 6, is succeeded as chairman of ASC Inc. by David Treadwell, formerly vice chairman of the company. The American entrepreneur, Mr. Prechter, 59, is best known for pioneering the U.S. sunroof market and his fund-raising prowess within the Republican Party. He founded ASC in 1965, known then

Aug. 1, 2001

Heinz Prechter and John Montgomery: A Remembrance

I doubt that they knew each other, but in July two of my longtime industry associates passed away. Heinz Prechter (see story p.22) was 59, John O. Montgomery was 80. Mr. Prechter gained international recognition as the young German immigrant who started his own sunroof company in the San Francisco area when he was barely out of his teens, then moved to the Detroit area where he built a global empire

Aug. 1, 2001

Caterpillar Corporate Licensing Program

Probably each of you know that the most difficult thing about giving a speech is coming up with the first thing that you´re going to say. Although I´ve given this talk about two dozen times both inside and outside of Caterpillar, I struggled with exactly how to begin this morning until I heard the last speech given here. If Chuck Dennis from 3M is out there, I´d like to thank him for giving me my

By Bill Berlinger, Caterpillar Inc. • July 23, 2001

Quality Ain’t Everything

I used to say that buying a Taurus was like marrying Marilyn Monroe. she would never cook you breakfast she would never be on time for anything But there were other compensations. First, I am not against quality and I am all for safe cars. If a car has serious problems, it won't sell. One of my sons, a magazine writer, has been driving a Taurus for 120,000 miles. It never, not once, broke down on

By Jerry Flint • July 1, 2001

Dealer of the Year

There are dealers and then there are dealers. Dealers are successful beyond most other dealers' comprehension. Dealers are held in such high regard by manufacturers that often they're called on to try out new things. Dealers are the kind of businessmen who other dealers look to for ideas and advice. Dealers share their success with their community, their country and often the rest of the world. H.F.

By Tim Keenan • July 1, 2001

IT’S TIME TO GET BACK TO THE BASICS

Tenure is only accomplished through success; that is, the sales personnel making money. Here's a news flash: Some dealers are behind in their year-to-date sales and profit forecast. Obviously, I'm being facetious. As we all know, many, if not most dealerships, are not performing at the level anticipated when we sat down for our 2001 forecasting session in late 2000. Does this mean that we abandon

By Tony Noland • July 1, 2001

Ron Martin’s Four Characteristics of a Strong F&I Department

1. Thinking outside the box: in other words, not buying into the idea that having a aggressive selling F&I department somehow disrupts the sales department. 2. Giving your F&I Manager the same respect and compensation as any other manager at the dealership. 3. Having the right people. Don't put a weak sales person in F&I. This person should be one of the best sales people in your organization. 4.

By Ron Martin • June 21, 2001

Overview story

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By Cliff Banks • June 8, 2001

Automotive “infomediary” research sites are popular -- but don’t drive sales

“Infomediary” auto resource sites -- such as Edmunds.com and Kelley Blue Book’s KBB.com -- get 77% of automotive web site traffic. But they are ineffective in driving traffic to buying sites or OEM sites. That’s according to a new study by Jupiter Media Metrix, a research firm that tracks Internet trends and profitability. The study, released today, says: * “Infomediary” sites, while the most popular

June 7, 2001

Stranded motorists kept informed

Cross Country Automotive Service's dispatch system now automatically follows up with drivers requesting its roadside assistance to let them know that help is on the way, as well as ensure that a tow truck, locksmith or mechanic has arrived as promised. The Closed Loop Technology is powered by InterVoice-Brite's OneVoice - a call automation platform with text-to-speech technology. It’s touted as a

By Ward's reports • June 5, 2001

Soft Landings

From the wilds of northern Ontario comes cutting-edge technology for pedestrians seeking safe passage across America's streets. The Ursus Mark VI, a modern-day suit of armor designed to provide protection from bear attacks, features: A titanium exterior linked by chain mail (for joint flexibility). A battery-powered twin-fan ventilation system. Even a black box (to record the wearer's last words in

By Eric Mayne • June 1, 2001

Cleaner emissions are killing off tailpipe suicides

The Sierra Club still thinks car exhaust is dirty, but here's proof that automakers aren't lying about cleaning up emissions: It's mighty tough to kill yourself with car exhaust nowadays. In one medical journal report, a 56-year-old man tried to commit suicide by running a hose from his exhaust pipe into the inside of his car. Rescued and rushed to the hospital, the man was still conscious after breathing

By Compiled by the staff of: WARD'S AUTOMOTIVE REPORTS • June 1, 2001

HOW TO CHART EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY

From Automotive News: April sales fell 10%, the sixth straight month that sales fell below the year-ago total. From the Associated Press: Americans' productivity, a key measure of rising living standards, fell at a 0.1% rate in the first quarter. The decline was the first in six years. The drop in productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, during the January-March (2001) quarter surprised

By Tony Noland • June 1, 2001

SALINAS AUTO MALL LEADS DRIVE TO CUT CALIFORNIA POWER USE

Even before California residents and businesses had to grapple with the power crisis engulfing the Golden State, the Salinas Auto Mall dealers were taking big steps to cut their energy use while still providing a safe shopping environment for their customers. When we first designed the new Salinas Auto Mall, we made a major purchase of high-intensity, low-energy lights for the entire mall, says Max

June 1, 2001

Oh, Metallics, I Love Hue

Metallics still are the top choice for many of today's car buyers, according to BASF Corp.'s recently released annual forecast of popular car colors. The trend for North America is dominated by metallic, and that's not exclusive to silver, says Jon Hall, manager of color development for BASF's Automotive OEM Coatings business group. Copper and gold metallic colors continue to be fresh looking, with

June 1, 2001

Nonprime surge helps WFS sales boost

Rising nonprime loan volume in vehicle sales has triggered new records in sales and profits for WFS Financial, whose CEO, Joy Schaefer, predicts a continuing uptrend this year, but at a slightly slower rate because of the slowdown in domestic-brand sales. Based in Irvine, CA, WFS boosted its auto contracts 26% last year to $4.2 billion from $3.3 billion in 1999. Net income surged 42% to $74.7 million,

June 1, 2001

Daewoo Launches High-Risk Finance Scheme

SEOUL - Daewoo Motor Co. Ltd., bankrupt and limping along on creditor bank handouts, plans to sell 15,000 of its new '01 Lanos II compact cars - aiming to capture a full 20% of the domestic compact segment. The sales target is ambitious in the current down market. The 2000 Lanos II being replaced had total domestic sales of 18,673 units in a much healthier market, when they were being built and serviced

May 15, 2001

India’s Silicon Valley

BANGALORE India's lush garden district is as unlikely a place for an internationally acclaimed center of high technology as you're likely to find. A closer inspection, however, provides a better understanding of why some of the world's major corporations are locating development and test centers in this pleasant southern Indian city. They include America Online Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Delphi Automotive

By Mack Chrysler • May 1, 2001

Japan: Weak economy remains

Japanese automakers must be watching the new economic downturn in the U.S. with a weary, been-there, done-that eye. While the North American market just now is approaching its day of reckoning, the Japanese auto climate long has been grappling with its own high-stakes game of Survivor, which began about a decade ago when the bubble popped in its seemingly unstoppable economy. Japan's economy second

By KATHERINE ZACHARY • May 1, 2001

American Classics in Cuba

The ultimate irony is that these American symbols of the freedom to travel have found their home on an island to which Americans are not free to travel. Automobiles represent different things for different people. They can be status symbols, or simple everyday transportation, or collectors' items, or just a damn nuisance. But every now and then, the automobile can transcend being merely a machine

By John McElroy • May 1, 2001

COURT MEDIATING IS LIKE CAR DEALING

My experience as an automobile dealer and sales entrepreneur is extremely valuable in performing my duties as a court mediator. I'VE SERVED AS A MEDIATOR IN THE MEDIATION Center of the Pacific for the past decade. This post-retirement career began with several intensive weekend training sessions, followed by regular sessions in the local courts. The goal is to settle disputes in lieu of actual court

By Nat Shulman • May 1, 2001

$3.5 million dealership helps sales

I didn't expect the new building would boost business. MIDLAND, MI Seven years after he took over an ailing Chrysler-Plymouth Dodge store in this city of about 65,000, Bob Feeny has relocated into a new $3.5 million structure on the growing north side of town. Chrysler's great range of products has allowed me to fulfill this dream in only seven years, declares Mr. Feeny at his office right alongside

May 1, 2001

Softer economy is a good time to buy more dealerships

To see the Ward's Megadealer 100 list, click here. Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader For free download, click here. For more Wards Megadealer 100 information, click here. Auto sales reached a record level in 2000, and that truth is reflected in this years Wards Megadealer 100, which has evolved from just a list of the most successful dealer groups to a barometer of the automotive retail marketplace. Fueled

By Tim Keenan • May 1, 2001