Operations: Page 239

INTERNET-PHOBIA - NOW THAT’S SCARY!

"I KNOW WE HAVE TO BECOME MORE AGGRESSIVE with our Internet strategy, but I just can't seem to get my management team to cooperate."Such is the lament I often hear when discussing my company's Internet training program with dealers. Like any good sales consultant, I have been trying to ascertain a strategy for overcoming that objection. There is no one simple answer.The issue of gaining management

By Mark Rikess • Nov. 1, 1999

Here’s what F&I managers should do

The F&I Department is one of the most important profit centers in any dealership. A business manager has responsibilities to the deal-ership as well as to the customer and must have a thorough understanding of these duties to achieve success.Control the Sale: The F&I manager's job is to secure each sale and ensure that every vehicle sold is delivered.The manager also protects the gross by arranging

By George Jackson • Nov. 1, 1999

Explore the Trendline➔

Automotive Manufacturing

Production strategies are changing rapidly as tariffs and shifts in consumer buying patterns affect the industry.

By WardsAuto staff

Mitsubishi tries to wake up its image

It was a rude awakening for Mitsubishi Motors Sales of America when its own survey results revealed that fully 56% of American consumers had no idea that Mitsubishi sold cars in America. This painful dawning drove Mitsubishi to whip up its youth-savvy "wake up and drive" ad campaign to accompany its lineup - especially its U.S. signature car, the 2000 Eclipse sports coupe, which got a slick new redesign,

By KATHERINE ZACHARY • Oct. 1, 1999

Lightening Up for the 21st Century

As the century draws to a close, it's remarkable to ponder the advances and evolution in all aspects of society.Influenza, which once claimed as many lives as both world wars, is not the public health threat it once was. Smallpox is on the brink of eradication. American women and minorities won the right to vote. Einstein gave us the theory of relativity. A man walked on the moon.Yet in the face of

By Drew Winter, Tom Murphy • Sept. 1, 1999

HALF-TIME Report

Sonic Automotive just acquired stores in two of the fastest-growing markets - southwest Florida and Las Vegas, NV.The acquisitions add impetus to Sonic's new status as the third-largest publicly owned dealership consolidator.But other consolidators have been busy, too, both at making new acquisitions and at making money in the first half of the year.Sonic's gross revenues of $1.3 billion in the first

By Maynard M. Gordon • Sept. 1, 1999

Like Riding on Air

The heavy duty truck market discovered in the late '80s what "air ride" could do for the comfort and controllability of all manner of trucks. "Air ride" of course, is a euphemism for air springs - replacing conventional coil and/or leaf springs with pneumatically operated "springs."Air spring installations penetrated deeply and quickly into the heavy-duty truck market, but Firestone Industrial Products

By Tim Keenan • Sept. 1, 1999

Europe Cools Off -- AC on 60% of new cars, a big jump

Not long ago, those who couldn't take the heat were advised to leave the kitchen. Today, the American response is to simply get air conditioning, in your car, home, office, even your tent, for swanky catered outdoor parties.While the U.S. generally takes some lifestyle cues from Europe, in the realm of air conditioning it's the Americans setting the pace. Some Europeans still resist the trend (and

By Tom Murphy • Sept. 1, 1999

Microsoft CarPoint seminars offer instruction and advice

Want to save tens of thousands of dollars a year in service reminder mailings in this age of the Internet?Simply collect e-mail addresses from customers at every point of contact, says Robert Knight, a trainer for Microsoft's CarPoint customer referral system.He estimates that some stores can save more than $80,000 per year in service reminder mailings if they are done via e-mail.He also advises that

By Tim Keenan • Sept. 1, 1999

Where the (Color) Rubber Meets the Road

There's a building in Greenville, SC, that doesn't have a name on it. How the mailman finds it is anyone's guess. The people who work there carry no business cards.What they do in this building is so secretive that in a prior life they must have been wartime spies willing to chomp arsenic pills in the event they were captured by the enemy.For now, the secret is safe. But its keeper, French tiremaker

By Tom Murphy • Sept. 1, 1999

Push Shouldn’t Come to Shove

Opportunities are meant to be seized upon, but not even David Jac-obson, author of Non-Confrontational Power Selling, could have guessed his part-time DJ job would lead to a career in auto sales.In fact, he was actually apprehensive about moving into auto sales. He had interviewed at a dealership and the sales manager there had completely turned him off to selling cars."He told me how people get burnt

By Stacey Lewis • Sept. 1, 1999

How to figure out what makes your sales people tick

To paraphrase the old saying, "a good salesperson is hard to find." That's why today's smart sales manager does everything he can to keep talented salespeople. But in what really works?The most important thing to realize is that all successful salespeople have one thing in common: they are all competitive, proactive, assertive, aggressive and play to win.They love the risk of commission and asking

By Mary Ruth Austin • Sept. 1, 1999

NAFTA Success Story--Sanluis Rassini will quadruple its brake sales

Sometimes, large investments pay off handsomely.In the past few years, Mexican supplier Sanluis Rassini has poured $320 million into three new plants in Piedras Negras near the U.S. border and in Mexico City, as well as in a technical center in Plymouth, MI. The investments nearly matched the company's 1998 sales, which totaled $381 million.Part of the strategy was to cultivate Rassini's recent foray

By Tom Murphy • Aug. 1, 1999

Customer satisfaction not all there is

While customer satisfaction is necessary to any success business, we are learning that satisfaction alone is not enough to build a loyal customer base.Since the 1980's customer satisfaction has been the watchword for business. Everyone was rushing around to find ways to make customers happy by meeting and exceeding their expectations.The theory was that if customers were satisfied, they would buy

By Steve Walker • Aug. 1, 1999

HOW TO MAXIMIZE VALUE WHEN SELLING

In today's thriving economy, corporate mergers and acquisitions are making headlines.Technology companies, manufacturers and financial institutions are all consolidating, creating entities with critical mass - and the automotive industry is no exception to this trend.Automotive dealerships are rapidly changing hands as aggressive buyers swallow up smaller entities in an effort to dominate a region

By Paul Escobosa • Aug. 1, 1999

Are you Red, Blue, Green or Yellow?

Management By Strengths (MBS) is a program specifically designed to help companies increase productivity, improve customer satisfaction and employee morale, and create better communication through an improved understanding of how to work together more efficiently.The skills learned in the MBS program on ASTN enhance team building throughout an organization.MBS starts by analyzing surveys and creating

By Mike Postlewait • Aug. 1, 1999

AUTONATION WANTS NEW CO-CEO WITH STRONG AUTO INDUSTRY BACKGROUND

Steven R. Berrard will step down as co-CEO of AutoNation Inc.Mr. Berrard, 44, says he'll devote full time to his New River Capital Partners venture-capital company. But he will remain an AutoNation director.The firm is looking for a successor, a leader with a strong auto-industry background. Mr. Berrard says he'll stay on until his replacement is named. The executive recruiting firm, Korn/Ferry International,

Aug. 1, 1999

Timken’s 100 Years:From buggies to Boxsters

Say "Timken" and you might just as well say "bearings." Henry Timken invented the tapered roller bearing, various examples of which can be found in virtually any and every vehicle. The Timken Co. celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.At 61, Mr. Timken came out of five years of retirement from making buggy springs to concentrate on the problem of friction. He often said, "The man who could devise

Aug. 1, 1999

Proposed New York dealership training center is in the works

NEW YORK, NY - Nowhere is the need for a dealership training facility more acute than in the Northeast, say members of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association.Accordingly, the association wants to build a 90,000-sq.-ft. training and education center for prospective dealership employees and existing staff. Those include service technicians, sales people and office workers.The proposed center

By Steve Finlay • Aug. 1, 1999

Saab Finds its Stride with Luxury Wagon

DEL MAR, CA - Saab Cars USA had hoped its 1999 9-5 wagon would be a hit among car buyers looking at the luxury station wagon segment, and apparently the company's hopes are ringing true.The new wagon, which went on sale in April, is expected to help Saab grab at least 6.3% of the 60,000-unit luxury wagon segment expected for the U.S. this year. In 1998, about 48,000 import luxury sport wagons were

By Andrea Wielgat • July 1, 1999

Emissions Rules Up in the Air EPA, automakers forge ahead despite court ruling

federal appeals court threw in a monkey wrench at the eleventh hour, but for now the Environmental Protection Agency and automa-kers appear to be proceeding according to plan in dealing with proposed new Tier 2 vehicle pollution standards. As they are written now, the new rules will force automakers to sharply cut tailpipe emissions and oil refiners to produce much cleaner fuels beginning in 2004.Under

By DREW WINTER and DAVE ZOIA • June 1, 1999

Labs ‘Demystifying’ Ceramics Manufacturing

The Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories, five commercial ceramic manufacturers, and Los Alamos National Laboratory are studying methods to bring true "science" into ceramics production in an effort to create better products and slash costs."We are demystifying ceramics manufacturing," says Sandia scientist Kevin Ewsuk, who is spearheading the project. "In the past, new ceramic component

By Bill Visnic • June 1, 1999

The Velvet TouchMeat axe approach rarely works in mergers

It seems like everyday you pick up a newspaper you read about companies merging, one company buying out another, or selling or spinning off various parts of their business.I read somewhere that more than 60% of these mergers, buyouts, and such end up in failure. I'm sure that this figure is somewhat inflated because there are situations where one company buys out another company that's a "basket case"

By STEPHAN SHARF • March 1, 1999

The Greatest Show on Earth Detroit extravaganza is the best I’ve seen

Many of you reading this slogged through the ice to the Detroit auto show and saw that amazing display of new and future models. I'm writing this as the show opens. It will be long closed when you read it.We've got short deadlines in this monthly magazine. But I want to write about this show, anyway. It's that important.This was the best auto show I've ever seen, and I've been from Frankfurt to Birmingham

By Jerry Flint • Feb. 1, 1999

A Sardine Story There’s more to it than just buying and selling

There are industries such as computers, restaurants, gambling and maybe a couple of others where you can start with an idea and create an empire.But when it comes to manufacturing, it doesn't seem to happen anymore. Creating innovative products for consumers has been replaced with creative financial manipulation to increase stock prices.It's apparent that if you want to be a successful producer in

By STEPHAN SHARF • Feb. 1, 1999

Connolly Leather Fights Back You don’t have to buy a Rolls anymore to get it

LONDON - Anthony Hussey is a funny guy. With his British accent and a gentleman's charm, he is always ready with a witty phrase. For instance: "We don't really have a family tree - it's more like a family bramble."When his family business, the renowned U.K.-based Connolly Leather, was struggling with the concept of JIT (just-in-time) delivery, he came up with the term "NQIT," for "not quite in time."Here's

By Tom Murphy • Feb. 1, 1999