Nestled in a small cabin with a fireplace, one wouldn’t expect to find an up-and-coming special finance department, but that’s the locale of the Audubon Credit Center, the newly-opened special finance department at Audubon Chrysler Center in Henderson, Ky. Mind you, the dealership did not build the cabin for housing ...
Many dealers dig into reports that spell out how many units each salesperson sold, how many ROs the service department has written and how many ancillary products the F&I office has sold. As informative as the data in those reports are, they are all history reports and don’t do much to drive more traffic or sales. Today, many dealers are digging through their ...
Unlike traditional financing, where a dealer earns his profit at the time of sale, BHPH dealers earn their profits over long periods of time. This business model, on more than a very small-scale operation, can quickly drive a dealer out of cash and business. The solution for many BHPH dealers is ...
No doubt, many finance offices feel like they’ve been on a bit of a roller coaster ride over the past 11 months, with finance companies tightening their belts, exiting the subprime sector, exiting leasing, dropping dealers or ...
As with any industry, the automotive retail industry has seen its fair share of buzzwords. The new buzzword in the industry is “right-size.” In order to avoid being a causality of the economy (NADA estimated 700 dealerships shut their doors in 2008), many dealers have been advised to ...
It’s no secret; dealer-generated leads close better than purchased, third-party leads. Not only can third-party leads get expensive, but some in the industry are saying third-party leads aren’t what they used to be.
“When they first started talking about this recession, I announced to my team, ‘There’s all this talk about a recession. I’m not participating. If you’re participating, you’re in the wrong room,’” said Jim Shorkey, dealer principal of Courtesy Suzuki and Jim Shorkey Kia in North Huntingdon, Pa.
Jennifer Murphy - Dealerships across the country are jumping on the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) bandwagon. Are you on it? If not, you are likely in the CRM minority because CRM is gaining momentum across the country.
According to a J.D. Power and Associates study, 86 percent of customers that purchased a new car were ...
For dealers today, subprime auto financing can certainly feel like an uphill battle. Many dealerships that are successful in special finance today are fighting for the small victories.
At an elementary level, dealers have Web sites to generate business, but to get the most out of the Web, dealers need much more than an elementary-level Internet strategy—especially if they expect their Web site to drive quality traffic.