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Top Stories
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Analysts say Ford could report 3rd-quarter profit
Ford Motor Co. could report a surprise third-quarter profit when it reveals its earnings next week, as well as an operating profit in its long-struggling North American division, JP Morgan analysts said Monday during a presentation to investors, the Detroit Free Press reports. "This would be the first time North America is not in the red in recent memory," JP Morgan analyst Himanshu Patel said. Throughout the year, Ford has gained respect from consumers because it's the only domestic automaker that passed on emergency federal loans. Through September, Ford gained a full point of U.S. market share, even though it has cut incentive spending, according to Autodata Corp. On Monday, two JP Morgan analysts said those and several other factors would likely help Ford achieve a profit of 16 cents per share for the three months ending Sept. 30 when the company reports earnings at the end of this month. That estimate, which would translate into about $515 million, excludes special onetime charges.
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Move Ahead of your Competitors with Content Based SEO Strategies
By leveraging free and low-cost web publishing platforms, dealers can target any search phrases with effective content-based SEO strategies for Google page one dominance
More info on the Digital Dealer Conference
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Getting to the Inbox is No Longer Enough
What’s hot in e-mail marketing now
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GM's hiring headache
If you think General Motors should bring in some "new blood" to shake up its hidebound corporate culture, CEO Fritz Henderson agrees with you. He just has one problem, CNNMoney reports. "I would say, in regard to the ability to attract from the outside, we do need to get final confirmation on how we pay people," Henderson said during a recent interview in the carmaker's New York City offices. Since its government-backed restructuring, GM has not been able to get pay packages for the company's top 25 employees approved from the Treasury Department. In order to make GM more competitive, industry analysts and even the Treasury Department say that the company needs to change its rigid corporate culture. But GM's hands seem tied when it comes to bringing in outsiders. Just last week Henderson said he was considering an outsider to replace departing sales executive Mark LaNeve, who left on Oct. 15. Hours after saying that, he named Susan Docherty, a long-time GM employee who had been head of the Buick and GMC brands.
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Chrysler's product plans to be shown in 'six-hour extravaganza'
Some industry analysts are calling it "a six-hour extravaganza," the Windsor Star reports. That's the length of time Chrysler Group LLC has allotted for the public unveiling of its long-awaited, five-year product and business plan. Journalists and auto analysts will gather at the Technology Centre at the automaker's Auburn Hills, Mich., headquarters Nov. 4 to hear CEO Sergio Marchionne finally release details of how he intends to integrate Fiat and Chrysler in a way that ensures the No. 3 automaker's survival. Although his revival efforts face an avalanche of skepticism, the Italian-Canadian CEO is being compared to industry icon Lee Iacocca. Following a speech recently to the Detroit Economic Club, U.S. Transportation SecretaryRay Lahood said Marchionne is "the next generation of Lee Iacocca.
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OnStar disables gas pedal, thwarts carjacking
When two Visalia, Calif., police officers swung their cruisers behind a sport utility vehicle that had been carjacked at gunpoint early Sunday, they prepared for a dangerous high-speed chase, The Associated Press reports. The 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe roared away with officers in pursuit, but shortly after the suspect made a right turn, operators at General Motors Co.'s OnStar service sent a command that electronically disabled the gas pedal and the SUV gradually came to a halt. The flustered thief got out and ran, but was quickly nabbed after he climbed several fences and fell into a backyard swimming pool, police said. It was the first time since OnStar began offering the service in the 2009 model year that it was used to end a chase that could otherwise have had dire consequences. "He wouldn't have pulled over if OnStar hadn't have shut the vehicle down," said Visalia Police Sgt. Steve Phillips. "Generally pursuits end in a collision."
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Dealer's attorneys want case trown out due to invalid tapes
Attorneys for former Chattanooga auto dealer Joe Prebul are asking that criminal charges against him be dismissed on grounds that 10 tape-recorded conversations used by prosecutors are invalid and could not be used in the trial, Chattanooga.com reports. Prosecutors in the case being handled in Federal Court in New York City asked that the motion be dismissed, saying the government only plans to use three of the 10 tapes. Attorneys said last week they are in settlement talks, but they continue to prepare for a possible trial. Prebul, 48, of Signal Mountain, faces 11 counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud. Each of the counts carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of the greater of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. A criminal complaint had been filed against him Feb. 10 in New York after his brother-in-law, Danny Bensusan, went to authorities saying he had been bilked out of millions of dollars. He was indicted on the charges in April. His Prebul Auto Group filed for bankruptcy, and it has been split up and sold. He recently filed for personal bankruptcy. Defense attorneys said Prebul didn't know he was being taped on any of the calls with the Bensusans.
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Automakers association protests California 'cool cars' proposal
An association representing the biggest foreign automakers wants California to drop its "cool cars" proposal to require vehicles sold there, starting in the 2012 model year, to limit solar energy entering vehicles, The Detroit News reports. If California persists, the automakers say, they'd have to build vehicles just for Golden State buyers. The "cool car" regulation takes effect in 2012 and requires new vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or less to prevent 45 percent of the energy from the sun from entering a vehicle by 2014, and 60 percent by 2016. The idea is to reduce the use of air conditioning, which burns more gasoline and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. In a letter released Monday, the Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the trade association whose members include Toyota Motor Corp ., Honda Motor Co., Nissan Motor Corp., Hyundai Motor Corp. and other foreign automakers, asked the California Air Resources Board to reconsider its plans.
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Fewer auto loans approved
In a reversal of the recent positive trend that saw an uptick in auto loan approvals, fewer auto loans were being approved in September and October, AutoLoanDaily reports, citing CNW Research data. CNW Research looked at consumers in three categories of credit scores (prime: 750+, near-prime: 620-749 and sub-prime: 620 and below). In June, 88.9% of all car loan applications from prime consumers were approved, increasing to 91.7% in August. In September though, only 88.4% of prime car shoppers were approved. So far in October, only 86.2% were approved. Consumers with near-prime FICO scores also saw the same decline in auto loan approvals during September and October. In August, 83.07% of near-prime consumers were approved, while only 78.93% were approved so far in October. Those in the sub-prime category don’t seem to be having much luck getting approved for auto financing. Almost 20% of sub-prime car shoppers were approved in July, while 16.5% were approved in September. Why are less people being approved for auto loans now? CNW Research reports that more than a third of the car loan rejections are “people coming to market with poorer FICO scores now believing they can get an auto loan.”
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Ford teams with Best Buy to offer Sync assistance
Ford Motor Co. has entered a partnership with electronics retailer Best Buy Co. to help Ford owners purchase cell phones that better fit with their Sync voice-activation system, Dow Jones Newswires reports. Best Buy will keep a list of cell phones that are the most compatible with the Sync system for consumers who want to pair the two technologies together. Sync, an in-vehicle system co-developed with Microsoft Corp., allows drivers to change radio stations and answer telephone calls through voice activation. Ford is also considering expanding clinics at Best Buy locations to demonstrate how the cell phone and Sync can be linked together, said John Felice, general manager of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury marketing. The move continues Ford's push over the past two years to promote the technology aspects of its vehicles as it looks to attract younger consumers. Chief Executive Alan Mulally will provide a keynote address - for the second straight year - at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next year.
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Stop Chasing Shiny Objects
How to get ahead and stay ahead by changing the way you manage everything about your Internet marketing
More info on the Digital Dealer Conference
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Selection, Hiring, Orientation, and Training
Giving new hires a S.H.O.T. to be successful in the Internet department
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GMAC will sell property-casualty insurance business
GMAC Inc., the lender that received two government bailouts, will sell its U.S. consumer property- casualty insurance business to American Capital Acquisition Corp. after posting losses in seven of the past eight quarters, Bloomberg News reports. The deal includes GMAC operations insuring cars, commercial fleets and recreational vehicles, the company said in a regulatory filing today; terms weren’t disclosed. AmTrust Financial Services Inc., a New York-based insurer, said separately it will invest $42.5 million in American Capital, which doubles its sales force with the acquisition. GMAC is selling insurance units as it tries to rebound from losses tied to home and auto loans. The Detroit-based lender reached a deal in November to sell a reinsurance business and two insurance units to Maiden Holdings Ltd. “This is getting them additional capital,” said Mirko Mikelic, who helps oversee $19 billion at Fifth Third Asset Management in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Proceeds from the sale are likely to be relatively small, he said. “It was one of the businesses that was just hanging in there.”
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Compliance Corner
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Suspicious activity reports
by Gil Van Over
I was in a Chevrolet dealership recently when a customer came in and wanted the dealer to deactivate his vehicle’s .jpg?i=102309120147) Onstar feature. His reason? Since the Feds owned part of General Motors, he didn’t like the idea of the Feds being able to track his comings and goings through Onstar. Similarly, I constantly hear stories of customers who become nervous customers when they discover that you will file the required 8300 report with the Feds. There seems to be a not so peaceful, uneasy feeling when dealing with reports of our activities to the Feds. Perhaps, unknown to you, there may be reports being sent to the Feds naming your dealership as participating in bank fraud on a regular basis, and you don’t even realize the reports are being submitted.
[FULL STORY]
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Dave Anderson Quote of the Week
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You can’t shrink your way to greatness! You must grow your way to greatness!
-- Dave Anderson, Learn to Lead, Inc.
Order Dave's new book and get a $99 bonus! Click Here!
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Dealer Advocate
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You can’t win if you don’t play
by Jim Ziegler
Excuse the rant that follows if it does not apply to you. We are on the brink of an incredible resurgence in business.jpg?i=102309120147) and an upsurge in the economy. That is…if some of you, a very slight few of you, don’t get on it…get moving and get motivated. In recent months, as I have repeatedly predicted, there have been extreme winners and severe losers in our business. Some of those who have lost heavily lost through no fault of their own…but they went down fighting. I’ve seen great dealers taken down and broken, even though they had invested heavily in the manufacturers’ agenda…and financially furthered the manufacturers’ position. And I’ve seen a few (very few) weak-ass suck-ups rewarded with survival and then additionally given the plunder taken from other dealers who were more deserving…while productive dealers were taken down, incompetents, entitlement mentality bottom-feeders, and factory-lackeys were given the spoils. These pretenders were rewarded not so much for their sterling business acumen, but more so for their ability to kiss the appropriate butts and donate to the proper political party. While I write this, west Texas particularly comes to mind. But, once again, after the dust has cleared, some people played and lost, but the only winners were those that played…regardless of the odds. If you weren’t in the game to start with…then it stands to reason you’re not still at the final table. Without exception, every non-player has left the building. That’s where I’m coming from. Last December, when the odds said I should fold my hand and go out of business after 23 years, my choice was to aggressively attack the market. It was a lot of work and a lot of risk…but now I’m back and business is stronger every day, financially solvent, and extremely vibrant. Will it last? Who cares – I’m in the moment. I’m certainly not going to project and dwell on possible future negatives. I’m cashing the checks now. Read more
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In Dealer magazine
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Don't let winning a battle cost you the war!
by Dave Anderson
Some .jpg?i=102309120147) of you are already backsliding! The recent sales upswing has caused you to lose focus on the changes you made to right your dealership’s course in the midst of the downturn. You’re getting sloppy with procedures and budgets, loose with accountability and careless with inventory! Tragically, winning a couple of business battles can cause a relapse of complacency that costs you the war. This is because we tend to forget lessons learned during crises once the imminent danger and survival threat has disappeared. In addition, the natural sense of optimism most leaders demonstrate prompts them to play best-case scenario too early, too often following a downturn. It’s like recovering from a heart attack: after a period of intense exercise and diet, you’re back to donuts, Dominos and the Discovery Channel. How long your team stays focused on the disciplines, procedures and cost-controls you implemented during the economic meltdown depends largely on your own commitment to the changes you’ve made. Following are five sample areas where you may have gotten personally off track. Look objectively at this list of offenses to discover where you need to correct your course. Read more
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