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News and Industry Features
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Rolling out 'Cash for Clunkers'
Dealers launch ad campaigns, Web sites
Auto dealers are starting to ramp up advertising built around the government's "cash for clunkers" program, even as they are growing more concerned that the incentives won't provide enough of a spark to revive U.S. auto sales, The Wall Street Journal reports today. Restrictions on eligibility combined with delays in launching the program -- which promises rebates as high as $4,500 -- have quashed hopes that the U.S. will see the same sort of car-shopping craze experienced by countries such as Germany and Brazil that implemented similar plans. Cash-for-clunkers, formally known as the Car Allowance Rebate System, will provide about $1 billion in federal funds as incentive money. Eligible owners of gas guzzlers will receive a credit if they turn them in and buy or lease a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle. The program was approved June 1, but final details on eligibility have yet to be released. That information is expected "on or around" July 24, according to the program's Web site, www.cars.gov. Dealers are gearing up with online and newspaper ads inviting potential buyers to stop by and see if they are eligible. Some dealers have set up special Web sites. But the lag between passage of the measure by Congress last month and implementation has cooled consumer sentiment, dealers across the country say.
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Survey: Ford may win Pontiac buyers as GM abandons brand
Ford Motor Co., the only major U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy, may be able to snag buyers as General Motors Co. ends production of the Pontiac brand this month, according to a survey, Bloomberg reports. Ford was the choice of 38 percent of consumers interested in GM’s Pontiac models, CNW Marketing Research found in a survey in June, before GM finished its bankruptcy restructuring. GM was favored by 33 percent of would-be customers for Pontiac.The results suggest possible gains for Ford, the second- biggest U.S. automaker, after GM pared its U.S. brands to four from eight. Retaining Pontiac buyers is pivotal to GM’s strategy to capture 18.5 percent of the auto market in the U.S., where the remaining marques had 16.5 percent of sales in June. “Ford has really started to gain some attention,” CNW President Art Spinella said in an interview yesterday from Bandon, Oregon, where the auto-research company is based. “Pontiac owners have gotten older, and they’re looking at Ford’s mainstream vehicles, like the Taurus and the Fusion.”
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U.S. retail sales rise, reflecting autos, gasoline
Sales at U.S. retailers rose in June, helped by incentives at car dealers and higher gasoline prices that boosted service-station receipts, Bloomberg reports. The 0.6 percent increase was larger than forecast and the biggest gain since January, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Purchases excluding automobiles and gasoline dropped for a fourth consecutive month. Consumers are seeking discounts at chains such as TJX Cos. and 99 Cents Only Stores, and are favoring necessities such as food and fuel over discretionary items...“Consumers are still very cautious,” said James O’Sullivan, a senior economist at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. “We need the labor market to pick up for the improvement to continue. The economy is still on track for a weak recovery in the second half of the year.” A separate government report today showed wholesale prices rose twice as much as anticipated in June, also reflecting a surge in gasoline costs. The Labor Department’s producer-price index increased 1.8 percent after a 0.2 percent gain in May.
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GM dumps sponsorships
For General Motors, it's lights out in the Big Apple and game over in Lansing. A federal judge let General Motors Co. shed dozens of sponsorship deals and pricey perks that included VIP suites at international speedways, naming rights for a Lansing baseball stadium and Times Square billboards, The Detroit News reports. The move frees GM from spending millions on marketing, sponsorship and promotion-related agreements that did not directly relate to the automaker's core operations. In all, GM shed 54 contracts, but it was unclear how much money the automaker -- once the nation's largest advertiser -- will save.
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Lutz sharpens GM brand focus
Cadillac will be General Motors' main weapon against rival European luxury marques such as Jaguar, BMW and Mercedes Benz, while the Buick brand will be pitted against Toyota's Lexus in the upscale North American car market, Bob Lutz, the Detroit carmaker's vice-chairman, said yesterday, The Financial Times reports. Lutz, 77, who was brought out of semi-retirement last week as part of the carmaker's drive to reinvent itself, said in a webchat that GM's remaining four brands would be given more recognisable identities as part of an overhaul of marketing and advertising strategy. "The vehicles will be increasingly differentiated," Mr Lutz said, citing the new Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain crossovers. "The new Buick design direction, coupled with a soft and luxurious driving experience, is radically different from the more angular and sporty Cadillac design direction. "Marketing needs to respect brand differences in how we advertise the various brands and to whom." Before he retired this year, Lutz was in charge of GM's product development. But his mandate has been broadened to include brand management, marketing and communications, giving him more exposure to customers.
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Behind Mercedes' $75 mil. E-Class push
With the launch of a $75 million campaign for Mercedes-Benz' 2010 E-Class, U.S. vp, marketing Steve Cannon sat down with BrandWeek to discuss the psyche of Mercedes owners, the role of "rational red meat" in the ads and why the automaker is creating mobile apps for the first time. Click the link to see excerpts of the interview, in which Cannon discusses the economy's impact on luxury consumers and what dealers are saying about today's market.
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iCrossing launches mobile site for Toyota Motor Sales USA
iCrossing, a global digital marketing company, announced the launch of a mobile site in support of the 3rd Generation Toyota Prius Hybrid for Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc., to provide consumers with vehicle and dealer information on their mobile phone browsers. iCrossing developed Toyota's first mobile site, which launched in December 2008, focusing on the full line up of Toyota vehicles specifically optimized for phone-browsing visitors.
[FULL STORY]
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CIMA Systems releases software aimed at boosting sales
CIMA Systems, a provider of multi-channel marketing communications technologies for the automobile industry, announced its latest software upgrade, designed to take full advantage of the newest technology trends in communications, the company said. The release offers "major enhancements" that allow for trends in the latest communications technologies and tools on the media horizon, according to CIMA, and enhances CIMA’s reporting tool allowing dealers to view trends in market penetration and zip code mapping analysis on all car deals and service repair orders.
[FULL STORY]
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Terminated Chrysler dealers offered free 'rebound' training
Former dealership general manager Dave Anderson is offering auto dealers who lost their Chrysler franchise agreements a free $1,500.00 training package to help their businesses rebound. Anderson, the president of LearnToLead and a popular Dealer magazine columnist, says, "As someone who used to manage a large group of dealerships in Northern California, I can just imagine how devastating it would be to have a major franchise terminated without warning. I want to do something for these guys. "While this offer of free training products and services won't change anyone's fortunes overnight, I hope they will help these former Chrysler dealerships rebuild their businesses," he says. "There are no strings attached, no "gotchas", no fine print. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I shoot straight." For more information click here
[FULL STORY]
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In Dealer magazine
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Overcome the seven deadly sins of management
by Dave Anderson
In a recent meeting with my team, we discussed reasons why leaders would make a conscious decision to not invest time or money into training their people. We came up with seven primary culprits. We could have added more, but the seven I’ll present here cover the majority of traits and tendencies that continue to cause people to suffer under an afflicted manager and remain average and uninspired as a result. Read more
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Digital Dealer
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Your dealership's biggest 'black hole'
by Dale Pollak
For as long as I can remember, dealers have always tracked their showroom traffic. “How many ups today?” is a familiar question. Some dealers use sophisticated customer relationship management systems to track this data; others use a more basic, paper-on-clipboard approach. Either way is OK. The money and time spent collecting this customer information is generally worthwhile. The data can often reveal important benchmarks valuable to any store—traffic that results from the latest ad campaign or the close ratios among salespeople on fresh and comeback customers. Good dealers are intuitive about these benchmarks. They know if they do a mailer to 5,000 customers, they’d expect to see 100 or more customers show up at their store. And, of those customers, they’d have expectations for their staff’s close ratios. For some reason, however, while this kind of data collection and customer tracking is ingrained in the brick and mortar operations of a dealership, it’s largely absent in dealership’s virtual showrooms—especially when it comes to used vehicles. Read more
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ARCHIVE
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Issue 48
July 8, 2009
Vol. 1
Issue 48
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Issue 47
July 1, 2009
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Issue 47
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Issue 46
June 24, 2009
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Issue 46
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Issue 45
June 17, 2009
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Issue 44
June 10, 2009
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Issue 43
June 3, 2009
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Issue 42
May 27, 2009
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Issue 41
May 20, 2009
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Issue 40
May 13, 2009
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Issue 39
May 6, 2009
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Issue 38
April 29, 2009
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Issue 37
April 22, 2009
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Issue 37
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Issue 36
April 15, 2009
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Issue 35
April 8, 2009
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Issue 35
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Issue 34
April 1, 2009
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Issue 34
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Issue 33
March 25, 2009
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Issue 33
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Issue 32
March 18, 2009
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Issue 32
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Issue 31
March 11, 2009
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Issue 31
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Issue 30
March 4, 2009
Vol. 1
Issue 30
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Issue 29
February 25, 2009
Vol. 1
Issue 29
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