Innovative Dealers Insight
Civic dutyIf Berkeley Honda dealer principal Steve Haworth looks familiar to families around the San Francisco Bay Area, that's a good thing. Haworth has been spending almost as much time in front of school groups helping them raise money as he has selling Civics and Odysseys. But the two activities are now intersecting big time, he says. [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | Oct. 8, 2007 |
Midnight ramblersPlaza Pontiac-Buick-GMC has given residents of Omaha, Neb., a new activity for date night: indoor car shopping. Customers can check out the interiors of 160 new and used vehicles in the dealership's 53,000-square-foot showroom until midnight every day. [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | Oct. 8, 2007 |
Betting on the NetLike a lot of good ideas, the extra-large and successful Internet sales department at Courtesy Chevrolet in Phoenix is the result of 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. “It didn't happen overnight,” says Scott Gruwell, 33, director of new vehicles. “It evolved.” [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | Oct. 8, 2007 |
Mall magnetAndrew Gill got a Hyundai franchise in 1998 but dropped it after six months. He says he wasn't impressed with the quality of the product. By the time Gill bought a Hyundai dealership in Athens, Ga., early last year, the automaker's lineup had improved considerably. The challenge, he says, was getting that message across to consumers. [SUB] 12:01 am U.S. ET | Oct. 8, 2007 |
