Dealership upgradesJaguar launches plan to spruce up U.S. storesMay 17, 2013 06:01 CET  Jaguar is rolling out a plan to refurbish its U.S. dealerships in preparation for a wave of new products. Regional Jaguar teams are going "door-to-door" to discuss the new corporate identity standards, starting with about 50 older stores.... Read More »
Jaguar launches plan to spruce up stores 12:01 am U.S. ET | May 13, 2013  Jaguar is rolling out a plan to refurbish its U.S. dealerships in preparation for a wave of new products. Regional Jaguar teams are going "door-to-door" to discuss the new corporate identity standards, starting with about 50 older stores.... Read More »
N.J. store sues Chrysler over termination 12:01 am U.S. ET | May 13, 2013 A Chrysler Group dealership in central New Jersey has filed a lawsuit to stop the automaker from terminating the dealership's franchises.... Read More »
LETTER TO THE EDITOR Car customers value efficiency 12:01 am U.S. ET | April 22, 2013 Automakers undergo intense manufacturing cost scrutiny to produce their products more efficiently. Why, then, do those same automakers impose unnecessarily expensive dealer facility requirements, which counteract their production savings?... Read More »
Mazda revising store plan; goal is upscale look 12:01 am U.S. ET | April 8, 2013  Mazda is developing new designs for its U.S. dealerships even as dealers continue to adopt the brand's 10-year-old Retail Revolution facility program.... Read More »
N.Y. service center opens, and the rest is history 12:01 am U.S. ET | April 1, 2013  Gary Flom, owner of Bay Ridge Ford, did the near-impossible in New York City. He found an 88,000-square-foot parcel with a 33,000-square-foot building. "That might not sound like a lot to a dealer in Texas but for New York, that's a giant piece of land," he says.... Read More »
LEGAL FILE Nissan store asks judge to rethink arbitration order 12:01 am U.S. ET | March 25, 2013 A Florida dealership that sued Nissan North America over remodeling funds must arbitrate the dispute, a federal judge ruled last month. Now the store wants the judge to reconsider.... Read More »
BRIGHT IDEA More dealers choose LEDs for outdoor lighting 12:01 am U.S. ET | March 18, 2013  A small but growing group of dealers switching to LED lights, particularly for outdoor lighting, because of their low operating costs and natural-looking light.... Read More »
Service moves up front 12:01 am U.S. ET | March 11, 2013  Bill Underriner is building the dealership of the future. Underriner's new dealership reflects what architects and industry leaders say is a growing trend: dealerships putting the service department in the front of the building, next to the showroom.... Read More »
NADA study: Factories need to back off 12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 18, 2013  What will the ideal new-car dealership of 2025 look like and how will it operate? Much different from the dealership of today, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association's phase two facility study.... Read More »
Dealers cheer Ford facilities plan 12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 18, 2013  By offering to match dealers' spending on facility renovations dollar-for-dollar up to $750,000 per store, Ford has taken an already good program and made it even better, dealers say.... Read More »
NADA CONVENTION Underriner: Ease rules on stores 12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 18, 2013  With little payback proved, automakers should back off demands on dealers for massive investment in facility image programs, outgoing NADA Chairman Bill Underriner told dealers.... Read More »
Store redos still bring iffy returns 12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 11, 2013  With industry sales getting better, manufacturers' facility renovation programs aren't as painful for dealers as they were a year ago. But expansive new dealership buildings still aren't worth the millions of dollars dealers invest in them, a National Automobile Dealership Association study concludes.... Read More »
EDITORIAL Rethinking auto dealership renovations 12:01 am U.S. ET | Feb. 11, 2013 A year ago, the issue of facility improvements reached a critical point in the relationship between auto manufacturers and their franchised dealers. Today, the tone is decidedly different. But there are still issues for the auto executives, dealers and others.... Read More »
Ford to help refurbish stores 3:28 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 10, 2013  Ford brand will offer dollar-for-dollar matching funds up to $750,000 to dealers who refurbish their facilities in line with the Ford Trustmark design program, the company told dealers at its make meeting today during the National Automobile Dealers Association convention.... Read More »
Lincoln's 'touch points' 6:16 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 10, 2013  Dealer Dan Pfeiffer, left, of Pfeiffer Lincoln in Grand Rapids, Mich., examines what Lincoln calls its "customer touch points" color palette with Michael Harmon, dealership facility services program manager, at the Ford Motor Co. exhibit. "Customer touch points" within the dealership are those points of interaction with customers that help to create the overall branded experience.... Read More »
AMY WILSON Some dealers look past facility programs to sales, profits 4:30 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 10, 2013  What a difference a year makes. While facility programs continue to cause great concern -- and consternation -- among dealers, the intensity surrounding the issue has subsided since 2012's National Automobile Dealers Association convention.... Read More »
NORTH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW New rules coming for Jaguar stores 12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 21, 2013  Jaguar Land Rover North America will announce new standards this spring for the interiors of Jaguar dealerships, said CEO Andy Goss.... Read More »
Tesla readies first China store 5:50 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 15, 2013  Tesla Motors plans to open a dealership in Beijing -- its first store in China -- this spring to establish a niche for its Tesla Model S electric sedan. George Blankenship, the company's vice president of worldwide sales, said the store will house an 8,000-square-foot facility, much larger than its U.S. stores, which typically have 2,500 to 3,000 square feet of floor space.... Read More »
Lincoln's latest model: A showcase store 12:01 am U.S. ET | Jan. 14, 2013  Lincoln executives will be bringing the brand's dealers from around the country to Hines Park Lincoln in Plymouth, Mich. The message: Emulate this store. Mike Kolb, president, and his son, Ryan, vice president, just reopened the store last month after a radical nine-month, roughly $3 million renovation.... Read More »
How GM lost an Oklahoma dealer 12:01 am U.S. ET | Dec. 24, 2012  Marc Heitz, a major Chevrolet dealer in Oklahoma, last week sold his hunting lodge-style store in Norman rather than change the facade and interior to comply with General Motors' facilities standards.... Read More »
Money helped keep some smaller stores alive 12:01 am U.S. ET | Nov. 5, 2012  Most of the $180,000 that Tom Wagar's Buick-GMC dealership received from General Motors' Essential Brand Elements program over the past few years was intended to go toward a makeover of his Gaylord, Mich., store. But only about one-third of it did. The rest went to pay bills.... Read More »
EDITORIAL Factory should reward dealer's investment 12:01 am U.S. ET | Oct. 29, 2012 Chevrolet's attempt to force dealer Marc Heitz to make his unique dealership in Oklahoma conform to the brand's blue-arches facilities standards is about as wrongheaded as can be.... Read More »
NADA blasts automakers on facility programs, stair-step incentives 3:57 pm U.S. ET | Oct. 23, 2012  The chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association today criticized manufacturers for "intrusion" into dealers' operations by requiring facility renovations and creating two tiers of pricing for retailers. "Two-tier pricing and mandatory facility upgrades are symptoms of a bigger overall problem: manufacturer intrusion into dealers' businesses," NADA Chairman Bill Underriner said during a speech to the Automotive Press Association in Detroit.... Read More »
Sporty store is a no-go at GM 12:01 am U.S. ET | Oct. 22, 2012  Just as the U.S. auto industry was heading into a deep recession in 2008, Chevrolet dealer Marc Heitz opened a $20 million dealership in Norman, Okla., modeled after outfitter Bass Pro Shops. Only one problem: General Motors says the store fails to comply with Chevrolet's new facilities standards.... Read More »
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