dealersLARRY P. VELLEQUETTE So who won the Chrysler-NHTSA recall fight? 6:01 pm U.S. ET | June 18, 2013  Now that Chrysler Group has agreed to inspect and modify as many as 1.56 million older-model Jeep SUVs at the request of federal regulators, one inevitable question remains. Who won?... Read More »
Suzuki airbag warning lights probed by NHTSA 10:28 am U.S. ET | June 18, 2013  Federal safety regulators say they have opened an investigation into problems on two models of Suzuki vehicles for potentially malfunctioning warning lights for front passenger seats.... Read More »
Daimler-BYD JV says big China dealer group may sell Denza EV brandJune 18, 2013 13:46 CET  Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology, a 50-50 JV between Daimler and BYD, may sell its Denza-brand electric cars at Zhongsheng Group Holdings' dealerships, the partnership said.... Read More »
Toyota uses Twitter to show how Auris hybrid is madeJune 18, 2013 09:26 CET  Toyota will use Twitter to show how it builds the Auris hybrid at its UK factory. The company aims to reach new customers in what it says is a world-first social media project.... Read More »
Nissan price cuts, weaker yen raise fear of U.S. discount war 2:25 pm U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  Nissan's take-no-prisoners approach to gaining U.S. market share has the auto industry worried that a price war is brewing that will erode the profit progress made since the recession ravaged auto sales.... Read More »
BEST PRACTICES Austin dealer is the biggest show in town 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  Since instituting one-price selling, First Texas Honda has jumped from 380th among Honda dealerships in terms of sales volume to the top 30, and from selling 200 new and used vehicles a month to 450.... Read More »
Dealer O.C. Welch's big-truck turnaround 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  After Mercury's demise, South Carolina Ford-Lincoln dealer O.C. Welch had to find a way to replace lost revenue. He decided to load up on Super Duty pickups – and sell them online. It was a wise bet for this lifelong Ford guy, whose 80-hour workweeks allow him to reveal plenty of trademark traits. Among them, keeping an office on the sales floor, personally selling hundreds of vehicles a year, crusading for America and, lately, stamping out crime.... Read More »
Apple's bid to crack the center stack 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  Last week Apple executive Eddy Cue said 12 car brands will let motorists link iPhones to center consoles to make calls, send text messages, use maps and issue voice commands. So Apple is poised to invade the cockpit and take over the center stack, right?... Read More »
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Public awareness helps fight fraud 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013 Far too many times fraud takes place undetected for long periods. Then when it is discovered, minimal action is taken.... Read More »
GM poised to leap out of 'lease hole' 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  For nearly two years, GM dealers have been suffering through a shortage of off-lease customers. That's because leasing by GM dealers all but dried up in late 2008, amid the financial crisis, and didn't resume in earnest until mid-2010. Three years later, those first post-crash lessees are returning to Cadillac, Buick-GMC and Chevrolet showrooms.... Read More »
DAVID BARKHOLZ Like race for MVP, call centers pit old school, modernists 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  When we asked readers last month whether the business development center is obsolete, you'd have thought we had asked something as monumental as who should be Major League Baseball's MVP. Traditionalists argued for the BDC, reasoning that golden-tongued showroom stars couldn't use that magic on the phone or Internet. Modernists said no.... Read More »
Dealers reap more Internet leads 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013 Dealerships are seeing a surge of traffic on their Web sites and a greater willingness by shoppers to leave their crucial contact information, said data consultant Dataium. The brightening auto-selling climate combined with dealership Web-site improvements are prompting more Internet leads than a year ago.... Read More »
Toyota limits online warranties 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  Until a month ago, Acton Toyota of Littleton had a nice little side business for five years selling Toyota-sponsored extended service contracts over the Internet. Toyota Financial Services, though, pulled the plug on the business in May, prohibiting Acton Toyota and a handful of other dealerships from selling the contracts nationally online.... Read More »
Chrysler adds spiff to stair-step program 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  Chrysler Group has tweaked its stair-step sales incentives to make them more palatable to dealers, said Reid Bigland, the automaker's head of U.S. and Canadian sales. Starting this month, dealers who hit two-thirds of their monthly sales goal by the 20th of the month will receive extra payments related to the stair-step incentives.... Read More »
Dealers 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013  Dealers and organizations include the Ohio Automobile Dealers Association, Tom Heffernan of Tom Heffernan Ford in Lake City, Minn., Dennis Dubie of K-M Toyota in North Adams, Mass., Bill Vazac, general manager of Honda Cars of Corona in Corona, Calif., and Conley Byrnes, CEO of PSC Automotive Group.... Read More »
Dealer Buy and Sell 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 17, 2013 Buyers include Lithia, Garff, Pope, Fenton and Jenkins. Sellers include Roberson, O'Brien and Group 1.... Read More »
AutoNation's largest shareholder reduces stake to 32% 12:40 pm U.S. ET | June 14, 2013  AutoNation's largest shareholder, Edward Lampert, has reduced his stake in the nation's biggest dealership group to meet client redemptions from his main hedge fund.... Read More »
DealerTrack sued in U.S. court for racial discrimination 3:58 pm U.S. ET | June 13, 2013 Software vendor DealerTrack and its holding company are facing a federal lawsuit for alleged race discrimination filed by two former employees. DealerTrack wrote in a statement that it believes the defendants' claims do not have merit.... Read More »
Dealers can offer free SiriusXM trial to service customers 11:05 am U.S. ET | June 13, 2013  SiriusXM Radio is launching a program this summer that allows dealers to offer a complimentary two-month SiriusXM subscription to qualifying service customers.... Read More »
Green car sales growth faces challenges despite enticements 9:25 am U.S. ET | June 13, 2013  Dealers and analysts don't envision a huge leap in sales of hybrids and EVs any time soon despite still-high gasoline prices, a raft of price cuts and cheap lease deals on EVs. Other enticements include a steady stream of new green-car entries and hefty federal and state incentives.... Read More »
JIM HENRY Why some F&I time should be spent in the box 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 12, 2013  Most F&I insiders agree that customers dread the idea of spending time in the F&I office, also known as “the box.” But the F&I office has its supporters, too.... Read More »
Dealerships should adopt a standard reserve for legal protection, F&I experts say 6:00 pm U.S. ET | June 12, 2013 Dealerships should adopt a standard amount for dealer reserve as part of a detailed fair lending program to protect themselves from potential lawsuits driven by federal regulators' crack down on auto lenders, experts say.... Read More »
For Lincoln dealers, fine cheese and Jason Bourne hold key to brand makeover 1:11 pm U.S. ET | June 12, 2013  Ford is spending more than $1 billion to try to resurrect the Lincoln brand and it knows it needs not just better cars, but a luxury car-buying experience that will attract younger, better-educated and wealthier buyers. So it's putting its dealers through training at the Lincoln Academy, where they raise their consciousness and sharpen their senses with exercises including sampling cheese.... Read More »
JAMIE LaREAU Lincoln's maintenance cutbacks offer F&I opportunity 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 12, 2013  Some Lincoln dealers see opportunity in Lincoln's plan to trim its complimentary maintenance program from 4 years/50,000 miles to 2 years/24,000 miles starting with 2014 models.... Read More »
LINDSAY CHAPPELL More dealership employees = more sales? 12:01 am U.S. ET | June 12, 2013  Japanese-brand auto dealerships added 11,894 employees in the United States last year, according to a recent report from the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association in Washington.... Read More »
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Special Report
 Dealer O.C. Welch's big-truck turnaroundAfter Mercury's demise, South Carolina Ford-Lincoln dealer O.C. Welch had to find a way to replace lost revenue. He decided to load up on Super Duty pickups – and sell them online. Mon., June 17» Watch the Video |
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