Dodge aims to solidify its performance cred

Gunning to be America's top automotive performance brand by 2025, Dodge is revving up its go-fast business plan.

The automaker last month launched its Power Brokers program that grants qualified U.S. dealers exclusive access to selling, stocking and installing Direct Connection parts and related services.

There are initially 100 designated Power Broker dealers. Those numbers could grow, a Dodge spokesman told Fixed Ops Journal, noting there are approximately 2,400 Dodge dealers in the U.S. While there's no cap on the number of Power Broker dealers, those chosen will have to be high performers in customer service.

The program requires dealers to select technicians, service advisers and parts employees who are dedicated to performance work and complete certification. The dealers also will be expected to hold performance clinics for Dodge's more passionate customers.

More details on the Direct Connection and Power Brokers programs are scheduled to be shared by the automaker this week.

Parts installation by a Power Broker dealer is mandatory to retain the vehicle's warranty coverage, emissions compliance and the performance part's 24-month, unlimited-miles warranty. Like its mid-1970s predecessor, the Direct Connection brand also will support race vehicles such as Dodge's latest Challenger Mopar Drag Pak.

Helfman Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram-Fiat in Houston is a Power Broker dealer.

"We talk to every customer about accessories," says Sam Debner, Helfman's head of parts and business development. "It will increase traffic on the showroom floor, and we're going to have access to other vehicles that non-Power Broker dealers may not have. There's more awareness on the service drive, and that should also increase sales."

Debner says selecting who would serve as Helfman's Power Broker performance concierges was easy. Service Director Adam Haner is not only an Automotive Service Excellence master technician, "he's a gearhead; he's had race cars and grew up in a family that had exotic race cars," says Debner.

"He's just a natural fit. It's the same with the other two people. There's nothing about hot rods they can't tell you."