Recent Stories
Avoid legal snags posed by remote sales

Many of the laws that apply to sales outside the dealership were written before the Internet. That can create potential legal problems for deals conducted remotely during the pandemic.
A ‘blind' approach to diverse hiring

A couple of points from Juanita Baranco, COO at Baran Co. in Atlanta, stole the show at NADA's Women Driving Auto Retail event Wednesday night.
Need service advisers? Fix job title

Business conditions are great for dealerships to recruit and retain service advisers, yet the ability to do so continues to be a weak spot.
Smaller teams can benefit dealerships

Speakers at the "Redesign Your People Strategy to Improve CX and Drive Profitability" workshop recommended breaking up the dealership organizational chart into smaller teams, with "tactical" and "strategic" responsibilities.
Low overhead and digital options are key as HAAH ramps up

Nicole Geenen is vice president of service operations for HAAH Automotive Holdings, which plans to introduce vehicles developed by China's Chery Automobiles to the U.S. market under the brand names Vantas and T-Go starting in 2022.
Service-only BDC aims to grow business via outreach, efficiency

BDC handles inbound customer calls for service appointments and also initiates calls, emails and text messages to drum up business from customers who, for instance, declined recommended service on their last visit.
Taking initiative helps keep business rolling

As state-mandated shutdowns stemming from the coronavirus pandemic slowed business in the service lane, many fixed ops directors reduced hours and, in some cases, limited appointments to emergencies only.
Metrics help service departments staff for rebound after pandemic shutdowns

Dealership service departments have routinely used data to measure what works and what doesn't. But the effective use of numbers to help steer fixed ops decisions is even more crucial to pull some service departments out of a deep hole.
Dealerships will need technicians as pandemic subsides, business returns

Concerns over the auto retail industry's chronic shortage of service technicians have taken a back seat during the coronavirus shutdowns. But the issue isn't going away.
Virus makes hands-on training hard for techs-to-be

The National Automobile Dealers Association says the industry expects around 39,000 newly trained service technicians in an average year. But 2020 isn't an average year.
Some ahead of the curve on pickup and delivery

Some dealerships that have already been offering pickup and delivery services in their service departments have an advantage now.
Battery complicates EV service contracts

The hard part for extended-service contract providers is that automakers already put extra-long factory warranties on EV batteries as a way to reduce consumer worries and to promote sales.
Limited range of early EVs, such as the Nissan Leaf, led to low demand that hurt resale values.
EV residual values concern lenders

Captives fear losses as the number of electric vehicles on the road increases.
Mitsubishi ready to bring its digital marketing game

The Mitsubishi brand is getting a makeover in the United States, including the first new dealership facility appearance package in 16 years and a new product lineup.
Porsche is a strong brand, but captive, ad support are weak spots

Porsche's 192 U.S. dealerships have a lot of reasons to be satisfied with the brand, and vice versa. An area for improvement would be captive Porsche Financial Services, which offers retail and lease incentives but not floorplan or capital improvement financing.