Dealers Slowly Warm Up to Digital Marketing Sep 5, 2008 8:38 AM, WardsAuto.com, By Steve Finlay “When there’s a proposal to spend $25,000 on digital advertising, you’ve never heard so many skeptical questions.”
GM Sees Weaker August Sales, Says Industry Has Hit Bottom Sep 3, 2008 5:25 PM, WardsAuto.com, By James M. Amend The auto maker’s sales mix richened in the month with more trucks and SUVs, due to a combination of ’08-model clear-outs and lower prices at the pump.
Existing Customers Most Important Sep 2, 2008 9:28 AM, WardsAuto.com, By Steve Finlay Dealership chain Lithia Motors crunches numbers to determine who are the 100,000 sales customers and 100,000 service customers most likely to buy again.
Web Tactics:Tips for using the Internet to increase sales and satisfaction Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Cliff Banks As an industry, we sometimes make the Web too complicated. We get caught up in the technology and the process, and ignore the simple things that can take a dealership to the next level.
In the early years of the Internet, the dealerships doing the best online typically had a sharp Internet manager driving the success.
Dealer Touts Benefits of Switching to Speedy Email Surveys Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Steve Finlay If a customer has a problem with his dealership, Vince Palladino of Palladino Honda wants to know about it fast. It's not good enough to learn of a disgruntled
How To Get Powerful Results from Your Search-Engine Marketing Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Jim Leman Many dealers know the importance of Search Engine Marketing (SEM). They also realize a reputable SEM vendor or savvy Internet marketing expert can help
Editorials
Auto Industry's Problem Child Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, BY STEVE FINLAY First leasing was good. Good for the auto industry, because it moved product. Good for consumers, because it offered an alternative to outright vehicle
How I Miss the Way We Were Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, BY PETER BRANDOW It seems that people think any deal is hiding a lie if it requires a computer to tally. My love of gadgetry wants to dismiss that notion as simple minded,
Saving a Dealer Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, Cliff Banks Editorial Director 248-799-2649 cbanks@wardsauto.com I don't do it often, but every so often, I feel the need to brag. In March, we wrote a story and a column about Tator Dodge in South Salem, NY, one of
Politicians Here Don't Get It Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, Drew Winter Beginning in the 1980s, demolished by neglect became a popular catch phrase to explain all that was wrong with the city of Detroit's crumbling core. Activists
Finance & Insurance
Handle Subprime With Care Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Jim Lawrence Every new-vehicle dealer in the country is in the subprime business. They may or may not explicitly understand this reality, but as reports show, dealers
Will Banks Fill Leasing Void? Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Derek Stark The nation's top-selling Chrysler-brand dealer, who depends heavily on leasing to move the metal, expects banks to fill the void left when Chrysler Financial
Reduction In Home-Equity Loans Hurts Automotive Sales Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Mac Gordon Nearly 2 million new cars were purchased with home-equity loans in 2007, but that source of vehicle financing is shrinking this year in response to the
New Interface Connects Auto Dealers to Credit Unions Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business
DealerTrack Holdings Inc. has a new interface linking dealers with credit unions served by Aimbridge Lending Solutions, a provider of lending technology
Toyota Financial Moves 3 and Hires 1 Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business
Toyota Financial Services has shuffled three senior executives and hired a new one. Dave Pelliccioni, senior vice president-sales and marketing, takes
Fixed Operations
Forecast Fixed-Ops Finances Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Lee Harkins Fixed-operations financial forecasting can be a task for dealerships. Managers often get overwhelmed with bringing all the components together. Even if
News
Get Ready for Even Higher CAFE Levels Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Christie Schweinsberg While the auto industry currently is focused on the looming 35-mpg (6.7 L/100 km) fleet fuel-economy requirement coming in 2020, an American Honda Motor
Ford Hopes To Go Up, Up and Away with Small-Car Plan Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Derek Stark When feeling the stress caused by the sharp downturn in U.S. sales and accelerated shift in demand from trucks to cars, Ford Motor Co.'s Mark Fields finds
GM Wants Robust, Timely Consumer Credits for Plug-Ins Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By James M. Amend General Motors Corp. urges lawmakers in Washington to think about consumers' pocketbooks as they move closer to drafting climate-change policy. Energize
Survey Says Americans Favor Foreign Car Brands Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By James Amend American consumers favor Asian and German auto makers, which could force the Detroit Three to adopt more aggressive pricing, a survey suggests. Satisfaction
GM Delays Meeting with Detroit Dealers Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Steve Finlay General Motors Corp. has postponed a meeting it scheduled with metro Detroit dealers to discuss its employee-discount purchase program. Some dealers were
Awards for Ward's Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business
Ward's Automotive Group lands three national awards and one regional award in the American Society of Business Press Editors editorial excellence competition.
You Can't Buy a Car Lady You're Dead! Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business
There are many reasons for consumers to check their credit report for errors. A Nebraska woman found one she couldn't believe. The report said she was
Repo King of Kansas City Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business
American Honda's Dick Colliver has labored in the auto industry for 50 years. Colliver, now a senior vice president, served stints at several auto makers,
Career Switch To Dealerships Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business
With U.S. home sales at a 10-year low, many mortgage industry professionals are looking to switch careers, many of them seeking jobs in fields that, like
Articles
Inventories Laden With Trucks Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By David E. Zoia At a quick glance, it would appear the industry has a fairly firm grip on the supply side of the equation heading into August, with some 4% fewer light
Who Needs Fullsize Trucks? Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Steve Finlay Buyers who didn't need big SUVs and pickup trucks in the first place play a role in the dramatic consumer shift away from those vehicles. So says industry
Is Hoot Wise as an Owl? Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Mac Gordon Veteran dealer Hoot McInerney has done the unheard-of after selling Cadillacs for half of his nearly 60 years in auto retail. The impending octogenarian
Saturn Shoots for the Moon Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Herb Shuldiner Brushing aside rumors that his brand will be orphaned by General Motors Corp., dealer Todd Ingersoll proudly shows off his new Saturn of Danbury (CT)
New Saturn Store Opens Amid Leasing Fuss Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Mac Gordon Danbury, CT General Motors Corp.'s sales chief came to this New England town to show off an ultra-modern new dealership building on a day when the headlines
The Wheel of Misfortune Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Jim Leman Could the gambling habits of one of your employees add up to a big loss for your dealership? Consider these offenses committed against dealerships last
Stop Dealership Crimes By Recognizing Red Flags Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business
Fraud-prevention experts cite the following red flags that might indicate hanky-panky is going on under your nose: Secretive behavior at work at unusual
5 Fraud Cases: What Dealers Didn't Do Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Mac Gordon Are you exposing your dealership to thefts of up to six figures because of inadequate safeguards and reviews of what controllers, finance and insurance
Ford's Warranty Costs Drop Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Byron Pope Ford Motor Co.'s warranty costs are dropping rapidly as the auto maker seeks to meet an internal objective of besting the levels of its top Asian competitors,
Ward's Remarketing 150
It's Not Just the New Vehicles Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Cliff Banks A few weeks ago, at an auction in the Northeast, 23 fullsize Chevrolet Suburban SUVs passed through the lane. Not one received a bid. A dealer who was
WARD'S REMARKETING 150 Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business
Rank Dealership Owner/Principals City ST Total Revenue Used Units Used Revenue 1 Quality Auto Group John H. Fielder San Antonio TX $171,733,721 6,439
Dealership Management
Be Prepared with Your Plan B Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Tony Noland I may sound like a broken record in my continually urging you to right-size your operations. But I have heard from many dealers who say they have heeded
Green Is No Longer a Dream Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Don Ray John Eagle, a well-known Dallas and Houston car dealer, told me he was building a new dealership that would be Gold LEED Certified. Showing my ignorance,
Batten Down Those Hatches Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Phil Villegas If you own a dealership selling one of the Detroit 3 brands, you might be thinking the franchise is worthless. If you believe everything you hear, all
L.A. BMW Dealers End New-Store Protest Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Mac Gordon Clearing the way for a new BMW dealership to be built in the Los Angeles market, the California New Motor Vehicle Board has dismissed protests filed by
Technology
Technology Fine, But Limited Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Cliff Banks Is there such a thing as too much technology? Perhaps, a better question is, Are we relying on technology too much? The answer, I fear, might be yes.
Remarketing
Used-Car Dept. Short Changed Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Tony Albertson You may have worked hard to stock the right vehicles at the right price, but without sales people and a good sales process, you will fail. Our business
Penske Opens Used-Car Store Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By Mac Gordon Penske Automotive Group is expanding again in the pre-owned sector. In late 2007, the Bloomfield Hills, MI-based group opened two stand-alone used-vehicle
DealerTrack Adds Real-Time Market Pricing Enhancement Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business
DealerTrack Inc. has added real-time market pricing functionality to its InventoryPro inventory management solution for auto dealers. The free enhancement,
Big SUV Drivers Finding Ways To Get Out of Their Leases Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business
Some owners of big SUVs are using a service to help terminate their leases so they can get into smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. Despite the price
Internet Marketing
Dealers Need To Get Involved Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ward's Dealer Business, By David Kain I have a question for the dealer principals: How involved are you in your dealership's online efforts? Your involvement or lack of may determine whether
GM Sees Weaker August Sales, Says Industry Has Hit Bottom 
Web Tactics:Tips for using the Internet to increase sales and satisfaction 
