Continuing with his recent theme of leveraging holiday trends to move metal, Paul Potratz asked dealers if they’re marketing to people as things are happening in their lives, especially with Thanksgiving coming later this week. The chief operating officer and founder of Potratz Partners Advertising gave an example of how people likely will be traveling […] [Read More]

The latest models of popular pickup trucks are already at work in Texas dealerships, serving as drop spots for a holiday toy drive. Gunn Automotive Group announced this week that its dealerships have teamed up with Toys for Tots to spread cheer to children across the San Antonio area. All six stores — Gunn Acura, […] [Read More]

As the holiday shopping season is set to start in full force this week with Black Friday, it seems customers have a little less room to consider an auto purchase. Dataium reported a softening in its monthly Automotive Shopper Intensity (ASI) Index for October, as it decreased 1.8 percent from rates seen in September. The […] [Read More]

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Hyundai and Kia both announced vehicle recalls in states where snow and ice — and materials used to treat highways in those places — are common. The largest campaign covers 79,867 units as Kia is recalling certain model year 2006 through 2012 Kia Sedona vehicles manufactured from June […] [Read More]

As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, Edmunds.com turned its attention to end-of-month used-car sales projections, saying Thursday that it believes November will finish up with about 2.66 million used cars sold. This would represent a SAAR of 36.5 million. The November monthly unit sales projection would be decrease from October used-car sales of 3.04 million, but […] [Read More]

In this tight used supply environment, creating loyal, repeat customers can be extremely pivotal for a dealership, as trade-ins have been highly sought-after. That said, a Maritz research study shows that many dealers have a lot of room for improvement when it comes to retaining open lines of communication with customers after they leave their […] [Read More]

In the latest online video in his series, “Hard Facts with Dennis Galbraith,” the chief marketing officer of Potratz Advertising offered advice not only to turn that inventory that’s getting long in the tooth, but also how to leverage the most out of those vehicles he said are “hotter than donut grease.” Galbraith began with […] [Read More]

Along with announcing the lineup of model year 2014 vehicles that will be tested as part of the agency’s 5-Star Safety Ratings Program, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration updated advertising guidelines for vehicle manufacturers, dealers and advertising agencies. The agency explained on Thursday the updated guidelines now explicitly state that ratings are always whole […] [Read More]

As a host of retailers are getting ready for the holiday shopping season filled with everything from huge televisions to those memorable Christmas sweaters, Paul Potratz asked dealers if they’re prepared to move some metal and more on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Along with tips about how long an entire campaign should last, the […] [Read More]

Autobytel revealed Wednesday it has chosen its Dealer of the Month for September, recognizing a store that opened its doors over a century ago in 1908. The company has given the honor to Tony Thorstad, Internet sales director of Smart Motors Toyota in Madison, Wisc. Thorstad joins Patti Scipione of M’Lady Nissan, Paul LeRose of […] [Read More]