HERNDON, Va. -

Volkswagen welcomed a new general manager of its pre-owned operations this week, bringing in a senior director from J.D. Power and Associates whose immersion in the car business goes back to his youth.

Now heading up the pre-owned side of VW is Scott Weitzman, who talked with Auto Remarketing on Tuesday to share some perspective about his new position, his goals for VW certified pre-owned and his experience in the business, which includes stops at Ford, Autobytel and J.D. Power.

Lifelong Car Guy

Before Weitzman was even licensed to drive one, he was surrounded by cars.

Growing up in New Jersey, Weitzman began working for DiFeo Automotive Group in the Northern part of the state as a youngster. He wore many hats throughout those early dealership days, serving in roles such as a service advisor, parts counter person and sales consultant.

Weitzman would also go on to work in fleet sales for the dealer group.

“I grew up in the automotive business,” Weitzman said. “My whole life, I was immersed and surrounded by the auto industry … It was in my blood one way or another and it’s been that way ever since.”

In fact, his mom, Gayle Epstein, still works in the car business at a company called Mile Fleet in South Florida.

Weitzman got his bachelor’s degree in economics at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and obtained his MBA in marketing at New York University. After graduate school, he jumped back into the auto business.

His tenure with Ford ran 10 years. He worked in several marketing and sales posts with the automaker. From there he went on to Autobytel.com, where he helped establish the company’s used-car offering in 2000.

From there, Weitzman moved to J.D. Power. As senior director of Internet research, he headed up the company’s online auto research and analysis. Weitzman’s duties also included examining the correlation between the Web and auto distribution channels in four syndicated channels.

Goals for VW Post

In his new position with VW, Weitzman said he certainly aims to continue growing the certified pre-owned program, but it’s not just about CPO. He wants to help the overall VW dealer body’s used operations by ensuring dealers are armed with the top tools and analytics to help them succeed.

Weitzman stressed that, “We want to make sure our dealers are on the cutting edge of the used-vehicle market,” as it relates to analytical resources.
And the used side of the market gives VW an opportunity to spread its success, something Weitzman hopes he can help the company accomplish.

“The used-vehicle market holds a tremendous opportunity for a dealer network to increase profit and success, and ultimately, that will help Volkswagen enhance its success in the United States and enhance the equity in its products in the U.S.,” Weitzman stressed.

Of course, one of the challenges that most dealers and automakers — not just VW — face is the lack of a strong used-vehicle supply.

“It’d be nice if 50,000 used vehicles fell from the sky,” Weitzman said with a laugh.

But to overcome this challenge, Weitzman said the automaker is urging its dealers to acquire as many used units via upstream channels as they can.

“We continue to encourage our dealers strongly to buy every available unit upstream as possible,” he noted. “We’ve done that very successfully recently, to where less than 10 percent of our CPO inventory is bought at auctions.”

Additionally, VW is also developing and enhancing customer relationship management tools for its dealers to approach existing customers about potentially purchasing their vehicles. That includes, but is certainly not limited to, service customers.

He also noted that the company works closely with Volkswagen Credit to make sure the F&I products a dealer has can help them get the most used sales possible. Weitzman also stressed the importance of listening to the needs of dealers and customers.

Excitement About VW

Moving along, Weitzman expressed his excitement at joining VW and working with its used business, including its CPO outfit, which he said has a strong position in the market.

He suggested that the “product offering and the buy-in from the dealer network across the board … makes us a pretty unique player in the space.” 

Weitzman also pointed out that the automaker has achieved record CPO sales as of late.

In fact, during April, VW posted record sales of 7,486 units.

“It’s a good spot to be in, of course it sets the bar high,” Weitzman said with a laugh, referring to VW’s recent record-breaking success.

“I’m excited to join an organization that’s got a clear vision for the future; a company that’s not afraid to make bold and unique decisions with regards to products in the marketplace,” Weitzman concluded.