CarGurus offered discounts to dealers for April and May. The company is now continuing to offer discounts for June.
For its subscribing dealerships in the United States, the company on Wednesday announced a 20% rate reduction for the month of June.
CarGurus said it intended the June discount to provide extended cost relief, so U.S. dealers can continue connecting with shoppers on the CarGurus platform. The relief can also help those dealers benefit from pent-up demand heading in to summer.
The company sourced its April COVID-19 Sentiment Study showing that 73% of U.S. car shoppers surveyed plan to buy a car in 2020.
According to the survey, 49% of those shoppers plan to purchase a vehicle in the next three months.
Only 8% of those who were planning to buy in 2020 before the pandemic said they were delaying their purchase indefinitely.
“We’ve seen tremendous resilience from our subscribing dealers as they manage and adapt through these challenging times, and we are committed to helping with those efforts,” CarGurus president and chief operating officer Sam Zales said in a news release.
Zales continued, “We hope the June discount, as well as the other free services and resources we are offering, can help dealers best position their businesses to weather the crisis and turn the corner to recovery.”
Because of COVID-19 social distancing guidelines, many dealerships have been forced to close their sales operations. But CarGurus says many of its dealer customers continue to engage shoppers online and through socially distant methods.
To promote those capabilities, more than 5,000 dealers globally have signed on to use CarGurus’ new Contactless Services features at no charge.
Dealers can visit the Driving Difference area of the CarGurus Dealer Resource Center to see additional COVID-19 information and learn how CarGurus can serve as a resource during the crisis. Dealers can contact their CarGurus representative for information about discounted rates.
CarGurus also announced June discounts to subscribing dealers in the United Kingdom and said it plans to later announce Canada discounts.
The Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, or GNYADA, says auto dealers collectively contribute more than $20 million annually to charitable causes in local communities such as Long Island, New York City and Westchester County.
Once again, the association said, dealers are racing to the aid of their neighbors.
GNYADA, which represents more than 400 franchise new car dealers in the downstate region, is donating 500,000 face masks to at-risk New Yorkers to keep safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The association is distributing the masks throughout the metro New York region beginning this week. The effort starts with 50,000 each in Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties and 250,000 equally divided among the five boroughs. The group will distribute 35,000 to Rockland County and 25,000 each to the smaller-population counties of Orange, Putnam and Dutchess.
GNYADA, coordinating with the offices of county executives and borough presidents, is distributing the three-ply paper masks to individuals who need them, such as seniors, essential workers and other vulnerable populations.
The association notes that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a requirement for all New Yorkers to wear masks in situations in which adequate social distancing is not possible. Because of that, the need for masks has become clear.
Auto dealers have been eager to help, the association said.
“When New Yorkers are in need, time and again, franchise new-car dealers and their employees are always there for the communities where they live and work,” GNYADA president Mark Schienberg said in a news release.
Schienberg continued, “Auto dealers are the brick-and-mortar backbones of Main Streets and neighborhoods throughout the region, supporting little leagues, hospitals, schools, senior centers, and many charities large and small. During this extremely challenging time, when so many New Yorkers are suffering, losing loved ones, losing jobs and struggling, car dealerships are once again here to contribute.”
The month of April is when GNYADA and the auto industry would have hosted the 120th annual New York International Auto Show at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. The center was converted to overflow hospital space. The event has been rescheduled to late August and early September.
The association reports that franchised new-car dealers collectively represent the fifth-largest retail employer throughout the downstate region. Sourcing a 2019 economic impact survey, GNYADA says those dealers help support 71,280 jobs, contribute $2.5 billion in local and state taxes and support a payroll of $4.5 billion.
GNYADA adds that new-car dealers have been declared essential businesses. Service departments must fix cars and perform roadside assistance for doctors, nurses and other essential workers in addition to ordinary people traveling to grocery stores and the pharmacy and carrying out other daily-life necessities.
A new initiative from vehicle-cleanliness and hygienic consulting company NuVinAir Global supplies free product, marketing materials and customer service to the company's franchisees who can assist frontline workers in combating COVID-19.
The program is called NuVinCARES, and for one of its activities, NuVinAir's North Carolina franchisees provided law-enforcement officials with free products and services to treat their vehicles at the Burlington Police Department and the Alamance County Sheriff's Department.
NuVinAir Global says its patented cleaning process keeps vehicles clean and healthy, and the company says that is crucial for healthcare and law enforcement workers using cars, SUVs and trucks that are vulnerable to the coronavirus.
NuVinAir ReFresh is one of the complimentary products that NuVinAir provides, and it is a patented seven-minute treatment that cleans the air of the vehicle and removes contaminants, odor and pollutants. It does that by dispelling a dry, hygienic vapor that reaches places that sprays and wipes cannot.
For NuVinCARES’ work with North Carolina law enforcement, NuVinAir’s North Carolina franchisees provided free training that so that the officers could treat their own cars whenever they thought they might have come into contact with someone with COVID-19 or other health issues.
The franchisee team also provided training videos and offered in-person, repeat-training sessions for the North Carolina group.
“Being on the front lines means you must readily work in any environment, so we donated 100 Refresh tablets to show our gratitude to the local police and sheriff departments for their courage in the COVID-19 crisis,” said Robert Dove, who runs NuVinAir North Carolina with two business partners. The business caters to the greater Raleigh area.
Dove continued, “Now that their vehicles have been treated, we hope we’ve helped them feel a little safer, especially when they return home to their families.”
NuVinAir DMV is another NuVinCARES program. NuVinAir's Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland franchisee partnered with DARCARS Automotive Group in Silver Spring, Md., in putting together a three-day event at the Adventist Health Care White Oak Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., offering free deep-cleaning services for hundreds of hospital employees’ vehicles.
“The NuVinCARES program is about giving back to our community and supporting the heroic healthcare employees at our local hospitals who tirelessly work in uncertain and at-risk environments,” said NuVinAir DMV president Jon McMahon.
McMahon continued, “By treating their vehicles on-site with the most effective technology in the automotive industry, the program allows them to stay committed to their patients, and then safely decompress in a healthy vehicle back home to their family.”
Freeland Holdings is another NuVinCAREs program, and NuVinAir franchisee Jason Freeland in Corcoran, Minn., has identified three Mazda dealers within Morrie's Auto Group. He is sponsoring a program to provide free oil changes and NuVinAir treatments to first responders.
“During these unprecedented times, it feels good to be part of a program that gives back to the community,” Freeland said.
Freeland continued, “Through the Mazda Essential Car Care Program, we were thrilled to offer free NuVinAir treatments to all first responders, enabling them to stop by any Morrie’s Mazda location and receive a proprietary treatment, powered by chlorine dioxide, to clean the air and surfaces in the vehicle by removing all pollutants, odors and contaminants. With all their sacrifice, these heroes deserve to have confidence that they have a clean, healthy vehicle.”
Clean Air LLC is another program, and NuVinAir franchisee Rex Olson and sales manager Steven Steenblik are working with a large dealership group to treat police vehicles.
For the NuVinCARES’ program with North Carolina law enforcement mentioned earlier, NuVinAir North Carolina co-partner Dove said being on the front lines means readily working in any environment.
“So we donated 100 Refresh tablets to show our gratitude to the local police and sheriff departments for their courage in the COVID-19 crisis,” Dove said.
Dove continued, “Now that their vehicles have been treated, we hope we’ve helped them feel a little safer, especially when they return home to their families.”
Saying that it “heard what truly mattered to our customers,” floorplan provider NextGear Capital is continuing to defer curtailment and extension payments for eligible floorplan advances.
The company is taking that action through May 31 for all NextGear Capital dealers in good standing.
Within the first 30 days of NextGear Capital’s original relief package, the company deferred more than 160,000 payments.
That, according to NextGear, provided assistance to more than 16,000 dealers “when it was needed most.”
“After discussions with our dealers, we decided to continue the relief terms that were the most important, beneficial and meaningful to them and their businesses,” NextGear Capital president Scott Maybee said in a news release.
Maybee continued, “Our hope is that, between the relief package, our incredible staff and the resources we’ve put together online, we can help our dealers make it out on the other side of this unprecedented economic crisis. Sticking together is the only way our industry will get through this still intact, and we want all of our dealers to know we are here to support them however we can.”
NextGear also said it advised dealers earlier this month that it would extend the assistance it provided in the initial package to the end of April.
The company said it was doing that “to show NextGear Capital’s commitment to supporting its customers.”
NextGear Capital announced another initiative that it said could help dealers access important, up-to-date information in one place: A COVID-19 Resource Hub.
The hub aggregates information from Cox businesses and outside experts such as the CDC.
It provides resources in one spot, which NextGear says can help dealers “navigate this uncertain time.”
The company said, “NextGear Capital will continue to monitor this crisis and is committed to supporting its clients through this time.”
All of CarMax’s more than 215 stores nationwide are now open in some capacity.
The company announced that all stores are serving customers in need of vehicle service or repair work.
In addition, more than 80% of CarMax’s stores across the country are serving customers needing to buy or sell a vehicle.
CarMax said it evaluated the changing regulatory requirements closely and that it implemented modifications to reopen stores in previously closed locations.
“And we continue to monitor and adjust operations as necessary,” CarMax wrote in a statement.
The company said it has implemented strong measures to help reduce risk of exposure to COVID-19.
Those measures include implementing social distancing practices and enhanced cleaning and sanitizing measures in all locations.
CarMax is also sanitizing high-touch areas of vehicles. That includes during appraisals and after test drives and vehicle repairs.
The company has introduced contactless curbside pickup, which is available at most stores. With CarMax Curbside, customers can complete the car buying and selling process outside the store. That takes place with adherence to social distancing practices.
The company released additional information about its contactless curbside pickup:
— CarMax said customers save time by completing most of the process online or over the phone in advance.
That includes selecting a vehicle, getting pre-approved for financing, and getting a trade-in offer on an existing vehicle, if applicable.
— All customers test-drive vehicles alone, with no associate present in the vehicle.
— The company also continues to offer home delivery at many of its locations. Customers complete the entire car-buying experience from home, and a CarMax associate delivers the vehicle.
— Appointment only: At some CarMax stores, customers must schedule appointments before visiting. Occupancy restrictions vary by locality.
A downloadable dealership performance directive from DealerMax discusses six “essential online sales processes” that it says are a requirement for the new online sales retail environment.
Dealership support company DealerMax said its team of digital retail experts wrote the guide, titled, “Dealership 2020 Guide: Re-engineering Automotive Retail.”
The team wrote the guide to give dealers a sense of control and focus as the industry sees an urgent need to move sales online. That is where consumers increasingly feel more comfortable, safe, and empowered to shop for and buy cars, the company said.
Consumers will also prefer dealerships’ offering processes that add layers of safety and comfort by bringing them single-source contact, especially in-store.
“In other words, there is a new roadmap to the sale,” DealerMax chief executive officer Jim Maxim said in a news release.
Maxim continued, “Meaning, selling cars remotely, and this guide helps dealers to better grasp several of the concrete steps they’re likely to find necessary on their path to successful online, remote car sales.”
DealerMax has developed a series of weekly webinars that it says can help dealers learn more immediately. The company is also developing enriched content for each process change module.
Maxim focused on digital F&I in 2003 as chief executive officer for MaximTrak, which he sold to RouteOne in 2016. Because of that, DealerMax said he understands the need to bring different sets of customer engagement processes with technology to end-to-end online car sales.
“This change can be a hard choice for dealers who, before COVID, were convinced people still wanted to come in, look around, and touch a car, even if they didn’t buy,” Maxim said.
An immediately available download version of the DealerMax Dealership 2020 Guide: Re-engineering Automotive Retail discusses questions such as, How should you retool your people and reconfigure your customer experience? and What are the techniques, technologies, training needed for commerce during a crisis?
Other questions the guide addresses include:
— What are the critical decisions to make to business processes and sales workflow to transact?
— How will your processes change as you limit your face-to-face time with your customers?
— How can you position your dealership to survive the moment and become more influential in a post-pandemic world?
To support its dealer partners during the COVID-19 pandemic, TrueCar announced an extension for May invoices of the previously announced 50% automatic reduction to the April invoices of dealer partners in states where its pay-per-sale or performance-based billing arrangements are not currently available.
In a letter to dealers that are on TrueCar’s subscription billing model, TrueCar president and chief executive officer Mike Darrow said the company will “work tirelessly” to deliver new and innovative products to help dealers meet consumer buying preferences that are rapidly changing.
TrueCar said all dealer partners on its platform have access to the product offerings, and one of them is free buy-from-home badging. That involves custom badging throughout TrueCar.com that lets shoppers know the dealership will facilitate paperwork remotely, provide vehicle sanitation, and deliver the purchased vehicle to the consumer’s designated location.
The company said dealers on its Pay Per Sale model only receive an invoice after a sale is made. Many dealers on TrueCar’s Subscription billing model are switching to TrueCar’s Pay Per Sale or Performance Guarantee models. For Pay Per Sale, if the dealer sells about 25% of cars it sold previously, for example, that dealer’s bill will be 25% of what it used to be.
For TrueCar’s Performance Guarantee subscription model, TrueCar set a monthly rate based on the dealer’s projected sales, and the dealer is billed for what it actually sells up to its guaranteed sales volume.
Darrow starts out in the letter by stating, “We are all adjusting to this new ‘normal,’” and he adds that the pandemic, stay-at-home restrictions and safe social distancing guidelines have significantly affected personal and professional lives.
“Unquestionably, the health and safety of all members of our communities remains our top priority,” Darrow wrote.
He added that in addition to the 50% adjustment, TrueCar will “unwaveringly” continue working to deliver products that will meet the needs of consumers whose need to acquire a new or used vehicle remains strong. TrueCar will work to connect those consumers with “you, our TrueCar Certified Dealers,” Darrow wrote.
Other new products TrueCar is working to deliver to help dealers meet changing consumer buying preferences include:
— Free trial of payments on TrueCar.com. The company says it will provide a “frictionless remote retailing experience” to TrueCar shoppers and “ignite” dealers’ listings with VIN-specific monthly lease and finance payments on TrueCar.com. The service is available at no cost through July 31.
— Free trial of the Remote Retailing Package. Provided at no cost through July 31, website plug-ins and digital retail tools are accessible from TrueCar’s affiliate, DealerScience. With the tools, dealers’ customers can modify VIN-specific lease and finance payments on the dealer’s website and can provide “additional remote work efficiencies” through TrueCar’s Remote Sales Calculator.
— Free virtual communication enhancement. TrueCar says its new text communication platform helps dealers connect with shoppers. The new feature boosts efficiency of communication and delivers “highly motivated shoppers” directly to the dealer’s CRM.
To help auto dealers and other small businesses continue their sales online during the COVID-19 crisis, consumer engagement technology company Digital Air Strike is partnering with GoDaddy for its #OpenWeStand campaign.
To help businesses and consumers do more online and virtually through video, AI, social media and automation, Digital Air Strike is giving away its Virtual Retailing Program.
Digital Air Strike, through the #OpenWeStand campaign, is offering GoDaddy’s customers Video Logix video technology free for 30 days. It is also offering Power Texting text blasts and a free budget review that it says can help businesses identify which vendors and ad expenditures show a return on the investments. A Digital Air Strike page features its offers.
GoDaddy says the #OpenWeStand website has become a central gathering place where entrepreneurs can learn, ask questions, lend advice and use resources available to them.
Along with brands such as Salesforce, Slack and PayPal, GoDaddy is contributing resources, tools and insights to help sustain entrepreneurs and the small microbusinesses they operate during the crisis.
Digital Air Strike and GoDaddy say their goal is to provide online tools to allow businesses to continue operate while their storefronts may be closed. Digital Air Strike was founded during the 2008-2009 Great Recession, and the company says it understands that to survive a financial crisis, “innovation and the willingness to adopt new technology and solutions” are important.
Digital Air Strike works with more than 5,000 businesses worldwide. Those include thousands of companies such as auto dealerships, major automobile manufacturers, senior living centers, dental offices, entertainment centers, and educational institutions.
The company says #OpenWeStand is for everyone who “supports small businesses and their resiliency.”
“This is everything that Digital Air Strike stands for,” the company said.
Digital Air Strike co-founder and chief executive officer Alexi Venneri said business owners should re-evaluate their tools and processes while embracing new ways of doing business during the current challenging times.
“There will never be a time like this in our shared history when the entire world slows down enough to allow each business owner or manager a chance to learn new ways to engage consumers and take advantage of so many free tools, technology and free trainings,” Venneri said in a news release.
Venneri continued, “When the dust settles, retailers that have learned to adapt will come out of the slowdown much faster and be more efficient. Consumers will ultimately win and appreciate retailers that are doing business in a new way.”
Automotive information and digital car shopping company Edmunds is extending its discount for dealer partners and also launched a redesigned Industry Center page.
The company said it was extending financial relief and continuing its investment in digital offerings and resources during the coronavirus crisis to support its dealer partners.
Through May, Edmunds is offering an extension of the 50% discount that it provided to its dealer partners in April.
Subscription services for dealer partners will remain active. They will be fully supported by Edmunds’ sales teams.
Edmunds chief executive officer Avi Steinlauf said the company is supporting its dealer partners as the industry navigates through the crisis.
“These are challenging times, but we’re staying true to who we are and helping dealers in the most effective way we can: by connecting dealers and their inventory directly to car shoppers online as they continue to research their next vehicle purchase from home,” Steinlauf said in a news release.
Edmunds on Wednesday launched a completely redesigned Industry Center page. At that page, dealers can find all of Edmunds’ free digital product offerings and services that the company says can help them better see through the challenges of the current selling environment.
Those offerings include inventory badges on the Edmunds website for stores offering home delivery or that have custom hours.
Edmunds’ Digital Retailing is another offering. It resides on the Edmunds website, and the company says it enhances remote sales by driving car shoppers who have already built their deals online directly to dealers.
To help empower and educate shoppers, the Industry Center page also includes links to Edmunds’ coronavirus-related consumer tips and advice content.
The page includes links to research and content from Edmunds analysts who are watching important industry trends and providing insights for dealers and automakers during the crisis.
That page features details on a social media campaign that Edmunds launched to showcase dealerships that the company says have “gone the extra mile” for car owners and shoppers during the crisis.
To support dealers, Edmunds is developing new resources that it will add continue adding to the page.
“For more than 50 years, consumers have considered Edmunds the destination of choice for automotive information, and they aren’t stopping now,” Steinlauf said.
Steinlauf continued, “Shopper demand for research and inventory are showing signs of resurgence as consumers consider their next car purchase on Edmunds.”
In its effort to support dealerships and consumers during COVID-19, automotive marketplace CarGurus is implementing new digital safety and convenience features such as allowing shoppers to schedule a virtual vehicle walkaround with a dealership.
CarGurus subscribing dealers in the United States, U.K., and Canada now have new methods to inform in-market shoppers about how they can safely communicate and connect regarding the vehicles they are interested in purchasing.
The company notes that as shoppers follow their local regulations for conducting retail activity, CarGurus’ new search features will help people shop for a vehicle safely.
Subscribing dealerships can apply the new search filter and vehicle description features to their inventory on CarGurus.com.
In a written response to questions from Auto Remarketing, CarGurus chief product officer Tom Caputo said CarGurus put a “highly visible, easily discoverable,” Contactless Shopping filter on the CarGurus.com search results page, which he said allows shoppers to quickly identify dealers that offer any of the following contactless shopping capabilities:
— Social distancing appointments: Dealers can schedule appointments with shoppers to visit their dealerships, and confirm specific timing to ensure social distancing
— Virtual appointments: Shoppers can schedule a virtual meeting with a dealership to conduct a virtual walk-around of the vehicle
— Contactless purchase: Shoppers can pay for or finance a vehicle remotely by phone or email. CarGurus will deliver any paperwork to them.
Free home test drive — CarGurus can bring vehicles to a shopper’s residence. The shopper can safely test drive the vehicle, with no commitment to purchase. That service would take place up to a 25-mile radius for the United States and U.K., or approximately a 50-kilometer radius in Canada.
Free home drop off – Also for up to a 25-mile radius for the United States and U.K. or approximately a 50-kilometer radius in Canada, a dealer will deliver a vehicle and any paperwork to shoppers who commit to purchasing the vehicle.
In his written responses to questions from Auto Remarketing, Caputo said CarGurus’ dealer partners offer virtual appointments to their customers so the shopper can receive a video tour of a vehicle while also practicing social distancing guidelines.
If a dealership is offering that type of interactive virtual appointment to its customers, CarGurus wanted to ensure they could communicate it through the CarGurus platform and make sure that shoppers can find that dealer, Caputo said.
“And for clarity, CarGurus is not providing the technology or the logistics behind any of these contactless offerings,” Caputo said. “We are enabling dealerships to communicate what they are already providing to their customers.”
In a news release, Caputo also said, “At our core, CarGurus is a trusted partner for shoppers and dealers alike and that remains true as we all navigate this new COVID-19 environment.”
Caputo continued, “For those shoppers who are looking to buy a vehicle and for those dealerships that are able to remain open, we are here for all of you, and we are working to provide the tools and information for a safe, contactless purchase.”
CarGurus also provided the following links as resources for dealers interested in learning more about its contactless features for COVID-19:
U.S.: https://dealers.cargurus.com/contactless-service-us
Canada: https://dealers.cargurus.com/contactless-service-ca.html
U.K.: https://dealers.cargurus.com/contactless-service-uk.html
