SmartGroups and Automotive Reinsurance Concepts founder and chief executive officer Justin Osburn started 2023 with two major announcements aimed directly at helping independent dealers, which are facing some significant headwinds based on Cox Automotive’s latest research.
First, Automotive Reinsurance Concepts introduced Independent Dealer University, a subscription-based online education platform designed to put “next-level” training easily within reach of independent retail dealerships of all sizes.
Furthermore, six state independent dealers associations representing seven states have joined with SmartGroups in a partnership that includes picking up the tab for dealers’ state IADA dues — and introduces a “groundbreaking” new way to put the advantages of 20 Group membership within reach of virtually every dealer.
The developments arrived on Tuesday after the fourth quarter Cox Automotive Dealer Sentiment Index (CADSI) indicated independent dealers now see profits as weak.
Automotive Reinsurance Concepts highlighted IDU is a comprehensive training program offering a full curriculum of on-demand interactive video lessons covering all areas of dealership operations — sales, F&I, accounting, fixed ops and more — taught by Osburn as well as national training director and renowned F&I guru “3K” Cory Collins.
The subscription includes unlimited access for unlimited users within the dealership as well as weekly live Zoom meetings with Osburn on sales and Collins on F&I.
Osburn, a former dealership owner, general manager and finance manager who served as lead instructor of NIADA’s acclaimed Certified Master Dealer course, said IDU is a “game-changer.”
“There is nothing like this available anywhere else,” he said in the news release. “IDU is a comprehensive, battle-tested training program that empowers dealership owners and their staff with the technical skills and knowledge they need to achieve the results they’ve dreamed of.
“Our overriding passion for helping independent retail dealers has led to a program that gives every dealership, no matter how big or small, access to the absolute best education in the industry at a low cost and available anytime, anywhere,” Osburn went on to say.
IDU’s library includes hundreds of instructional videos and will continue expanding as an ever-growing training resource for every role in the dealership.
The classes are delivered through LightSpeedVT, the platform used by trainers and speakers such as Joe Verde, Grant Cardone and Tony Robbins. ARC said it’s an advanced interactive training system available, allowing dealers to track, measure and monitor progress to ensure their staff members are engaging and learning.
Osburn said the platform’s look and feel is designed to evoke a collegiate atmosphere — right down to its mascot, the Tuskers.
“This is higher education for dealers,” Osburn said. “IDU is an elite university online that's affordable to all. The curriculum is so organized that it’s surgical. This is something never seen before in this industry in the depth and breadth of the education offered.”
For more information or to purchase a subscription, visit idutuskers.com.
6 associations partner with SmartGroups
Meanwhile, SmartGroups has partnered with six state independent dealer associations
As part of the partnership, SmartGroups: 20 Groups Reimagined will pay the annual state association dues for any dealer from a participating state who joins a SmartGroups 20 Group, whether the dealer is a current member of the association or not. That applies to any dealers from the participating states who are already members of a SmartGroup.
The joint venture with Alabama IADA, Carolinas IADA, Colorado IADA, Michigan IADA, Missouri IADA and Ohio IADA includes education and training opportunities for the associations’ member dealers.
OIADA executive director Wendy Rinehart, who was named Association Executive of the Year for 2022 by the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association, called the partnership “a very exciting opportunity for OIADA.”
“We’re always looking for ways to increase membership and bring additional value to our association’s dealer members,” said Rinehart, a past chair of NIADA’s Association Executives Council, “and this partnership is a way for us to accomplish both of those goals.”
The partnership creates an innovative new concept in 20 Groups, designed to be cost-effective and far more accessible to smaller operations than traditional 20 Groups.
SmartGroups Lite are state-specific 20 Groups featuring meetings held in the dealers’ home state with an accelerated two-day schedule, minimizing the time spent away from the dealership and the costs of travel and accommodations.
Members of SmartGroups Lite will still have the benefit of the industry’s best moderators/consultants and best meeting content, topics and speakers, but in less time and at lower cost.
“We’re excited to launch a very first in 20 Groups,” Osburn said. “Low prorates, no air travel necessary, all dealers from within the state. Thanks to these state associations, this is literally the most affordable 20 Group program ever offered to independent retail dealers.”
Lite 20 Groups will be available in every state in which the IADA is partnered with SmartGroups, and SmartGroups will pay the state IADA dues for all members of the Lite Groups in participating states.
For more information or to join a group, visit smart20groups.com, click on the SmartGroups Lite tab and select your state from the dropdown menu.
If your state IADA isn’t partnered with SmartGroups and you’re interested in joining a SmartGroups Lite, contact your state association’s executive director or email SmartGroups director Howard Bullock at howard@arcdealers.com.
Each year toward the end of November and throughout December, the world of automotive enjoys its own version of the holidays with its flurry of end-of-year and seasonal promotional advertising. These ads are plentiful on television and typically bring excitement with big sales and big red bows on cars and trucks.
Sure, the last few years have taken on a slightly different tone because of the pandemic, but this year’s ads are most likely going to again shift their tone and message for a number of reasons.
Inventory levels are slowly returning
For starters, inventory levels are coming back, which means there may be fewer ads offering pre-orders. More new cars and trucks are beginning to arrive at dealerships as the supply-chain problems begin to ease and auto makers look to increase factory output.
Adding to this changing inventory dynamic is the need to move 2022 model year vehicles still sitting on back order. These vehicles are still considered new, despite now being older. At some point early in 2023, manufacturers will need to work with dealer partners to finalize these and begin to move them – most likely at a discount. New legislation may have a direct impact on U.S. manufacturers gaining access to more chips. What better time to begin advertising these models than during the upcoming holidays.
More supply means reintroducing rebates
Because of the increasing supply of vehicles, manufacturers and dealer partners may also use the holiday season to reintroduce and promote end-of-year rebates and incentives offered on a variety of cars and trucks.
With inventories gradually increasing and more supply for consumers to choose from, it is inevitable that OEM incentives and rebates will be (re)introduced to influence consumer behavior. A resulting drop in transactional pricing on new vehicles will automatically influence the prices of used cars. A massive challenge can be expected as a result of negative equity in both new and used cars. This is nothing new – and the industry has been through this before.
These challenges may play a significant role in the type of messaging end-of-year dealership and manufacturing advertising displays on television, radio, online and social platforms.
EV advertising will also look different
The last area that may force advertising differences this year could be the way dealers and manufacturers position electric vehicles. While these were a significant focus of last year’s Super Bowl, and have been extremely prevalent on television ads through 2022, advertising messaging may look and feel different. Instead of focusing specifically on the wow factor of the particular vehicle’s features and benefits, this year holiday ads may instead talk about tax credits, the desire to switch from gas-powered to electric, and even the investments individual dealerships are making to cater to an EV-specific audience that wants to know they can have their vehicle serviced and maintained properly.
Advertising more on new digital channels
It’s not just the message that might be changing this holiday season, but where people see it. Sure, cable television is going to once again be a big player for holiday ads, and radio will again cater to a dedicated audience. However, streaming television, OTT platforms (connected television) and streaming audio should also see a larger share of ads this holiday season.
The first connected television (CTV) benefit is scale, where dealers can leverage large programming opportunities and access across major recognizable logos that have strong coverage across networks and devices during the holidays. Second, dealers and their partners in CTV are continuously working to understand the market penetration they are gaining or losing, and have access to unique data technology to ensure campaigns are on par with the reach of top cable providers.
These partners also offer dealers access to digital media purchase technology that leverages a Demand Side Platform (DSP), which is software that allows media buyers to buy each impression based on whether the viewer meets their audience parameters. They can also help ensure ad content is not played alongside or in tandem with violence or other sensitive subjects that would be detrimental to a dealer’s overall brand values. Each of these benefits can be significantly important during special times of the year, such as holidays, when promotions need to be ultra-timely.
Online campaigns this holiday season should leverage Google’s Performance Max technology more. The platform separates itself because it can complement keyword-focused search campaigns through automated bidding and targeting across all channels. All of this is critically important because ad tech is now turning data into information that can significantly impact profits. Attribution platforms are now grounded in serving the best ad to the right individual, at the right time, regardless of where they are online or where they are consuming media.
The platform allows digital advertising partners to leverage the best of Google’s automation capabilities (regardless of where they are found online) and serve them with a high-value creative message and offer. Some of these “best of” automations include smart bidding and finding new in-market customers.
Lastly, streaming audio will also receive more attention this season. For those unfamiliar with the medium, think of it as radio on-demand or a prerecorded audio program or show. It’s hosted on the web and available for download on personal computers or mobile devices to be listened to on demand — similar to how a person watches a show on Netflix. This platform has grown significantly and today is considered one of the most popular ways to listen to music and podcasts. Because of this, dealers have recognized it as a great channel for timely promotions with access to a very loyal audience with growing spending power — millennials.
Dealers that work with their digital advertising partners on proactive end-of-year and holiday advertising strategies will see better sales activity in November and December because they will be pushing the messages that resonate with car buyers on the right digital platforms.
Lauren Donalson is senior vice president of client experience and client services for PureCars. For more information, visit www.purecars.com.
In another episode of the Auto Remarketing Podcast originating from Used Car Week 2022, Stephane Ferri and Lauren Donalson of PureCars discussed the most interesting and successful dealership advertising campaigns they’ve seen this year.
And the PureCars pair also gave a glimpse of the new solutions the company is set to launch in 2023.
To listen to the conversation, click on the link available below, or visit the Auto Remarketing Podcast page.
Download and subscribe to the Auto Remarketing Podcast on iTunes or on Google Play.
Think you and your dealership have the best phone skills, not just in your market, but perhaps nationwide? Well, Car Wars is now offering you a chance to prove it.
This week, the call tracking and phone handling solution for automotive dealers announced a new annual dealership award program. Car Wars’ Dealership CRISP Award program is intended to recognize top dealerships that prioritize phone handling and provide customers with an optimal phone experience.
Car Wars emphasizes four key phone metrics — connect, request and invite, set and pursue — that, when prioritized, can lead to an excellent phone regimen for dealers. These four metrics are used to measure an agent’s phone handling performance.
To recognize its top dealers who are doing their part on the phone to provide top-notch experiences based on CRISP, Car Wars started this new annual award initiative.
Dealers whose staff meet or exceed predetermined thresholds for CRISP metrics will receive either Gold, Platinum, or Diamond awards based on 2022 phone handling metrics.
“We see in our data that operational excellence in phone handling isn’t easy,” Car Wars chief revenue officer Cassie Broemmer said in a news release. “It’s evident in the wide distribution of performance in our CRISP KPIs between the top dealers that bring focus and discipline versus those that let owning the phone fall to the bottom of the priority list. Consequently, I think it’s important to recognize and celebrate the dealerships — and the key personnel at those dealerships — that are driving the operational change necessary to win.”
Car Wars will be announcing dealers who have qualified for their corresponding award levels on Jan. 16. Awards can be picked up in person at the NADA Show 2023 in Dallas or will be mailed to the respective dealership.
For questions regarding this award program, contact your Car Wars consultant or send email to content@carwars.com. To learn more about Car Wars’ virtual phone skills training program, CRISP Certification, and how Car Wars can help your sales agents excel on the phone, visit carwars.com/crisp.
If your dealership staff struggles with cold calling, the newest tool from FRIKINtech might help.
The provider of automotive dealer engagement technology recently launched EQUITYiQ, a fully automated first-party equity farming tool that can bring sales and service data together to identify and deliver equity offers to customers without adding burden to the sales team.
“The past two years have reshaped dealership sales teams where fundamental selling skills have been forgotten,” FRIKINtech CEO Alex Snyder said in a news release. “We have stayed nimble to help dealers get through a fast-changing world.
“EQUITYiQ is the latest of our innovations that uses technology to handle the pipeline-building while focusing the salespeople on the things they like to do,” Snyder continued.
FRIKINtech explained that EQUITYiQ can engage the customer so cold calling is not needed by:
● Delivering live, personalized offers to customers via text message, email or mail
● Driving customers to customized landing pages with personalized offers
● Enabling customer-driven experience, including exploring different new and used cars they can buy, altering with incentives, credit tiers, finance companies and financing terms, and even changing the vehicle they wish to trade
● Delivering buying signals directly to the dealer’s CRM, so nobody needs to log into another tool
“We’re delivering a highly relevant message to customers at the right time,” Snyder said. “The combination of real-time interactive offers with customer-led engagement, and lower costs of modern technology means dealers grab the customers’ attention without the effort and cost associated with traditional equity-mining tactics.”
EQUITYiQ utilizes FRIKINtech’s digital body language to capture every vehicle and payment scenario a customer considers and translates that data into actionable language for the sales team to move in and secure the deal.
FRIKINtech noted that EQUITYiQ is built to deliver a transparent customer experience first, stacking rebates and incentives correctly and calculating taxes and fees so the price customers see online is the price they receive in the F&I office.
“In addition, EQUITYiQ is built with the transparency the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is pushing for,” FRIKINtech said.
EQUITYiQ is available for $1,299 per month for every dealer.
For more information about EQUITYiQ, FRIKINtech and the company’s other automated dealer solutions, visit https://frikintech.com.
Sourcing used inventory was the common focus of two panels during Used Car Week, and some key themes emerged from “The New Consumer Journey Horizon and “Smarter Used Vehicle Buying” discussions during the event this month in San Diego.
Acquiring used vehicles directly from consumers is becoming an increasingly important channel for dealerships and it requires a special approach, said “The New Consumer Journey Horizon” panelists.
“You have to do something unique and different if you are …
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While blue sky values evidently are becoming harder to assess, most dealers who participated in the 2022 Kerrigan Dealer Survey have strong optimism about the valuation of their dealerships heading into 2023.
According to the survey findings released on Monday, 80% of respondents are expecting record valuations to remain steady or increase over the next 12 months, while the other 20% projecting a decline in valuation.
The survey by Kerrigan Advisors questioned more than 600 dealers about their views on the future value of their businesses, as well as their perspectives on franchise valuations and acquisitions.
The firm highlighted the results show sentiments about the year ahead fall in line with industry consolidation trends, the high level of buy/sell activity, and record valuations, as reported in Kerrigan Advisors’ Second Quarter 2022 Blue Sky Report.
Kerrigan Advisor also mentioned the survey aligns with the second quarter report’s findings that blue sky values are becoming harder to assess with the impact of rising interest rates beginning to affect public auto retailer valuations and possibly leading to a softening in consumer demand.
“After high expectations shaped by over two years of record-breaking profit increases, dealers today are striking a more moderate stance as compared to last year’s bullish outlook. Although the majority expect profits and valuations to remain the same, or increase, over the next 12 months, a rising minority of dealers have modified their expectations downward for the next 12 months,” Kerrigan Advisors founder and managing director Erin Kerrigan said in a news release.
“As a result, while we believe transaction activity will remain elevated in 2023 as dealers seek to add scale to their businesses, we also think there is slightly more risk to valuations, and to the buy/sell market, going into next year,” Kerrigan continued.
While only 6% of dealers anticipated a valuation decline last year, the survey showed that 20% now expect a decline in the next 12 months, marking a 233% increase year-over-year.
Kerrigan Advisors noted its survey reveals a clear increase in cautiousness by dealers about the future since just 34% of dealers expect higher profits in the next 12 months, representing a sharp decline from the 79% that expected profit increases in 2021.
Dealers who are expecting profits to decline also has increased to 25%, from 6% in 2021, according to the survey.
Nevertheless, Kerrigan Advisors discovered only 2% of participants are planning to sell any of their dealerships.
In fact, nearly half — 48% to exact — told the firm that they plan to grow their business through the acquisition of one or more dealerships in the next 12 months.
“The survey illustrates that a disproportionate number of dealers are planning for growth, rather than exit. This is consistent with what we see in the marketplace. There are still many more buyers than sellers, and we expect this supply/demand imbalance to persist into at least 2023,” Erin Kerrigan said.
“Furthermore, we believe the supply/demand imbalance will sustain current valuations over the next 12 months in keeping with the outlook of most dealers, according to our 2022 survey results,” she added.
The survey also queried dealers on the expected impact of OEM planned changes to the dealer model, specifically in terms of future profitability.
With the exception of Ford, the majority of dealers surveyed do not expect OEMs’ changes to negatively impact future profits, though they were decidedly more negative on Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick GMC, Lincoln, and Volvo. Toyota, the most trusted OEM, once again, had the most positive outlook, with 22% expecting an increase in profits from future changes and just 18% having a negative outlook.
“With the exception of Ford, dealers seem relatively unconcerned by potential OEM changes to the auto retail model at this point,” said Ryan Kerrigan, managing director of Kerrigan Advisors.
“For the most part, dealers are skeptical of OEMs’ timelines for electrification and other new retailing concepts. For this reason, we believe dealers have not factored in any dramatic business model adjustments and do not expect a near term impact on dealership profitability,” Ryan Kerrigan continued.
Dealers also shared their perspectives on the direction of specific franchise values.
Hyundai (45%), Kia (46%), and Toyota (41%) are projected to increase in value over the next 12 months, according to the survey. This is the first time Hyundai and Kia surpassed Toyota to lead the survey results.
Kerrigan Advisors pointed out that four franchises that had met this criterion in 2021 — Honda, Lexus, Porsche, and Subaru — no longer do, with significantly fewer dealers expecting their values to increase.
The firm said Honda, in particular, saw the largest percentage point decline of any import franchise in the survey as compared to 2021 results, likely due to the brand’s loss of market share in 2022.
More than 90% of dealers surveyed identified BMW, Lexus, Porsche, and Toyota as the franchises least likely to decline in value, significantly fewer than the nine franchises that met this criterion last year.
At least 30% of dealers expect to see valuation declines for Acura, Buick GMC, Cadillac, Ford, Infiniti, Lincoln, and Volvo in the next 12 months.
“While it is worth noting that a minority of dealers in the survey expect a decline in valuation, and fewer dealers — across all franchises — expect values to increase, most dealers remain optimistic about the year ahead and believe their franchises will retain their record valuations into 2023,” Ryan Kerrigan said. “These results demonstrate the resilience of the dealer business model and the sustainability of elevated profits, even in the face of more negative economic indicators.”
Additional franchise valuation highlights from the 2022 Kerrigan Dealer Survey included:
— Hyundai and Kia surpassed Toyota for the first time to become the franchises most expected to increase in value over the next 12 months – a dramatic 26-percentage point shift since 2019, when just 19% of dealers surveyed projected their valuations to increase. This improvement is consistent with Kerrigan Advisors’ positive outlook for Hyundai and Kia in the Second Quarter Blue Sky Report: blue sky multiples for the franchises have increased 42% since 2020.
— Ford saw the largest increase in dealers expecting the franchise to decline in value (18 percentage points) and the biggest drop in the percentage of dealers projecting an increase in value (24 percentage points) compared to 2021. These results are consistent with Kerrigan Advisors’ negative outlook on Ford’s blue sky multiple and dealer concerns about the future profitability of the franchise with electrification. Kerrigan Advisors noted that the firm finds smaller dealers are the most negative on Ford, while larger groups are less negative and, in select cases, positive about Ford’s future.
— Honda had fewer dealers projecting an increase in value in the next 12 months, coming in second to Ford in terms of the drop in dealers projecting an increase in value compared to 2021. Honda also saw an 8 percentage point increase in the number of dealers expecting a decline in value.
— Nissan was the only franchise to see an improvement over 2021 results, with an 8 percentage point decrease in the number of dealers expecting the franchise to decline in value and no change in the percentage of dealers projecting an increase, retaining the brand’s improved metrics from the 2021 survey. This improvement is consistent with Kerrigan Advisors’ reported improvements in Nissan’s blue sky multiple, up 33% since 2021.
The data for The Kerrigan Dealer Survey was gathered from Kerrigan Advisors’ annual survey of auto dealers in conjunction with the issuance of The Blue Sky Report. The Kerrigan Dealer Survey is based on more than 600 responses from franchised auto dealers in Kerrigan Advisors’ proprietary dealer database.
Responses were collected from June to October.
To download the full Kerrigan Dealer Survey report, go to this website.
Sales might be softening for a myriad of reasons, but dealerships appear to be making it an easier path to successful delivery.
October survey results of the Vehicle Ease of Purchase Scorecard from CDK Global showed that 84% of those polled found the vehicle-buying journey to be easier.
The reading represented …
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Urban Science rolled out a new tool this week that is designed to answer one of the most intriguing questions during your regular sales meetings.
The company launched SalesAlert, what Urban Science called an “industry first” solution that can notify dealers when a sales lead has purchased a vehicle from another dealership.
Urban Science explained that sales in connection to the tool refers to vehicle unit sales and does not represent vehicle price or revenue.
To deliver this information, SalesAlert connects to a dealership’s customer relationship management (CRM) system and taps the power of Urban Science’s near-real-time industry data to identify lost sales across dealerships, brands and locations.
The tool then can notify dealers about sales lost to other stores daily.
According to a news release, the result is no more time or resources wasted chasing prospects that are no longer in market.
“Since Urban Science serves nearly every automotive manufacturer in the United States, our company’s daily sales data offers a near-real-time view of lost sales that’s simply unmatched in the industry,” Tom Long, who is executive vice president for the Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe at Urban Science, said in the news release.
“By delivering daily updates to our dealer clients across the U.S. through an affordable, turnkey solution and user-friendly interface, SalesAlert is uniquely positioned as a must-have tool in any store’s sales arsenal and a growth pillar at leading stores nationwide,” Longo said.
Optimized through in-depth collaboration with dealers nationwide, SalesAlert features an interface built for seamless connectivity and ease of use, and in addition to its core mission to make sales processes more efficient.
It’s also geared to deliver several secondary benefits as well, including:
—Empowers dealership leaders to better support and encourage their sellers by focusing sales efforts on prospects who are still shopping
—Enables more targeted and effective opportunities for coaching related to deals lost to other stores
—Improves seller morale by reducing frustration related to pursuing dead leads
—Improves customer experience by helping eliminate unwanted follow up
SalesAlert is Urban Science’s second direct-to-dealer solution announced in recent months.
Its launch comes on the heels of the company launching MarketGrowth, another solution that can allow dealership leaders to tap the power of Urban Science’s data to guide their high-stakes mergers and acquisitions “with science, not speculation.”
Visit UrbanScience.com for more information.
Perhaps law enforcement is making some headway since recent analysis from the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) showed catalytic converter thefts in many U.S. cities are approaching levels not seen in 14 years.
The Justice Department said this week that federal, state, and local law enforcement partners from across the United States executed a nationwide, coordinated takedown of leaders and associates of a national network of thieves, dealers, and processors for their roles in conspiracies involving stolen catalytic converters sold to a metal refinery for tens of millions of dollars.
Officials said arrests, searches, and seizures took place in California, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, and Virginia. In total, 21 individuals in five states have been arrested and/or charged for their roles in the conspiracy.
The 21 defendants are charged in two separate indictments that were unsealed today in the Eastern District of California and the Northern District of Oklahoma following extensive law enforcement arrest and search operations. In addition to the indictments, over 32 search warrants were executed, and law enforcement seized millions of dollars in assets, including homes, bank accounts, cash, and luxury vehicles.
Law enforcement is seeking forfeiture of more than $545 million in connection with this case.
“Amidst a rise in catalytic converter thefts across the country, the Justice Department has today carried out an operation arresting 21 defendants and executing 32 search warrants in a nation-wide takedown of a multimillion-dollar catalytic converter theft network,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a news release. “We will continue to work alongside our state and local partners to disrupt criminal conspiracies like this one that target the American people.”
NICB reported in September that catalytic converter thefts have increased 1,215% nationwide since 2019.
“This national network of criminals hurt victims across the country,” FBI director Christopher Wray said in the news release. “They made hundreds of millions of dollars in the process — on the backs of thousands of innocent car owners. Today’s charges showcase how the FBI and its partners act together to stop crimes that hurt all too many Americans.”
California has been hit particularly hard with these crimes. U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert for the Eastern District of California mentioned that last year approximately 1,600 catalytic converters were reportedly stolen in California each month, and California accounts for 37% of all catalytic converter theft claims nationwide.
“With California’s higher emission standards, our community has become a hot bed for catalytic converter theft,” Talbert said in the news. “I am proud to announce that we have indicted nine people who are at the core of catalytic theft in our community and nationwide.”
Officials reiterated that catalytic converters are a component of an vehicle’s exhaust device that reduce the toxic gas and pollutants from a vehicle’s internal combustion engine into safe emissions. Catalytic converters use precious metals in their center, or “core”, and are regularly targeted for theft due to the high value of these metals, especially the precious metals palladium, platinum, and rhodium.
Law enforcement acknowledged some of these precious metals are more valuable per ounce than gold and their value has been increasing in recent years. Officials said the black-market price for catalytic converters can be above $1,000 each, depending on the type of vehicle and what state it is from.
“They can be stolen in less than a minute,” officials said.
Additionally, law enforcement pointed out that catalytic converters often lack unique serial numbers, VIN information, or other distinctive identification features, making them difficult to trace to their lawful owner. Thus, the theft of catalytic converters has become increasingly popular because of their value, relative ease to steal, and their lack of identifying markings.
“The success of this national takedown highlights the importance and necessity of dynamic law enforcement partnerships that we foster at DHS every single day,” said deputy secretary John Tien of the Department of Homeland Security. “This calculated, cooperative whole-of-government approach across multiple states illustrates our commitment to protecting the homeland from those who seek to profit from sophisticated schemes. Homeland Security Investigations [HSI] will continue to focus its efforts on keeping these types of criminal elements off our streets while dismantling the groups behind these and other thefts.”
More details about the cases can be found online via this indictment and this one.
