Catalytic converter theft now is getting attention on Capitol Hill.
The National Automobile Dealers Association, joined by 12 industry partners, sent a letter on Monday to U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) in support of H.R. 6394, a bipartisan bill to combat rising catalytic convertor theft in the U.S.
According to an NADA news release, the “Preventing Auto Recycling Theft (PART) Act” is the first congressional proposal to address the growing national problem of catalytic converter thefts, which are costing businesses and vehicle owners millions of dollars annually. CARFAX recently highlighted the top 10 models being impacted.
“Catalytic convertor theft is a major concern for dealers nationwide,” NADA president and chief executive officer Mike Stanton said in the news release. “The PART Act would help deter catalytic converter thefts that are impacting dealerships, fleet businesses and consumers alike.”
Signers of the letter that can be seen via this website included:
• National Automobile Dealers Association
• National Independent Automobile Dealers Association
• American Car Rental Association
• American Truck Dealers
• American Trucking Associations
• Major Cities Chiefs Association
• NAFA Fleet Management Association
• National Automatic Merchandising Association
• National Insurance Crime Bureau
• National Private Truck Council
• National Sheriffs’ Association
• National Tank Truck Carriers
• The National RV Dealers Association
NADA explained catalytic converters are being stolen at increasingly higher rates due to their valuable metals, such as rhodium, platinum and palladium. The association noted stolen catalytic converters can garner anywhere from $20 to $350 on the black market, and the replacement cost to vehicle owners can be as high as $2,500.
At present, NADA acknowledged thefts are hard to combat as catalytic convertors are not easily traceable and can be stolen from unattended vehicles in mass quantities, including at dealership lots.
As the nation observes National Police Week, the organizations that signed the letter urge Congress to pass this legislation that provides a federal framework needed for local law enforcement to combat catalytic convertor thefts.
“Congress must pass H.R. 6394,” NIADA CEO Robert Voltmann said in another news release. “It is a critical piece of legislation to combat catalytic converter theft.
“During Police Week, it’s even more important to highlight how this legislation provides local law enforcement with the necessary support needed to combat rising catalytic converter theft," Voltmann continued.
The PART Act will require that new vehicles have unique identifying numbers stamped on catalytic converters during assembly, as well as establishes a federal criminal penalty for the theft, sale, trafficking or known purchase of stolen catalytic convertor.
“I cannot overstate the gravity of catalytic convertor theft across the country,” said Scott Lambert, president of the Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association (MADA). “Vehicle owners, including dealers and fleet owners, are collectively losing millions of dollars from these thefts, and in light of the global supply chain shortage, it is difficult and extremely costly to replace catalytic convertors.
“I urge Congress to move this issue forward and hold a hearing to explore remedies for the millions of stakeholders impacted,” Lambert went on to say.
Electric vehicles (EV) have become an extremely polarizing topic over the years. Every day there seems to be dozens, if not hundreds, of articles talking about this segment of the automotive market. However, EVs still make up less than 5% of the total number of cars and trucks sold today, according to the International Energy Agency.
That being said, global passenger EV sales rose by 94% year-over-year in the third quarter last year, reaching nearly 1.7 million units, according to CleanTechnica, which translates to more than 1 million EVs being sold for four consecutive quarters.
China and Europe are two global markets that have significantly driven up the demand for EVs, as they both see consumer’s appreciation going far beyond emissions’ mandates. Here in the U.S., relaxed fuel economy targets and weak charging infrastructures have caused demand to be more stagnant, but it is furiously picking up. New fuel economy regulations are being passed and the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act shows much promise of a stronger national charging infrastructure.
EV growth will only get bigger
Experts believe 2022 will be another record-breaking year for EV sales growth, with the potential of more than ten million units sold globally. China will be a key player, but U.S. EV sales are forecasted to double this year. And U.S. automotive dealerships continue to take note of the EV movement.
With hundreds of EVs quickly headed to showroom floors, industry leaders, EV experts and progressive dealers offered candid conversations at the recent NADA Expo in Las Vegas. There were endless sessions, workshops and demonstrations at the show to help dealers better understand the importance of and how to best sell EV cars and trucks.
How can dealers advertise for EV?
So you’ve made the electrifying decision to sell EV at your dealership, but the question remains; what’s the BEST way to locally advertise EVs to consumers who are still on the fence about making the switch?
Major auto brands and EV startups have begun to introduce smart, progressive advertising strategies for their new cars and batteries, along with modern sustainability commitments in hopes of making EVs the ultimate driving experience in coming years. General Motors aired a prime-time Super Bowl ad with a star-studded cast, while Hyundai is now airing EV ads starring Spider-Man. Ford hired an Oscar-winning director to illustrate how many of their most famous models have gone electric at the Tokyo Olympics, and Mercedes-Benz and startup Lucid have unveiled lavish showrooms in NYC to demonstrate benefits to inquisitive crowds. The list goes on and on.
Making a stronger ad push at the Tier 3 level
While a large majority of EV advertising remains at the Tier-1 OEM level, dealers must rev up their local EV-centric advertising strategies in order to educate consumers that they can shop and service new EVs right at their local dealership. It could be a very costly mistake…missing out on potential buyers because they think they can only shop for and order an EV through the manufacturer.
Don’t forget the fundamentals
Some of the fundamentals of automotive advertising will ring true for EV as well, and as always, the biggest key is knowing your audience on the most personalized level possible. EV buyers are extremely savvy shoppers, so focus your messaging on education as much as features and benefits. Keep service and maintenance in mind when illustrating your dealership’s full value. These savvy shoppers are also quick on their toes, so be sure to align your advertising with real-time inventory levels.
In short, building concise advertising strategies that eliminate wasteful spending on your part and wasted time for your buyers, will help to achieve the best ROI. Reducing advertising waste is crucial to boosting dealership profitability, especially during a heavy advertising period like unveiling an exciting new EV model. Today’s advanced advertising data and marketing technology can help dealers follow and capture demand during these launches by identifying which vehicles they should be aggressively marketing — all with the goal of optimizing to the lowest cost per sale, rather than vanity metrics like CPC and impression volume.
Sophisticated AdTech will play a key role
Dealers should also take advantage of the tools, technologies and resources available to them via Connected TV (CTV) — a platform that aligns well with an EV-centric audience. You should be leveraging uniquely personalized ads with messaging targeted at specific households. Messaging with offers to buy an EV, trade-in their existing vehicle to augment dealer inventory, or personalized and interactive CTV ads allowing a user to click their remote to schedule service or get a trade-in quote are just a few examples. This same clickable interactivity could also give viewers access to payment calculators and real-time inventory on a dealer’s website, allowing them to get pre-qualified and matched with a vehicle while instantly negotiating payment terms…all from the comfort of the couch.
Additionally, smart retailers today should leverage a top-notch engagement/conversion strategy, along with tools that help them to efficiently align their internal processes to serve their EV customers in order to stay competitive in their market. These dealers are recognizing the importance of integrating a seamless e-commerce strategy with their lead-gen strategy and media mix, to reap the benefits of drastically lower costs per sale, faster processes, increased customer satisfaction and surging service retention.
Last but not least, leveraging payment-first technologies that provide a 1:1 personalized shopping experience could easily seal the deal. This allows buyers to simultaneously shop for their EV vehicle and financing across a dealer’s entire offering: real-time inventory, all terms financing programs, with all rebates, incentives, specials, ePricing, and trade-in equity calculated and applied at the end.
With these advertising strategies in mind, dealers focusing on promoting EV cars and trucks will certainly gain a leg up on the competition and electrify more interest in their local markets!
Jeff Allen has worked in the automotive industry for over more than years and has been at the forefront of transforming shopper data into information across all three automotive tiers. Before coming to PureCars, Jeff was the Director of Analytics at 22Squared, working directly with Southeast Toyota and large retail brands to improve their bottom line. Today he serves as VP of CX for PureCars, working internally as well as externally with clients to remove blind spots to realize performance. For more information, visit www.purecars.com.
Continuing our series of special episodes of the Auto Remarketing Podcasts featuring general sessions from this year’s Auto Intel Summit — an added benefit for Cherokee Media Group Premium Members — we share a presentation about another way to retail vehicles.
In a keynote presentation, Chip Perry of A2Z Sync asks the question: “Is one-person selling right for your dealership?”
To listen to the episode, go to this webpage.
Dealerships take the stage as we continue our series of special episodes of the Auto Remarketing Podcasts featuring general sessions from this year’s Auto Intel Summit — an added benefit for Cherokee Media Group Premium Members.
In a session orchestrated by Bob Glaser of the North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association, a trio of leading Tar Heel State operators are featured, including Greg Dudak of Mercedes-Benz of Fayetteville, Bennett Johnson of the John Hiester Automotive Group and Chris Vester of the Hubert Vester Auto Group.
To listen to the episode, go to this webpage.
For dealerships that have a commercial department, an ecommerce vehicle graphics platform is rolling out products to help those stores cater to business customers with customized products retailed at the time the truck or van rolls over the curb.
Last week, Wrapmate released a new custom product offering specifically for commercial vehicle dealerships; an end-to-end ordering platform that can create a seamless, digital experience for dealers to sell vehicle graphics of all sizes directly to customers at the point of vehicle purchase.
Wrapmate highlighted the commercial dealership program offers a new revenue stream for dealers, making it more efficient and more lucrative when it comes to closing upsells on ancillary products.
When a commercial vehicle customer visits a local dealership to purchase their desired van or truck, the salesperson can seamlessly offer the customer any graphics package through a simple portal powered by Wrapmate. Exact pricing is shown instantly for any graphic or wrap size across each vehicle, which already includes dealer incentives.
To make it even simpler for dealers to work with Wrapmate, the company explained the program begins with a comprehensive onboarding process to promote and implement the program, maximizing the upside potential for every dealership involved.
As dealers close customers through the platform, all orders will be executed and fulfilled behind-the-scenes by Wrapmate.
Once Wrapmate works through all project logistics, a local Wrapmate Pro will then complete the customer’s installation utilizing 3M vinyl materials.
Through a news release distributed by Wrapmate, a pair of dealers described what using the platform has done for their commercial departments.
Eric Roberg is sales manager at Phil Long Ford of Denver.
“Since joining Wrapmate’s commercial dealership program, presenting customers with wraps and graphics at the point of vehicle purchase has been simple and seamless,” Roberg said. “Thanks to this turnkey solution Wrapmate has created, we’ve already completed a 10-vehicle graphics project for an Australian mining company,”.
Adam Elenes is part of the Velocity Vehicle Group.
“Although we’re very new to the dealer program, we’re already seeing early signs of success,” Elenes said. “Within our first month of launch, we have a deal in the pipeline to complete wraps for 100 vehicles through Wrapmate’s platform. We’re looking forward to completing this order along with many others in the near future.”
After six months of piloting the program with dealers across the U.S., Wrapmate officially launched the full program last week.
Wrapmate also has a buy now, pay later solution with financing partner, Uplift, to bring monthly payment options for dealership customers.
Wrapmate chief marketing officer Javier Lozano Jr. is upbeat that more dealer clients can have success with the company like Phil Long Ford and the Velocity Vehicle Group.
“We are beyond excited to provide commercial dealers all across the U.S. with the effortless ability to offer wrap and graphic products to their customers,” Lozano said.
“With Wrapmate providing each individual dealership with all the tools they need to successfully sell graphics at the point of purchase, we’re confident that graphics will become the most popular ancillary product for dealers as well as a great source of commission for individual sales reps,” he went on to say.
To join the program or learn more, visit wrapmate.com/dealerships.
Some of the latest philanthropic activities by dealerships include recent endeavors by Premier Subaru, Vaughan Automotive and Mike Calvert Toyota.
Beginning in Branford, Conn., Premier Subaru president Robert Alvine presented a check for $45,850 to Shawn Heffernan, who is chief executive officer of Camp Rising Sun, which was designed to provide a safe, nurturing environment to children ages 5 through 17 who have been diagnosed with cancer.
The dealership highlighted through a news release that the donation represented the proceeds from the annual “Share the Love” event, in which anyone who purchased or leased a new Subaru could chose a $250 donation to one of four national charities — ASPCA, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Meals on Wheels Association of America, the National Park Foundation — or a fifth local charity for their customers to support.
Premier Subaru selected Camp Rising Sun as its “hometown charity” for the 2021-2022 Share the Love Campaign for the sixth year in a row.
Premier Subaru also matched dollars from Subaru of America directly to provide additional impact to Camp Rising Sun.
“Our customers have the choice of five different amazing charities, and, nearly every single one chose Camp Rising Sun,” Alvine said in the news release. “We are honored to continue to be a partner in supporting such a deserving organization.”
Camp Rising Sun Camp Week takes places at Camp Jewell YMCA in Colebrook, Conn. Camp Rising Sun has been active since 1983 and has grown to more than 100 campers each year.
The funds provided by Premier Subaru will support more than 40 campers this year.
Over the last 14 years, through the Share the Love Event, Subaru of America and its participating retailers have donated more than $227 million to charity, with customers choosing between four national charities and more than 1,440 hometown charities.
Premier Subaru has donated more than $380,000 to Camp Rising Sun during the past six years, supporting more than 250 campers.
Dealer effort in Houston
This week, Vaughan Automotive and Mike Calvert Toyota announced their partnership with United For Human Dignity (UFHD), pledging $8,000 to support survivors of human trafficking from the greater Houston area.
“As an organization, we could not be more honored to partner with United For Human Dignity,” Shawn Vaughan, dealer principal, executive manager & chief executive officer at Vaughan Automotive, said in another news release.
“We have made a dedicated effort to seek out organizations that are making an influential impact in our communities and supporting them in any way that we can,” Vaughan continued.
United For Human Dignity aims to help survivors of sex trafficking in overcoming their lived experience through education, employment and emotional support. UFHD provides career coaching for survivors who would like to pursue a college degree or vocational training and connects them with resources and programs that assist with tuition and basic living needs.
For ongoing support, survivors have access to mentors, study groups, support groups, interview preparation and financial management classes.
With economic empowerment at the heart of helping survivors, the donation from Vaughan Automotive and Mike Calvert Toyota will be used to support the organization’s scholarships, the costs associated with basic living needs, and their “Healing through the Arts” program, designed to give survivors a chance to benefit from the use of art, dance, yoga and other trauma-sensitive therapeutic activities that can help them move toward a place of healing.
“Our organization was founded on the premise of contributing to the fight against sex trafficking by empowering survivors and helping them to reach their full potential,” said Sharon Windham, founder of United For Human Dignity. “We would not be able to have the impact that we have achieved without our partnerships with companies who believe in the work we are doing, and we are honored to have Mike Calvert Toyota and Vaughan Automotive’s support and look forward to creating a long-lasting partnership.”
After sharing his recommendations for finance companies, Automotive Personnel founder Don Jasensky made a return visit on the Auto Remarketing Podcast to offer insights about how dealerships can find the salespeople they need to cater to today’s vehicle buyers.
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.
Roughly about a month after landing a relationship with Kentucky dealerships, ComplyNet this week secured a similar achievement with dealers in a bordering state.
The Illinois Automobile Dealers Association announced it chose ComplyNet as an endorsed partner of environmental, health, and safety (EHS) compliance solutions.
ComplyNet said through a news release that it will bring its 28 years of automotive-exclusive compliance solutions and expertise to IADA’s nearly 750 franchise dealer members throughout the state.
“We like ComplyNet’s approach to guiding dealers to a culture of compliance through participation and accountability using intuitive software solutions, and our members already highly recommend ComplyNet,” IADA executive director Joe McMahon said in the news release. “Not only will ComplyNet provide members with necessary solutions, ComplyNet will also participate with IADA in providing education and awareness efforts to prevent accidents, injuries, claims, and regulatory fines.
“If our efforts prevent a single accident and the employee go home safely at the end of the workday, then the time and commitment is well worth it,” McMahon continued.
ComplyNet provides compliance solutions to thousands of dealerships throughout the United States using ComplyNet’s ABLE platform, an end-to-end compliance management system that is geared to be intuitive and easy to use to helps dealerships track their efforts and achieve regulatory goals.
And along with the Bluegrass State, the firm now has the endorsement from dealers in the Land of Lincoln.
“ComplyNet was founded in Illinois and our team is extremely proud and humbled to have earned IADA’s endorsement,” ComplyNet president and general counsel Adam Crowell said.
“When it comes to dealership representation, IADA is a beacon of excellence, and we endeavor to assist IADA by providing best-in-class education, awareness, and tech-enabled solutions that are intuitive, easy to use, and comprehensive,” Crowell went on to say.
About a month before NADA Show 2022, Seventh Knight became a part of the NADA Affinity Provider Program.
And the provider of unique ransomware protection solutions appeared on this episode of the Auto Remarketing Podcast recorded in Las Vegas, as vice president of business development Travis Odom described how vulnerable to ransomware attacks dealerships are as well as the importance of now collaborating with NADA.
To listen to this 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.
With thousands of franchised dealers gathering in Las Vegas earlier this month, this episode of the Auto Remarketing Podcast delves into the potential for fraud happening at dealerships.
The March installment of our monthly look at fraud with Point Predictive’s Justin Davis and Frank McKenna includes recommendations to help dealerships keep fraud from coming through their websites or literally the front door of the showroom.
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.
