The team at digital marketing solutions provider LotVantage noticed five dealerships in four states found ways to leverage the smartphone gaming app that’s all the rage nowadays — Pokémon GO.
Franchised stores already sporting Hondas, Nissans and Subarus are welcoming people looking for Pikachus and other Pokémon characters, and LotVantage shared strategy so dealerships can find what they want most — ups who might need a new vehicle to get to the Pokémon Gyms and PokéStops.
If you’re already confused about this Pokémon business and what it’s all about, LotVantage recommended in a blog post that store managers should first download the app for their smartphone and play the game for a bit to see what’s getting people of all ages so excited.
“We’ve already seen a few dealerships using Pokémon GO in their marketing and it’s a fantastic way to engage and grow your social media audience. This is far more interesting than just posting inventory,” LotVantage said in this blog post.
“Creative marketing is one way to bring customers to your dealership, but you can also lure them to your dealership using the game. If your dealership is close to a PokéStop or a Poké Gym, you’re one of the lucky ones,” the company continued.
LotVantage highlighted these stores are already using their Facebook pages to get involved with Pokémon GO.
—Sellers Subaru in Macomb Township, Mich.
—Mile High Motors of Butte Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram in Butte, Mont.
—Concordville Nissan in Glen Mills, Pa.
—Performance Toyota Nissan in Reading, Pa.
—Crown Honda of Southpoint in Durham, N.C.
As widely reported on Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice want to know exactly how Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is reporting its new-vehicle sales.
The automaker released a statement confirming reports that first arrived from Automotive News and Bloomberg, reiterating its procedure for how the company shares metrics within its financial statements.
“In response to press reports (Monday), FCA confirms that it is cooperating with an SEC investigation into the reporting of vehicle unit sales to end customers in the U.S.,” the automaker said in a statement obtained by Auto Remarketing. “In its annual and quarterly financial statements, FCA records revenues based on shipments to dealers and customers and not on reported vehicle unit sales to end customers.
“Inquiries into similar issues were recently made by the U.S. Department of Justice,” the company continued. “FCA will cooperate fully with these investigations.”
And those investigations certainly are what’s intriguing to Kelley Blue Book analyst Akshay Anand.
“Much of the FCA investigation is in wait-and-see mode right now as details are still coming to light,” Anand said in a message to Auto Remarketing. “If FCA did engage in illegal practices, it’s likely we will see stiff fines and possibly more.
“If the investigation uncovers nothing incriminating, it will be business as usual, especially for the stars of the FCA group — Jeep and Ram,” Anand added.
According to a news release posted on its investor relations site, FCA highlighted June U.S. new-model sales of 197,073 units, a 7-percent increase compared with sales in June of last year that totaled 185,035 units. Officials added the month marked the group’s best June sales in 11 years.
The OEM went on to mention the Jeep, Dodge and Ram Truck brands each posted year-over-year sales gains in June compared with the same month a year ago. The Jeep brand’s 17 percent increase was the brand’s best June sales ever, while Ram achieved its best June sales in a decade.
When the sales figures arrived on July 1, Autotrader senior analyst Michelle Krebs said, “It’s the same old story at Fiat Chrysler. Jeep and Ram with trucks, vans and utilities carry the load for the company. Despite big incentives, Fiat cars still won’t budge as they have the highest inventories in the industry.”
Kelley Blue Book senior analyst Rebecca Lindland cheered the automaker’s performance because her team generated its own metrics.
“This is great to see, especially since Fiat Chrysler’s average transaction prices grew by nearly 4 percent year-over-year, according to our own sources,” Lindland said. “Jeep is carrying the company, outselling Dodge and Chrysler combined both in the month and year-to-date. The Pacifica is supporting Chrysler as it sells off the 200 sedan, and the Caravan and Durango are carrying the Dodge brand as car sales struggle.
“The power of the Jeep label is personified in sales of the Renegade, where monthly sales are outpacing its sister Fiat 500X’s year-to-date sales,” she went on to say.
Now that turning of new metal is being questioned by federal officials, and it’s not the first time this year the OEM has had to tackle the issue.
Back in January, the automaker acknowledged the filing of a lawsuit in an Illinois Federal Court by two U.S. dealers located in Illinois and Florida. The dealer plaintiffs were two stores of the Ed Napleton Automotive Group.
“The lawsuit makes allegations of false sales reporting by FCA US. Notwithstanding numerous requests to provide evidence of this alleged activity, the plaintiffs have refused to substantiate their claims,” OEM officials said at the time. “FCA US carried out an investigation of the facts, and has determined that these allegations are baseless and plaintiffs were notified of this fact before they filed suit.”
The automaker elaborated about the activity by this franchised dealer group.
“This lawsuit is nothing more than the product of two disgruntled dealers who have failed to perform their obligations under the dealer agreements they signed with FCA US,” OEM officials continued. “They have consistently failed to perform since at least 2012, and have also used the threats of litigation over the last several months in a wrongful attempt to compel FCA US to reserve special treatment for them, including the allocation of additional open points in the US FCA network.
“FCA US will continue to resist these pressures, safeguarding the relationship of trust and openness which governs its relationship with its dealers,” the company went on to say. “FCA finds it unfortunate and disappointing that reputable media would be willing to be used in questionable litigation practices without a full understanding of the facts.”
DealerRater recently announced that LotShot, previously a web-only photo review application, is now available as a feature in the DealerRater for Dealers app for iOS.
Considered to be easier to use than ever before, LotShot can allow salespeople at DealerRater Certified Dealerships — which currently stands at more than 5,600 stores in the U.S. and Canada — to snap and share customer photos at vehicle delivery, email them to a customer and “dramatically” improve their chances of receiving a review.
The site insisted nearly 50 percent of all LotShot review requests made by dealership salespeople to their vehicle-buying customers result in a review on DealerRater.
“Purchasing a car is a significant event and LotShot has proven to be both a fun way to share the moment and a very effective way to quickly earn a review,” DealerRater chief executive officer Gary Tucker said.
“Adding LotShot to our smartphone-based employee app streamlines the picture-taking, sharing and review invitation process,” Tucker added.
In a social media-powered consumer economy, DealerRater highlighted that studies have shown that photos perform best for likes, comments and shares compared to text, video, and site links. In addition, product and service reviews that include customer pictures greatly improve review credibility.
Photo reviews on DealerRater earn more than twice the amount of helpful votes from consumers compared to plain text reviews.
“LotShot is simply cool,” said Chuck Prosch, fleet/Internet manager at Pearland, Texas-based Strickland Chevrolet, a two-time DealerRater Texas Dealer of the Year and Consumer Satisfaction Award winner.
“I don’t know anyone who doesn't like to see a picture of themselves with their new vehicle,” Prosch continued.
DealerRater emphasized the LotShot app capability is simple to use. A dealership salesperson opens LotShot on their smartphone, takes or uploads a photo, enters the vehicle-buyer’s name and email address, previews the note and sends the photo along with DealerRater review completion instructions.
“What we have found with LotShot is that customers not only get back to us about the experience they had with their salesperson,” added Prosch, “but they also share LotShot photos with family and friends, adding to the positive feeling they have about our team members."
The DealerRater for Dealers app for iOS is included in Certified Essentials, the company’s reputation-management toolkit. The iOS version of the app is available for immediate download by DealerRater Certified Dealers.
An Android version of the app will be released soon. Certified Dealers can sign up to be notified when it becomes available.
For more information on LotShot, visit info.dealerrater.com/Lotshot.
Apparently, the Fourth of July is not just for fireworks, baseball and hot-dog-eating contests.
These days, it’s seen as a “car-shopping holiday” — and one with a big online focus.
According to a Dealer.com analysis of dealership website activity, Web visits per dealership during the Fourth of July weekend earlier this month were 73 higher than other weekends in the first half of the year.
“It certainly is typical that the July 4th weekend is a strong weekend,” James Grace, director of analytics and product management at Dealer.com, said in a phone interview.
“For comparison’s sake, though, last year, that percentage was 56 percent,” he said. “While it normally is a strong weekend, it was stronger than normal this year.”
And vehicle detail page visits were up 48 percent compared to other weekends, Dealer.com said. (It was up by the same amount in 2015.)
There was a 35-percent lift in desktop traffic compared to other weekends (11-percent gain in 2015), with smartphone traffic up 61 percent (69 percent in 2015).
In addition to July 4 being a holiday weekend — giving folks more time to car shop — the fact that it’s at the beginning of the month means dealers and automakers have the chance to get the month off to a strong start.
“So you’re going to see people investing in their marketing at the front-end of the month in order to drive a strong July,” Grace said.
Summer is typically stronger than other parts of the year for car shopping, in general, Grace said, and automakers also push advertising during this time of year.
Plus, said Dealer.com director of digital marketing Andy MacLeay said, dealers and automakers tend to push marketing spend just before the summer season as well, which plays a part.
And traffic was going up heading into the Fourth of July weekend to begin with.
In June, visits per dealer website were up 14 percent year-over-year.
MacLeay said Dealer.com has seen dealerships putting a bigger emphasis on the websites the past few years.
“For us, the big change that’s happening now is, you’re moving the car dealership website from a spot where people go and maybe research a car and then possibly leave a lead or make a phone call, to somewhere where shoppers are expecting to transact,” MacLeay said.
“They’re expecting to get done certain portions of the car-buying process online. And that’s really what we’re developing towards, is the ability to reduce the amount of time that the consumer is in the dealership doing the bits and pieces of the car-shopping process that are maybe not the most fun to do or are the most time-consuming,” he said.
The development and marketing focus for Dealer.com, MacLeay said, is “moving from this idea of 'we’re just trying to get someone to leave us a lead' to 'we’re actually trying to get somebody to shop for a car.'”
The latest Beige Book — the Federal Reserve’s ongoing effort to gather anecdotal information on current economic conditions through reports from bank and branch directors and interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts and other sources — showed pockets of dealership turbulence in several of the 12 districts.
While contacts in Cleveland, Kansas City and Dallas expressed an optimistic outlook for future vehicle sales, most districts noted that auto sales slowed during the reporting period, but remained at fairly high levels.
All but the First District in Boston discussed the auto industry in the latest Beige Book that Fed officials released on Wednesday. Many assessments not only touched on what happened as the second quarter closed but also delved into future expectations, since the Fed won’t offer its next Beige Book until after Labor Day.
Here’s the rundown of auto-industry content shared in the newest Beige Book:
New York
The Fed indicated that new-vehicle sales are reported to have softened somewhat in May and June, though they are still said to be at fairly high levels. Officials mentioned inventories of new vehicles are reported to be mixed, largely reflecting availability of financing incentives on some models but not others.
The report also acknowledged the used-vehicle market remains soft, with both sales activity and prices drifting down in recent months. Officials pointed out that retail and wholesale credit conditions generally remain favorable.
Philadelphia
Overall, Third District dealers told the Fed that vehicle sales slowed further during the current period but remain at high levels.
Officials added that more precise early period reports indicated sales were lower than during the same time last year.
“Anecdotal reports for recent weeks suggest sales will be flat, at best, with last year,” the Fed said. “Dealers are content with the relatively high sales numbers; however, they spoke of ‘managing the plateau’ and of caution against overextending their businesses financially.
Dealers in this district still see growth potential in 2017, according to the Beige Book.
Cleveland
Year-to-date new-vehicle sales through May came in on par with those of a year ago, according to dealers in the Fourth District.
The Fed found that automaker incentives continue to rise and are now reportedly above 10 percent, but average transaction prices are also rising because of the ongoing shift in consumer preferences from cars to light trucks (including SUVs).
“New-vehicle unit volume is expected to remain at high levels this year, though dealers anticipate retail transactions to decline and fleet sales to rise,” officials said.
And now some good news for the used departments at dealerships in the district:
“Consumers are seeing increasing value in the purchase of used cars,” officials said. “The large number of leased vehicles being turned in is putting downward pressure on their resale prices. Year-to-date sales of used vehicles rose almost 5 percent compared to those of a year ago.”
The Fed added that dealer payrolls increased along seasonal trends.
Richmond
The Fed found that vehicle sales varied by location.
“A dealership in western Virginia reported that a recent increase in their digital footprint has helped push up foot traffic and sales, and an executive at a dealership just outside of Washington, D.C. said that sales have been stronger since our previous report,” officials said.
“Dealerships in central North Carolina and the Hampton Roads region of Virginia reported that sales remained steady at previous levels,” they continued. “Sales of heavy trucks declined, according to a dealer who also noted that higher prices caused by changes in engine emissions requirements in the next model year could weaken future sales.”
Atlanta
Heading deeper into the South, dealers reported some slowing in the pace of sales in May.
“Merchants expect sales to remain relatively flat over the next few months,” the Fed said.
Chicago
Purchases of new and used vehicles continued to be “robust, and leasing activity remained “strong,” according to the Beige Book recap of the Seventh District.
Officials noticed average vehicle transaction prices again moved higher as the mix of sales continued to shift toward larger, more expensive vehicles and because of greater demand for high-tech options.
St. Louis
Dealers in eastern Arkansas reported that sales continue to be favorable compared with 2015.
“Multiple dealers noted that they expect an increase in year-over-year sales in the third quarter,” the Fed said.
Minneapolis
As energy prices soften, dealers in the Ninth District are seeing the impact.
“Sales of new vehicles at a dealership in Rapid City, S.D., were off by 50 percent and used-vehicle sales were off by 30 percent since January due to layoffs in Wyoming coal mines and oil fields in North Dakota,” officials said.
Kansas City
The Beige Book indicated sales were flat and remained below year-ago levels.
“But dealer contacts expected a moderate pick-up in the coming months,” the Fed said. “Auto inventories decreased and were expected to fall further.”
Dallas
The Fed found that sales in this district held steady and were in line with year-ago levels.
“Sales are projected to be strong in 2016, but contacts expressed concern about the potential negative impact of the election on consumer confidence,” officials said.
San Francisco
And finally out West, officials recapped that vehicle sales eased somewhat, “and contacts noted that some dealers were selling new vehicles at a loss to meet sales quotas set by manufacturers.”
Like their contemporaries at the National Automobile Dealers Association, leaders from the American International Automobile Dealers Association are urging dealer principals to reach out to members of Congress as they adjourn for their summer recess.
AIADA insisted the best way to forge a meaningful relationship with elected officials is through its Dealer Visit Program.
“We rely on the involvement of our dealers to make an impact on legislators and policymakers,” AIADA said. “There is no better time to host your member of Congress at your dealership.”
The AIADA Dealer Visit Program can allow members of Congress to see first-hand the challenges and rewards of running a successful dealership.
The experience generally consists of a one-hour visit where the lawmaker will come to the dealership, conduct a mini town hall forum with managers and store employees, and tour the facility. By opening the dialogue between dealers and lawmakers, AIADA emphasized both parties can learn about each other’s businesses.
“It is an opportunity to jump start a vital one-on-one relationship between dealers and elected officials and provides the members with a look into how the decisions made in Washington affect the daily lives of dealers and their employees,” the association said.
Last summer, Stevenson Honda in Wilmington, N.C., hosted Rep. David Rouzer, a North Carolina Republican.
“The opportunity was invaluable,” Stevenson Honda general manager Patrick Koballa said about the event that included “a thoughtful discussion about automotive industry issues.”
Koballa added, “Congressman Rouzer got a chance to see the day-to-day operations of our business and how his decisions in Washington impact our community, and Stevenson Honda employees got a chance to talk one-on-one with a key decision-maker in Washington.”
AIADA said the best part of the Dealer Visit Program is the association said it will handle all the details — from scheduling and talking points to media advisories and event logistics.
AIADA acknowledged that August schedules are quickly filling up and now is the time to start planning for your visit. Dealers can contact Sarah Martinez, manager of grassroots and government relations, at [email protected] or (703) 519-7800 to schedule a dealership visit.
On Monday, Holman Automotive said it has completed its acquisition of Kuni Automotive.
As they did when the transaction was first announced back in April, Holman officials said the terms of the deal will not be disclosed.
The Kuni Automotive dealerships located in Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado and Kansas that were acquired will now operate as “Kuni Automotive, a Holman Enterprise.” The deal doubles Holman Automotive’s retail business, which will now have:
—More than $3 billion in annual revenue
—40 dealership franchises and 19 brands at 34 locations
—Nearly 3,000 employees.
The company insisted this acquisition makes Holman Automotive one of the largest privately owned dealership networks in the nation. Holman’s existing dealerships are located in New Jersey, Florida and Pennsylvania.
In addition, officials pointed out the transaction will positively impact the Wayne D. Kuni and Joan E. Kuni Foundation, a charitable foundation that has supported cancer research and worked to enhance the lives of developmentally disabled adults since 2005.
As the majority stakeholder in Kuni Automotive, the Kuni Foundation will receive funding that will help to support its philanthropic work well into the future. The foundation expects to be able to broaden the scope and geography of its charitable outreach as well.
“This acquisition aligns with Holman’s strategy of investing in and growing our retail business outside of our existing platforms,” said Melinda “Mindy” Holman, chairman of the board of Holman. “But it is important to recognize that our two companies are a great cultural fit, which was a very important consideration to us as we went through this process.
“We look forward to sharing in the success we will enjoy together as we continue to define what it means to be a leader in the automotive industry, in our own communities and beyond,” Holman continued.
Former Kuni Automotive chief executive officer Greg Goodwin, who remains an integral part of the company, said he is excited for the Holman and Kuni employees who will benefit from the combination of the two dealership networks.
“Team members from both the Kuni and Holman sides of the deal will have the opportunity to explore new career opportunities within the larger organization and will learn a lot from one another, to the benefit of our customers,” Goodwin said.
Holman added that it plans to remain a privately owned company “as it continues to grow and flourish.”
The largest automotive retailer in the U.S. just got a little bit larger.
AutoNation, Inc. announced Thursday that it will add four stores in the Westchester County, N.Y. area. The stores represent approximately $190 million in annual revenue, and will be fully acquired by the company in the third quarter of 2016, after completing the customary terms and conditions.
"These acquisitions will greatly enhance our brand mix, positioning us with outstanding premium luxury offerings in this new market,” Mike Jackson, AutoNation's chairman, chief executive officer and president, said in a news release. “We look forward to welcoming the BMW, Jaguar and Land Rover customers and 140 new associates in Westchester County to AutoNation."
The four stores are: BMW Mt. Kisco, Land Rover Mt. Kisco, Jaguar Land Rover Larchmont/New Rochelle and White Plains Jaguar. The stores were acquired from The Premier Collection, expect White Plains Jaguar, which AutoNation purchased from DiSimone Imports.
The stores will be either renovated or relocated within the area. BMW Mt. Kisco will receive a renovation, while the Land Rover Mt Kisco store will be completely relocated and combined with Jaguar in an entirely new facility, which the news release states will be “state-of-the-art.”
The Larchmont/ New Rochelle Jaguar location will be renovated and expanded. AutoNation expects the newly constructed facilities to “generate approximately $100 million in additional revenue one fully operational.”
CDK Global wrapped up its fiscal year on a high note.
The company highlighted this week that it secured a record number of contract renewals during its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended June 30. With customers citing improved levels of service as the company continues to transform its operations, CDK Global indicated 670 customers renewed long-term contracts — a figure leadership said included customers representing approximately one in five of CDK’s automotive dealer management system (DMS) sites.
“CDK is laser focused on our customers and listening carefully to their business needs,” CDK chief executive officer Brian MacDonald said.
“Recently expanded programs like Service Connect and better processes have helped us dramatically improve our service levels, and customers have taken note,” MacDonald continued.
“CDK has a clear transformation plan, and the unprecedented level of renewals representing nearly 10 percent of all franchise auto and heavy duty truck dealership sites in North America is a tangible expression of our customers supporting our plan,” he went on to say.
MacDonald recapped that improvements to Service Connect — CDK’s online chat-based service platform — have shortened service response times by 85 percent since May of last year.
Additionally, the Service Connect Community, which is a cohort of dealers working together to address common topics within their dealerships, has also grown to nearly 47,000 participants.
“CDK is dedicated to becoming more efficient and committed to meeting our customers’ needs,” MacDonald said.
“The success of our latest efforts to renew more customers is just one of the many accomplishments coming out of our work to evolve the automotive experience through a carefully implemented transformation plan that has just begun its second year,” he added.
As more cyber attacks disrupt businesses, the American International Automobile Dealers Association insisted principals and managers need to know about emerging threats and how to defend their businesses.
To help stores, AIADA set up its July AutoTalk webinar to feature two experts from Wells Fargo who plan to share best practices for keeping your accounts and critical information secure and how to safeguard your data and company reputation.
The session beginning at 10 a.m. EDT on July 19 features Amy Machold, who is the fraud and identity theft manager with the Wells Fargo Wholesale Financial Crimes Risk and Compliance Team.
Machold has 20 years of wholesale banking experience and 13 years of experience in fraud risk management and compliance, domestic and international operations, business process management, and customer support roles.
Later that day at 4 p.m. EDT, AIADA plans to welcome Jinee Ellis, who is the senior vice president and manager of the Wells Fargo Wholesale Internet Fraud Prevention and Authentication Team.
Ellis is responsible for all aspects of fraud management, including fraud detection and protection, authentication solutions, and customer and team member education for Wells Fargo’s digital properties in wholesale banking.
Dealers can register and attend one or both of the webinars.
To sign up for the session featuring Machold, go to this website.
To participate in the webinar featuring Ellis, visit this website.
