Pearl Technology Holdings revealed its 6-foot-4 dynamic touch screens, called “Genius Stations,” aimed at expediting the sales and F&I process from the showroom.
Utilizing the company’s ShowroomXpress (SRX) retail platform, the Genius Stations allow customers to work out deals with or without the help of a sales representative right in the showroom. Shoppers can start the process online or in the store, or do a combination of both and pick up in the store where they left off online, via the use of Pearl Tech’s SRX application.
The platform uses Experian’s pre-screening technology, allowing SRX to calculate automotive loan payments to the dollar within 10 seconds. It prequalifies customers without providing a Social Security number and can provide exact payment calculations from every auto lender in the United States.
After prequalification, a salesperson can scan the VIN and the customer’s driver’s license using a smart device and bring up the customer’s record up on the Genius Station and walk them through the pre-approved payments on each vehicle they’re interested in for both financing and leasing terms, comparing the best rates from various lenders.
When not in use by a customer, the Genius Stations also serve as advertising boards.
“Basically, within 10 seconds the system takes the customer to a point in the retail process that would traditionally take 90 minutes,” said Bruce Thompson, Pearl Tech’s chief executive officer and founder.” “The ‘Genius Stations’ are expandable touch screens that allow either the salesperson, or the customer, to zoom in and see media-rich content, digital brochures and video, on each vehicle. Allowing the customer to shop by a real pre-qualified payment is a game-changer.”
Thompson also likened the Genius Stations to giant, 55-inch smartphone-style boards, which can use SRX to communicate seamlessly with computers, tablets and smartphones.
The Genius Stations will be officially displayed at the NADA 2016 Expo and Convention in Las Vegas on from March 31 to April 3. For more information, visit the SRX website here.
Digital marketing company LotLinx announced Tuesday it has expanded its “deep-linking” technology to Facebook, aiming to lead low-funnel car shoppers on the social media site to their local dealers’ vehicle detail pages.
According to LotLinx, its technology uses proprietary shopper data from LotLinx sites, a dealer’s own site, and Facebook-provided Polk data to build a customer audience for each dealer.
The company says that after testing the tool for a year their results show that this type of targeting, paired with LotLinx’ VIN-specific ads, can be more than five times as efficient as Facebook targeting alone.
“It’s LotLinx’ mission to scour the online universe for low-funnel, high-quality car shoppers and send them directly to dealer’ websites,” said Denise Chudy, chief executive officer at LotLinx. “We’re now expanding our technology on to the Facebook platform to help our dealer customers maximize their opportunity to connect with VINtenders in their market.”
For more information about LotLinx, visit its site here.
If you’re a dealer, protecting your customers is about more than protecting your business; it’s about contributing to the overall wellbeing of your community.
So with issues on a large scale as huge as the potential risks caused by Takata’s airbag inflator ruptures, the more you know, the more you can potentially protect yourself, your business and your buyer base.
On that note, some big news broke this week about the Takata airbag inflator issues: a partnership of 10 automakers, called the Independent Testing Coalition, announced that an independent engineering firm has released the results of an investigation into the Takata airbag parts to see what, exactly, is causing them to sometimes rupture and subsequently maim drivers with shrapnel.
According to Orbital ATK, the aforementioned independent engineering firm behind the findings, the following are the three key factors that contribute to the rupture of Takata airbag inflators, as listed by the firm:
- The presence of pressed phase stabilized ammonium nitrate propellant without moisture absorbing desiccant;
- Long term exposure to repeated high temperature cycling in the presence of moisture; and
- An inflator assembly that does not adequately prevent moisture intrusion in high humidity.
In short, the vehicles with airbags whose inflators do not contain desiccants that spend great deals of time in hot and humid areas are the units most prone to rupture.
To be specific, some of Takata’s airbags contain desiccants and some do not. The results of this study apply solely to the inflators that are subject to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recalls 15E-040 to 15E-043, which use a propellant of non-desiccated phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate, or PSAN. They make up the vast majority, roughly 23 million of the 28 million, of the Takata airbag inflators that have been recalled by NHTSA to date.
Backed by Orbital ATK’s 20,000 hours of testing and analysis by experienced engineers, scientists and technicians, David Kelly, former NHTSA acting administrator and ITC coordinator says this is a critical beginning to remedying the Takata issue.
“Identifying this multivariate root cause is an important first step,” Kelly said in the news release from Orbital ATK. “The ITC will use this data to develop our comprehensive understanding of this critical issue.”
Michelle Krebs, Autotrader’s senior analyst, resonated that sentiment in an Autotrader/Kelley Blue Book analysis.
“Finding definitive causes of what went wrong with Takata airbags is a huge step forward in ultimately resolving the problem and providing a pathway for the future in airbag development,” Krebs said. “Just as important, the process used to investigate flawed Takata airbags, which brought together outside experts as well as engineers from a host of automakers, is a great example of how industry problems can be solved.”
These results are the first phase in a multi-layered investigation into the defective Takata airbag inflators. In the next phase, the investigators will focus on all inflators that are being used as replacement parts for current recalls and analyze how they are expected to perform.
“The biggest challenge to this recall is getting the repairs done, and even then, those repaired vehicles may have to be reengineered if ammonium nitrate is found to be unsuitable,” KBB senior analyst Rebecca Lindland said in the same analysis. “This recall is not going away any time soon, and hopefully the death toll won’t rise while the investigation continues.
“The toll on resources this recall is absorbing within the affected parties cannot be underestimated. NHTSA, automakers, Takata itself and other parties all will be tied up in this for years to come while the expense mounts.”
Edmunds.com named over 800 car dealerships as recipients of its fourth-annual Five Star Dealer Awards on Tuesday.
According to the company, the awards recognize the car dealers that earned the highest overall rating for customer satisfaction in Edmunds.com’s dealer “sales ratings.”
"Providing excellent customer satisfaction has never been more important than it is in today's highly connected world," said Avi Steinlauf, Edmunds.com’s chief executive officer. "Congratulations to all of the winners of the Edmunds Five Star Dealer Awards for recognizing that putting the customer first is the very best way to be successful."
To be eligible for the honor, the dealer partners must have earned an overall sales rating of five stars, generated by car shoppers, on Edmunds.com. Further requirements include at least 20 reviews during the previous two years, as of December 31.
The winning dealerships are distinguished on Edmunds.com by a Five Star Dealer badge. Dealers interested in joining Edmunds.com’s dealer partner program can do so via its Dealer Center here.
“Why should I buy this vehicle with a CPO warranty over, say, anything else?”
If you’re a dealer on a franchised lot, you've most likely faced that question.
As part of Auto Remarketing’s annual “Best CPO Dealers in the United States” special edition, we connected with some of the top-selling franchised dealers in the CPO space, to get an inside view of what they do to move more certified units.
Audi Atlanta topped the charts for Audi CPO sales last year, moving over 50 percent more CPO vehicles than the next dealership on the list, with nearly 1,000 units sold in 2015.
AR reached out to Tracie Maloney, Audi Atlanta’s general manager and vice president, to see what the strongest quality of a CPO Audi vehicle is that their dealership emphasizes to CPO customers that seems to be a solid dealer-maker.
She pointed directly to just how simple and convenient it is to employ an Audi CPO vehicle’s warranty.
“The warranty is attached to the vehicle’s VIN number, which makes it a very smooth process when you take your vehicle in for a repair,” Maloney said. “You don’t need to have pre-approval on repairs or a paper contract. Consumers don’t have to go through the hassle of the aftermarket warranty companies that typically require these things. The dealer can simply pull up your vehicle by the VIN.”
Maloney also tipped her hat to her techs, who she says really are the backbone behind the inherent trust an Audi CPO warranty engenders.
“Another benefit to the consumer is the confidence you can have in that vehicle due to the very high standards set by Audi,” she said. “Our certified Audi technicians take pride in signing off on the CPO inspection books, which require minimum standards on things like tires and brakes.”
Here's the full list of Audi's top CPO dealers in the U.S. last year:
Best CPO Dealers: Audi
| Dealer |
2015 CPO Sales |
| Audi Atlanta |
976 |
| Audi North Houston |
624 |
| Audi Central Houston |
610 |
| The Audi Exchange |
592 |
| Audi Burlington |
556 |
| Santa Monica Audi |
537 |
| Keyes Audi |
531 |
| Audi Palo Alto |
490 |
| Audi Bellevue |
486 |
| Fletcher Jones Audi |
474 |
To check out the other dealers that sold the most CPO vehicles in 2015, as well as sales insights from the top stores from other brands, check out the “Best CPO Dealers in the United States” feature in the Feb, 15 edition of Auto Remarketing.
AutoPoint released its new mobile technology service drive solution for dealers today, called WelcomePoint, aimed at enhancing the greeting and write-up process.
Acknowledging the service drive as a primary area to enhance customers’ experiences and encourage return business and sustain profitability, WelcomePoint aims to personalize the service process through customer engagement as well as by using the service drive space to jumpstart the inspection process and proactively suggest service recommendations.
“We designed WelcomePoint to solidify the service relationship between the motorist and their dealership from the point of arrival onward,” said Rich Holland, AutoPoint’s managing director. “With WelcomePoint, we anticipate remarkable advancements in motorist engagement and service execution.”
Using tablet-based technology, WelcomePoint allows service advisers to greet customers on the drive by name and view their individual vehicle’s service history. It also allows advisers to pull up vehicle recall data and see current prepaid maintenance plans or previously declined service suggestions. WelcomePoint also includes walk-around inspection tools and photo capabilities that are integrated into AutoPoint’s existing MultiPoint inspection solution.
For more information on AutoPoint and its related features, visit its site here.
Outsell announced Thursday several enhancements to its buyer-detection product, BuyerScout, which aim to help dealers better manage their energy toward sales.
The BuyerScout solution now features integration with dealer CRMs via Outsell Connect and a simpler “most likely buyers” report aimed at improving ease-of-use for dealers.
According to Outsell, the new features make BuyerScout the first machine learning-powered analytics solution for dealerships. The company says BuyerScout is also the most popular add-on in Outsell’s flagship Outsell Fuel multi-channel customer engagement platform.
“The response to Outsell BuyerScout from dealers has been nothing short of amazingly positive,” said Mike Wethington, Outsell’s founder and chief executive officer. “Nearly every dealer that signs on for the Outsell Fuel platform now buys BuyerScout as well. It provides valuable intelligence about customers and prospects that they just can’t get any other way.”
BuyerScout is powered by a core of proprietary analytics models which predict consumer behavior to help dealers identify, understand and speak to individual customers and prospects to generate more sales. The models constantly react to new data through its machine learned dynamic predictive models.
After analyzing behavioral trends and tracking consumer engagements, the program alerts dealers when its current customers and prospects are in the market. The company says that the initial results on the upgraded BuyerScout models show an increase in conversion rates of up to 5.1 times and up to 2.1 times higher volumes of identified in-market buyers.
For more information on BuyerScout, visit its site here.
The nation’s franchised dealership network continued what has been a “new normal pattern of stability” following the auto downturn at the end of the 2000s.
Urban Science released its 2015 year-end Automotive Franchise Activity Report on Monday, finding that the 18,087 franchised dealership rooftops at the end of the year beat prior-year figures by 0.7 percent.
There were 31,776 franchises at year’s end, up modestly from 31,609 franchises at the end of 2014.
Urban Science also anticipates that throughput (new-car sales per dealership) will have reached a fourth straight record year, with 966 sales per store in 2015.
“Over the last six years, the dealership network has set a new normal pattern of stability,” said Mitchell Phillips, Urban Science’s global data director.
Phillips also noted that the net change in dealership count was basically flat (one dealership or less) in 96 percent of local markets. But some states saw some decent change: Texas added 23 dealerships, California added 19, Florida added 13, New York added nine and Iowa added eight.
“Sales throughput for dealers has achieved another record level due to a record sales year and a stable dealer count. This is the fourth consecutive year that this record has been broken,” said Phillips. “However, reviewing data for January 2016, the current selling rate indicates that while we may get close, we may not break this record again in 2016.”
If you’re embracing technology as a dealer, you’re likely already swimming in a sea of acronyms. You’ve got your CRM. Your DMS. You’ve got things covered from SEO all the way to F&I. But perhaps a lesser known acronym, VRM, or vehicle relationship management, seems to have a bit more vague definition depending on whom you ask.
But if you ask Roger Penske, Penske Automotive Group’s chairman and chief executive officer, what VRM means to him, he may tell you how it means trying to hold on to a car throughout the retail process, from the first sale all the way to its third, perhaps.
Penske Automotive hosted its fourth-quarter and full-year financial results conference call on Thursday, and one question fielded by Penske resonated with the topic of VRM: How does Penske Auto see the impending used-vehicle volume increase from the expected wave of off-lease vehicles? Is it a certified pre-owned opportunity? What’s the net effect on the company?
Pointing out that used inventory is actually down by roughly 1,000 units overall from where they were a year ago, Penske said he sees it as an opportunity to not only work on customer loyalty, but also keep the cars coming back again and again to bolster gross profits.
“I’ll give you a quick example,” he said. “In Atlanta, where we have two BMW stores that do over 300 used cars a month, probably 10 percent would be coming out of their loaner car fleet every month, another 10 percent would be non-BMW trades, and the rest are BMW.
“I think the ability for us to be able to recondition those, we get the benefit of that in our shops, in the parts and service, and then the ability to utilize some of the OEM’s programs,” Penske said. “That’s one of the things I don’t think people realize … both Mercedes and certainly BMW — and I know Toyota does — they have some very attractive programs on used cars that come out of loaner service or come off lease. Especially if you CPO them. So we’re going to take advantage of those.”
Penske says the company is aiming for a 50 percent to 60 percent loyalty rate from his off-lease customers – whether that means they re-lease that same car, buy it, or choose to lease or buy another vehicle. Keeping that initial vehicle to be sold again and again — that’s Penske’s idea of VRM.
“We want to keep that vehicle, we want to take the vehicle from the customer off-lease, we want to sell or lease it to a second person and then get it back and then retail it at the end,” Penske said. “There’s some real opportunity for gross profit on each vehicle. We don’t want to lose those vehicles as they come through the cycle.”
It’s that time of year again – Auto Remarketing is now officially accepting nominations for the Women in Remarketing Class of 2016.
Don't miss the opportunity to honor the exceptional women of the remarketing industry, who drive businesses such as auctions, consignors, dealerships, captive finance companies and more.
Do you work with a female colleague that deserves to be recognized? Or do you know any leading ladies in the industry?
Last year’s class, as seen above, was chock-full of some of the top leaders in the remarketing industry. And just like the last few years of this program, we need your help to make sure we continue to recognize the women that help drive the nation’s remarketing business.
The April 15 print and digital editions of Auto Remarketing will contain a special section designed to honor those women that will be chosen for its 2016 Women in Remarketing Class. The 2016 Women in Remarketing Class will also be honored at this year’s Used Car Week Conferences this fall.
The deadline for nominations is Friday, March 4, and we want to make sure to honor the deserving women throughout the industry.
So, do you know of someone who deserves to be on the 2016 list?
Here’s what you can do:
No matter what area of the remarketing business the female nominee comes from, she must have a history of going above and beyond the call of duty, whether through innovation, mentoring new professionals, philanthropy, education or more.
To nominate an executive, please email staff writer Josh Hyatt at [email protected] with the following information:
1) Nominees full name, position, and full contact information, including a phone number and email address.
2) A brief summary as to why you think this nominee should be selected. What makes her stand out? Please note that your summary may be quoted.
Auto Remarketing will be contacting the final class of honorees for a brief interview and will be requesting a professional headshot, as well.
We will include a brief profile on each honoree, along with her professional headshot, in our April 15 edition.
Special advertising will also be available for this Women in Remarketing issue. For more information or to purchase space, please contact publisher Bill Zadeits at [email protected].
Now in its eighth year of recognizing these top auto professionals, Auto Remarketing would also like to call attention to the prior honorees, which include:
2015 Women in Remarketing
Stephanie Baker, General Manager, Dealers Auto Auction of Murfreesboro
Amy Bouck, Senior Director of Lease-End Servicing and Remarketing, Hyundai Capital America
Gail Berger, Vice President of Auto Remarketing, Sirius XM
Kimberly Farley, Senior Vice President of Workforce Solutions, Equifax
Lori Grone, Vice President of Field Operations, Costco Auto Program
Lesley Lovallo, Vice President of Corporate Development, Larry H. Miller Automotive Operations
Linda McNeely, Director of Fleet Operations, Auction Broadcasting Co.
Barbara Mousigian, Vice President of Product, Cars.com
Cheryl Munce, Chief Executive Consultant, Alteso
Michelle Nichols-Neff, Vice President & Partner, BSC America
Michele Noblitt, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Dealers Auto Auction of the Rockies
Kelly Olson, Manager of Dealership Online Services, Ally Financial
Stacey Petras, Assistant Vice President of Asset Remarketing, Operations Support, GM Financial
Becca Polak, Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Board Secretary, KAR Auction Services
Pauline Pons, Co-Founder & Vice President, TPC Management Company
Jana Rauschenberg, Fleet Lease Sales Manager, West Michigan Auto Auction
Mandy Savage, General Manager, Manheim Detroit
Janet Smail, Project & Transportation Manager for Fleet Services, Flexco
Lori Wittman, Vice President & General Manager, VinSolutions
2014 Women in Remarketing
Ann Cammarata, DataScan Field Services LLC
Angie Chattin, CarMax Auto Finance
Cindy Cockerham, Copart Inc.
Tammie Gray, Ally Financial
Mary Haller, Auction Broadcasting Co. LLC
Catherine Iger, AutoTrader.com
Sherry Keltner, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA
Joy Wilder Lybeer, Equifax
Charlotte Pyle, Mountain State Auto Auction, Capital City Auto Auction, Pyle Equipment Auctions, and Joe. R Pyle Complete Auction & Realty Service
Nancy Rabenold, Xcira Corp.
Jennifer Ryan, Dominion Dealer Solutions
Diane Scharafin, Carfax
Carol Sewell, ADESA
Mary Lou Sutton, Manheim Credit & Collections
Sheila Tedesco, Lobel Financial
Bridget Townsend, Dealertrack Technologies
2013 Women in Remarketing:
Cheryl DeVries O’Brien, Kalamazoo Auto Auction
Lisa Filippi-Alvarez, American Honda Motor Co.
Anne Fleming, Women-Drivers.com
Valerie Fuller, FordDirect
Isabelle Helms, Autotrader
Rebecca Hewitt, World Omni Financial Corp.
Alison Ouchi, Ally Financial
Julie Picard, Manheim
Jenell Ross, Bob Ross Auto Group and AIADA
Sue Saris, NAAA
Lisa Scott, ADESA Canada and OPENLANE
Patty Stanley, Carolina Auto Auction and Indiana Auto Auction and ServNet
Laura Taylor, Charleston Auto Auction
2012 Women in Remarketing:
Wendy Carter, Autotrader
Courtney Cole, Hare Chevrolet
Lori Coniglio, Wheels Inc.
Stacey Coopes, FordDirect
Stephanie Gingras, Dealers Auto Auction of the SouthWest
Mary Jane Hogan, American Recovery Association
Susie Heins, Manheim
Allison Lind, Mercedes-Benz USA
Michelle Mallon, ADESA
Claudia Plascencia, Repo Remarketing
Andrea Riley, Ally Financial
Keely Smith, AutoIMS
Amy Weisenburger, DataScan Field Services LLC
2011 Women in Remarketing:
Lilicia Bailey, Manheim
Jennifer Costabile, General Motors
Jody DeVere, AskPatty.com
Kristie Griffin, Milwaukee Auto Auction
Deborah Malinowski, Santander Consumer USA
Cynthia Mitchell, BSC America
Gina Paolino, Affinity Auto Program
Rachel Richards, Sonic Automotive
Jennifer Schade, ARI
Ronna Webb, ADESA
2010 Women in Remarketing Class:
Sue Boehlke, Manheim
Jeannie Chiaromonte, Bank of America
Megan Haley, Fiserv
Alexis Jacobs, Columbus Fair Auto Auction
Mary Ann Pipes, CitiFinancial
Debbie Vaughn, ADESA
Angela Williams, Rawls Auto Auction
2009 Women of Remarketing Class:
Carolyn Crafts, Cars.com
Renee Dusek-Higgins, Davis-Moore Auto Group
Joan Horst, BMW
Jennifer Johnson, Jennifer’s Auto Sales
Melanie Kovach, AutoMart & AutoExtra.com
Carol McDavid, GMAC
Jane Morgan, ADESA
Berta Phelps, Manheim corporate
Shirlie Slack, Fredericksburg Auto Auction
Karen Tanner-Smith, CitiFinancial
Allison Weller, Chrysler Financial
Lynn Wolver, Chase Bank
Staff writer Josh Hyatt can be reached at [email protected], or by phone at (919) 674-6020 ext. 152.
