There are over 47 million vehicles in the United States that have at least one unrepaired safety recall. That’s according to a recent analysis from Carfax, who pointed out that these 47 million vehicles are being driven, bought and sold, or sitting on a lot somewhere in our country, either because there’s not a fix available or because they're waiting on one or whoever owns the vehicle simply hasn’t taken the time to take it in.
To put that number in perspective, the current U.S. population is just short of 323 million (and has netted roughly 20 new Americans in the time it took to write this article) according to the United States Census Bureau.
Carfax says that 47 million number is more than a 1 million net increase in unrepaired recalled vehicles compared to last year. And every state in the union has at least 100,000 of them within its borders.
"Our data shows there's still much hard work to be done in addressing recalls," Carfax communications director Larry Gamache said in a news release. "Many people still are unnecessarily risking their lives by not staying informed or taking action when their vehicle is under a recall. It's one of the many reasons family-oriented vehicles, including one in four minivans, are the most-highly impacted. Carfax continues to work closely with the auto manufacturers so we can alert people in the U.S. and Canada that their vehicles have a potentially dangerous defect that needs to be fixed."
In a recent interview with Auto Remarketing about a separate recall-related matter, Karl Brauer, Kelley Blue Book’s senior director of automotive industry insights, discussed the changing environment of automotive recalls — which historically have carried a “fairly low priority.”
“Consumers, by the way, are just as much of a problem as the government or the dealers, because they have a horrible record of taking the vehicles in when they’ve gotten their notice,” Brauer said. “I don’t know what it is today, but in the past if you got anything over 50 percent of all vehicles involved in a recall to actually be processed and have it addressed, that was considered relatively good. And anything over 66 to 70 percent was like a home run… I just don’t think the patience now exists for that attitude.”
Citing data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Carfax points out that more than 51 million recalls were issued in 2015, more than any year prior.
"Millions more vehicles will likely be recalled this year, adding to the ones already with outstanding airbag recalls, ignition switch recalls, electrical system recalls and more,” Gamache said. “Resources like myCarfax that continuously monitor your car and send alerts to your mobile device are helping people everywhere find and fix more recalls.”
DealerRater highlighted the winners of its annual Dealer of the Year Award program on Wednesday.
The dealer review website recognized recipients for distinction in outstanding customer service based upon consumer reviews of dealership experiences shared on DealerRater.com and DealerRater.ca.
The highest scoring dealership in the United States was Galpin Honda in Mission Hills, Calif., earning a 4.942 out of 5.0 PowerScore with 842 reviews in 2015.
The highest scoring dealership in the Canada was Lakewood Chevrolet in Edmonton, Alberta, earning a 4.946 out of 5.0 PowerScore with 267 reviews in 2015.
To qualify for the Dealer of the Year awards, franchised and independent dealers must have had at least 25 new reviews written on DealerRater.com during 2015 and averaged a minimum of a four out of five-star rating. Winners selected to receive the distinction scored the highest within their brand categories nationwide for U.S. and Canada.
DealerRater’s Dealer of the Year awards are given annually to the top U.S. and Canadian car dealers based on a Bayesian algorithm it calls PowerScore, which considers the dealership’s average DealerRater star-rating as well as the total number of reviews written about the dealership during the calendar year. Categories for scoring include customer service, quality of work, friendliness, pricing and overall experience.
“The Dealer of the Year Awards are a distinction that a small percentage of dealers get, and being named as one of the winners is an excellent way to alert customers that your dealership is highly regarded for its customer experience,” DealerRater chief executive officer Gary Tucker said.
“DealerRater makes it easy for online shoppers to find quality dealerships, and even choose the sales or service employee they’d like to work with, before setting foot into a showroom or service bay. Today’s winners will find a badge in their Dealer Panel that allows them to showcase their exemplary customer service,” Tucker went on to say.
Listed below are the additional 2016 U.S. and Canadian Dealer of the Year Award recipients within each OEM brand category:
United States
Acura: Acura of Westchester, Larchmont, N.Y.
Alfa Romeo: Walter's Alfa Romeo and Fiat, Riverside, Calif.
Aston Martin: Foreign Cars Italia, Greensboro, N.C.
Audi: Audi Coral Springs, Coral Springs, Fla.
BMW: BMW of Rochester Hills, Shelby Charter Township, Mich.
Buick: Sullivan Buick GMC, Arlington Heights, Ill.
Cadillac: Paradise Chevrolet Cadillac, Temecula, Calif.
Chevrolet: Paradise Chevrolet Cadillac, Temecula, Calif.
Chrysler: Shuman Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, Walled Lake, Mich.
Dodge: Cass Burch Chrysler, Valdosta, Ga.
Ferrari: Boardwalk Ferrari Maserati of Plano, Plano, Texas
Fiat: Fiat/Alfa Romeo of Austin, Austin, Texas
Ford: Klaben Ford Lincoln, Kent, Ohio
GMC: Gates GMC Buick Nissan, North Windham, Conn.
Honda: Galpin Honda, Mission Hills, Calif.
Hyundai: Allen Turner Hyundai, Pensacola, Fla.
Infiniti: Ray Catena Infiniti of Edison, Edison, N.J.
Jaguar: Wilde Jaguar of Sarasota, Sarasota, Fla.
Jeep: Shuman Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, Walled Lake, Mich.
Kia: Citrus Kia, Crystal River, Fla.
Lamborghini: Lamborghini Dallas, Richardson, Texas
Land Rover: Jaguar Land Rover Fort Myers, Fort Myers, Fla.
Leasing Company: D&M Leasing – Mid Cities, Grand Prairie, Texas
Lexus: Wilde Lexus of Sarasota, Sarasota, Fla.
Lincoln: Bozard Ford Lincoln, St. Augustine, Fla.
Maserati: Criswell Maserati Alfa Romeo, Germantown, Md.
Mazda: Sport Mazda, Orlando, Fla.
Mercedes-Benz: RBM of Alpharetta, Alpharetta, Ga.
Mini: Mini of St. Louis, Saint Louis
Mitsubishi: RC Hill Mitsubishi, DeLand, Fla.
Nissan: Newton Nissan, Gallatin, Tenn.
Porsche: Walter's Porsche, Riverside, Calif.
Ram: Vernon Auto Group, Vernon, Texas
Recreational Vehicles: Dodd RV of the Peninsula, Yorktown, Va.
Scion: Fred Anderson Toyota of Charleston, Charleston, S.C.
smart: Tafel Motor Company, Louisville, Ky.
Subaru: Tucson Subaru, Tucson, Ariz.
Toyota: Fred Anderson Toyota of Charleston, Charleston, S.C.
Used Car Dealer: Off Lease Only Miami, Miami
Volkswagen: Luther Burnsville Volkswagen, Burnsville, Minn.
Volvo: Smythe Volvo, Summit, N.J.
Canada
Audi: St. James Volkswagen Audi, Winnipeg, Manitoba
BMW: BMW Canbec Automobiles Inc., Montreal
Buick: Ron Hodgson Chevrolet Buick GMC, St. Albert, Alberta
Cadillac: Budds' Chevrolet Cadillac Buick GMC, Oakville, Ontario
Chevrolet: Lakewood Chevrolet, Edmonton, Alberta
Chrysler: Ontario Chrysler Jeep Dodge, Mississauga, Ontario
Dodge: Ontario Chrysler Jeep Dodge, Mississauga, Ontario
Fiat: Maple Ridge Chrysler Jeep Dodge, Maple Ridge, British Columbia
Ford: Erinwood Ford, Mississauga, Ontario
GMC: Finch Chevrolet Cadillac Buick GMC, London, Ontario
Honda: Honda West, Calgary, Alberta
Hyundai: Toronto Hyundai, Toronto
Infiniti: Newmarket Infiniti Nissan, Newmarket, Ontario
Jeep: Ontario Chrysler Jeep Dodge, Mississauga, Ontario
Kia: Winnipeg Kia, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Leasing Company: Pickard Lane Leasing, Bolton, Ontario
Lexus: Lexus On The Park, Toronto, Ontario
Lincoln: Capital Ford Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Mazda: Courtenay Mazda, Courtenay, British Columbia
Mercedes-Benz: Mercedes-Benz London, London, Ontario
Mini: Endras BMW Mini Durham, Ajax, Ontario
Mitsubishi: Brampton Mitsubishi, Brampton, Ontario
Nissan: Grande Prairie Nissan, Grande Prairie, Alberta
Ram: Ontario Chrysler Jeep Dodge, Mississauga, Ontario
Scion: ToyotaTown / ScionTown, London, Ontario
Subaru: Scarboro Subaru, Toronto
Toyota: ToyotaTown / ScionTown, London, Ontario
Used Car Dealer: Toronto Auto Brokers Used Car Dealership, Woodbridge, Ontario
Volkswagen: Maple Ridge Volkswagen, Maple Ridge, British Columbia
The complete list of U.S. winners at the state level is available here.
The complete list of Canada winners at the provincial level is available here.
Insurance Auto Auctions announced the arrival of its turnkey customer self-service tool aimed at enhancing the total loss claims experience for IAA Title Services customers.
Named MyVehicleClaim.com, the site allows insurance companies to provide vehicle owners with the means to track the progress of their total loss claim.
Owners can receive communications and track their information throughout the entire total loss claims process, including real-time status updates, messaging features, document downloads and multiple-claim management.
IAA hopes the tool will improve customer satisfaction and retention on the front end while reducing the amount of administrative work on the back end.
"We are proud to incorporate this capability into our Total Loss Solutions offering," said Pat Walsh, senior vice president of business development at IAA. "MyVehicleClaim.com reflects the type of full service claims management solutions that our customers have grown to expect. It delivers a customer self-service product for our clients so they don't have to build their own propriety solution."
To learn more about IAA, visit its site here.
Group 1 Automotive announced several key company changes on Thursday, including the acquisition of a dealer group in the U.K., the divestment of three of its current dealerships, and three internal promotions.
The group has acquired the Spire Automotive Group, which includes 12 dealerships that operate primarily in the north and northwest London area. The acquisition includes four Audi stores, three BMW/MINI stores (with a BMW Aftersales center), two Seat dealerships, one Skoda dealership, one Volkswagen commercial vehicle dealership, and one Jaguar store.
Continuing to operate under the Spire name, the collection of stores is expected to generate roughly $575 million in annualized revenues.
"We are pleased to expand our relationship with BMW and the Volkswagen Group in the U.K. and to expand our relationship with Jaguar Land Rover from Brazil to the U.K.,” said Earl J. Hesterberg, the group’s president and chief executive officer. “We are also delighted to further leverage our scale and strong operating management team in the U.K."
Focusing back on the States, Group 1 has divested three dealerships, including Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen of Freehold, N.J. and Ira Toyota of Milford, Mass. Collectively, these dealerships generated approximately $160 million in trailing 12-month revenues.
"We continually evaluate our portfolio of dealerships relative to required future capital expenditures and current levels of return on investment and move to dispose of assets that do not offer appropriate returns on invested capital," Hesterberg said.
On the senior management side of the group, the company’s vice president of human resources, Brooks O’Hara, has announced his retirement effective April 1. In response, the following transitions were made effective February 1:
- Frank Grese Jr. named senior vice president of human resources, training, and operations support. (Was regional vice president of the west region)
- Daryl Kenningham named egional vice president of the west region. (Was regional vice president of the east region)
- David Fesmire named regional vice president of the east region. (Was market director of the Houston/Beaumont and Gulf Coast markets.
Citing a defect information report provided by Takata, Honda North America announced this week that it is recalling roughly 2.23 million Takata PSDI-5 driver-side front airbag inflators in both Honda and Acura vehicles.
One key takeaway from their announcement: the inflators will be replaced with parts manufactured by an alternative supplier, with repairs anticipated to begin this summer.
The models included in this recall in the United States include the following:
- 2005-2012 Acura RL
- 2007-2011 Honda CR-V
- 2007-2016 Acura RDX (early production MY 2016 vehicles only)
- 2007-2014 Honda Ridgeline
- 2009-2014 Honda Fit
- 2009-2014 Acura TL
- 2010-2014 Honda FCX Clarity
- 2010-2014 Honda Insight
- 2010-2013 Acura ZDX
- 2011-2015 Honda CR-Z
- 2013-2016 Acura ILX (early production MY 2016 vehicles only)
According to Honda, with this new action, the total number of Honda and Acura vehicles that have been or now are subject to recall due to needing to replace a Takata driver-side and/or passenger-side airbag inflator in the United States now totals approximately 8.51 million vehicles. The company says that no PSDI-5 inflator ruptures have been reported in either Honda or Acura vehicles.
Honda says that the affected vehicles will be accurately searchable on its Honda and Acura recall sites beginning on February 15.
In other Honda-related recall news, the company also announced this week that approximately 341,000 Accord sedans from model years 2008 to 2010 have been voluntarily recalled to replace their supplemental restraint system (SRS) electronic control units. Parts will not be available until fall.
Kelley Blue Book on the ‘potential liability’ for Honda dealers
Kelley Blue Book emailed commentary to media on Wednesday about news of Honda issuing a recall and stop-sale notice to dealers on 1.7 million units for a Takata airbag issue plus a warning to their stores of potential liability.
Auto Remarketing followed up with KBB’s senior director of automotive industry insights, Karl Brauer, to get a better idea of the situation.
“This is the first time I remember hearing that statement made from a manufacturer to its dealers,” Brauer said.
So what does this actually mean for Honda dealers? Brauer says that a dealer is much more likely to be held liable if something does go wrong with a vehicle they sold if it were to be retailed prior to its repair.
“Because the manufacturer is on record for making the statement, as with any case in liability and legal matters, there’s no clear-cut ‘A+B=C.’ It’s all a matter of weighting and arguments and evidence,” Brauer said. “But this just increases, by the very nature that Honda said they (dealers) would be liable, that increases their liability. Because now the manufacturer, who produces these cars, is on record saying, ‘you’re liable, too.’ That’s the kind of stuff a lawyer wants. That’s the exact kind of thing that a lawyer who is representing a client who is injured in an automotive-related issue wants to have.”
While that does create a record for the manufacturer to point to, should a recall-related accident happen and a consumer decides to sue, it still may not be a closed case against the dealer.
“The dealer can totally disagree, they can point to a lot of their own evidence that says they’re not liable, and who knows how the case would ultimately be decided by either a judge or a jury,” Brauer said. “But, again, just that statement now changes the nature of the argument because it’s been clearly stated by a manufacturer.”
One thing is for sure, though: The thought process behind how vehicle recalls are handled has elevated substantially.
“I think we all agree that there’s an increasing awareness of the entire concept of vehicle recalls,” Brauer said. “They’ve made a lot more headlines in the last five to 10 years, there’s been a lot better documentation about the kind of injuries and even fatalities that they’ve caused. So everyone knows more about them. And what this has resulted in is everyone from individual consumers up to government agencies being that much more focused on: What do we do about recalls? How do we most effectively manage them? How do we ensure that something is done about them? Because any kind of rudimentary analysis of recalls over the last 20, 30, 40 years shows that they tend to be fairly low priority.”
Brauer says he thinks a manufacturer holding a dealer more accountable for the backlash of safety recalls is simply them doing everything they can to try to handle the situation.
“I think the reason that you’re seeing Honda make a move like this is because they want to feel like they’ve done everything they can do. They can’t control the consumer,” he said. “But they can use whatever pressure that they’ve got at their command to influence themselves and their own engineers and their suppliers, like Takata, and also their dealers.”
Unfortunately, with parts availability continuing to be an issue, these vehicles are likely to spend a lot of time out of the marketplace.
“We’re looking at the end of summer as the time frame to get these replacement parts to dealers to fix the cars,” Brauer said. “So whether you want to wholesale it or you want to sell it to an end user, whether you’re a dealer who’s just going to wait or you’re a dealer that’s just going to try to get it to another person and let them deal with it, we’re talking seven months before those cars can actually get to an end user and be clear of the retailing system and in a private individual’s hands. And that’s really unfortunate because dealers don’t have unlimited space and unlimited funds to have unsellable cars sitting around.”
One thing that is on the minds of many in the industry is whether or not issuing a stop-sale order on vehicles with an open recall will become a new industry norm.
“I would hope that there would be a threshold level,” Brauer said. “And maybe what they need is a categorization system, like an alert level that goes from 1 to 4, 1 to 5 or whatever.”
Though it seems like a dismal situation, there is one major player in the automotive industry that does come out of this situation better than before if stop sales do become a more consistent element to the used-car industry: Mike Jackson. The head of AutoNation created a policy last year that shelved all vehicles with open recalls on any of his dealer’s lots until they have been repaired. And although that’s currently grounded over 15 percent of his inventory, he seems ahead of the game.
“I think it’s a good example of a major player in the industry using a combination of good sense and forward thinking to basically decide this is where the industry needs to go and we’re going to go ahead and get there ourselves without waiting for the industry,” Brauer said. “And of course, which is so often the case in situations like this, them going there speeds up the process and makes the destination that they got to appear that much more reasonable and wise and likely to the rest of the industry.”
Update: Honda's take
Auto Remarketing also reached out to Honda earlier today to verify if the company indeed does plan to hold dealers "liable" for the sale of vehicles, particularly used, with unrepaired open recalls. A spokesperson from American Honda Motor Co., said that it's been a long-standing policy for Honda to require dealers to have all vehicles with open recalls repaired prior to sale.
"For many years, our dealer agreements have required Honda and Acura dealers to complete any open recalls of which they have notice and ensure the vehicle is in proper operating condition prior to sale, whether new or used," the spokesperson said. "We have consistently reminded our dealers of these obligations for some time, including in stop sale orders."
Along with hiring an executive for a personnel role, CarGurus released a study this week identifying where consumers report the best vehicle-shopping experiences as measured by customer ratings of dealerships submitted to the site.
Topping the list where shoppers gave the highest percentage of perfect five-star reviews when rating their dealership buying experiences was Nashville, Tenn., coming in at 57.5 percent.
Just 0.1 percent point off of the Music City’s pace was San Diego at 56.9 percent. Here is the rundown of the top 10:
1. Nashville, Tenn.: 57.5 percent
2. San Diego: 56.9 percent
3. Austin, Texas: 56.1 percent
4. Memphis, Tenn.: 55.8 percent
5. Birmingham, Ala.: 55.2 percent
6. Tampa, Fla.: 55.1 percent
7. Kansas City, Kan.: 54.8 percent
8. Charlotte, N.C.: 54.7 percent
9. St. Louis: 54.5 percent
10. New Orleans: 54.5 percent
On the other extreme, the site noticed shoppers in New York City was least likely among the nation’s largest markets to give five-star reviews as just 45 percent of reviews included five stars. Meanwhile, CarGurus noticed that shoppers in the Big Apple were more likely than in other cities to give one-star reviews as 20 percent of reviews originating in the market included just one star.
Baltimore, Chicago, Oklahoma City, Okla., and Miami also ranked in the bottom five cities with the lowest proportion of perfect reviews.
While the study reveals regional differences in consumer shopping experiences at local dealerships, analysts at CarGurus note that on average stores across the nation get high marks from customers.
The average star rating for all dealers reviewed — on the scale of five stars (great) to one star (terrible) — was 3.8.
In addition, the site pointed out 70 percent of dealer reviews analyzed were rated with four or five stars while only 20 percent were rated with one or two stars.
According to a CarGurus poll of its users, 65 percent say they always consult dealership reviews before contacting a dealer.
“Consumers often approach the car-shopping process with trepidation, but our data shows that in fact most shoppers end up having a pretty good experience at the dealership,” said Amy Mueller, director of public relations for CarGurus.
“Still, where you shop matters, and consulting dealership reviews from other shoppers can go a long way to ensuring a great shopping outcome,” Mueller continued. “This is why CarGurus factors dealer ratings in addition to price analysis when we rank search results — we want to help shoppers find the best deals from the best dealers as easily as possible.”
For this study, CarGurus examined more than 100,000 recent dealer reviews from the top 51 metro areas in the contiguous U.S. The site’s most satisfied vehicle shopping city rankings were determined by comparing the percentage of five-star reviews among total submitted reviews for dealers in each city. Cities with the highest proportion of five-star reviews ranked highest.
CarGurus solicits dealership reviews by inviting CarGurus shoppers who engaged with a dealership to review it. This program is strictly monitored to ensure the authenticity and integrity of reviews.
To see the full ranked list of cities, go to this website.
Kenny joins CarGurus as VP of people and talent
In other site news, CarGurus announced that Kristen Kenny has joined the company as vice president of people and talent, a new position. Kenny, formerly director of people operations at HubSpot, will be responsible for leading CarGurus' global human resources organization, including recruiting, company culture and employee development operations.
“Kristen brings tremendous relevant experience leading rapid corporate growth and global expansion, and we are thrilled to have her on board as CarGurus continues to grow in the U.S. and beyond,” CarGurus chief financial officer Jason Trevisan said.
“Our success hinges on our ability to support and inspire our people, and Kristen will help to foster the unique culture we have built here and continue to attract the best and brightest talent to our team,” Trevisan continued.
In the past year, CarGurus highlighted that it has doubled its staff and plans to add more than 100 new employees in 2016 in the U.S. and abroad. Executive claim the website is now the second most trafficked vehicle-shopping website in the U.S. and has recently launched sites in Canada and the United Kingdom, with further global expansion scheduled for 2016.
“I am fortunate to be building on a strong foundation of success at CarGurus alongside such a smart, passionate and fun group of people,” Kenny said.
“We have big plans for growth, and with that, great opportunity for new gurus to join in helping us radically change the way people shop for cars,” she went on to say.
Prior to joining CarGurus, Kenny was director of people operations at HubSpot where she was the company's first in-house HR hire, responsible for building the human resource and recruiting function and scaling these to support the company's rapid international expansion.
Before working at HubSpot, Kenny was director and HR business partner at Endeca Technologies where she helped expand the company into seven countries.
Throughout her career, she's specialized in building custom infrastructure around HR operations and international expansions at startup companies.
Toyota, Lexus and Mazda have all recently released information regarding airbag-related recalls, while Mazda has also issued a separate recall related to an issue with the fuel filler pipes in its recent CX-5 vehicles.
Let’s break them down by recall size.
Toyota/Lexus recall 320,000 Land Cruiser, 4Runner, Tundra, Sequoia, LX and GX vehicles
Toyota announced Tuesday that it is recalling 320,000 various vehicles from both the Toyota and Lexus lineups for potentially faulty curtain-shield airbags (CSAs).
The vehicles include model year 2003-2006 Toyota Land Cruiser, 2004-2006 Toyota 4Runner, 2005-2006 Toyota Tundra and Sequoia, 2003-2006 Lexus LX 470 and 2004-2006 Lexus GX 470 vehicles.
According to Toyota, the involved vehicles’ CSAs, due to improper programming in the airbag control modules, can possibly activate when not necessary, along with their seatbelt pretensioners.
All known owners of the involved vehicles will be notified by first class mail.
Mazda issues stop sale, recall for all 2014-2016 CX-5 vehicles (264,463 vehicles)
Mazda announced Monday that it had filed a safety defect report to NHTSA for possible issues with CX-5 vehicles’ fuel filler pipes, which could rupture during a rear collision and potentially cause fuel leakage.
The recall covers all 2014-2016 CX-5 vehicles, translating to approximately 264,463 vehicles affected by this issue in the U.S.
Mazda says there are no reports of accidents or injuries due to this issue.
The company has instructed its franchise dealers to issue a free loaner, demo or rental vehicle to customers with concerns about driving their vehicle before a repair is available.
Mazda recalls 19,000 2004-2006 B-Series trucks with Takata driver-side airbags
Mazda announced Monday it has decided to recall all 2004-2006 model year B-Series trucks that are equipped with Takata drive-side frontal airbag inflators.
Approximately 19,000 of these vehicles affected are located in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Saipan.
These same vehicles are already subject to a previous recall for their Takata-sourced passenger-side frontal airbag inflators.
Lexus recalls 5,000 2016 RX 350 and RX 450h vehicles
Lexus announced toward the end of January the recall of roughly 5,000 model year 2016 RX 350 and RX 450h vehicles for a potential issue with their driver’s knee airbag module.
The company says these modules may not have been properly manufactured, affecting the performance of the airbag and increasing the risk of injury in a crash. All known owners will be notified by Lexus via first class mail.
Women-Drivers.com recently named its top dealers for 2015, honoring both franchised and independent operations.
Based upon the number of reviews received and the aggregate scores of those reviews, site officials highlighted these dealerships have consistently demonstrated exceptional trust, respectful and fair experiences toward women when shopping, purchasing and in the service drive.
The winners include:
—Day Automotive Group as the 2015 Certified Women-Drivers.com Auto Group Dealer of the Year.
—Midgette Auto Supercenter as the 2015 Certified Women-Drivers.com Independent Dealer of the Year.
—Diver Chevrolet as the 2015 Certified Women-Drivers.com Dealer of the Year.
“Each of these dealerships clearly are performing at an exemplary level with this growing buying segment. Over half of all cars are purchased by women and further, women rely on car dealer reviews twice as much as men when buying,” Women-Drivers.com president Anne Fleming said.
“Not only are these top distinguished dealerships getting excellent satisfaction scores, they are showcasing true transparency and exceptional customer treatment on an on-going basis,” Fleming added.
The NCM Institute recently completed its eighth General Management Executive Program (GMEP) curriculum and awarded 11 managers and future executives with certificates of completion for its dealer development program.
Orchestrated by NCM Associates, officials explained GMEP's comprehensive curriculum emphasizes financial and operational best practices, along with a solid leadership foundation that will strengthen and prepare the dealerships for long-term sustainability. At the completion of this rigorous program, GMEP students will have honed and developed the leadership skills and data analysis experience to maximize profitability and drive success.
“Our recent GMEP class was composed of exceptional leaders from the automotive industry," said Richard Head, director of education at the NCM Institute.
“These graduates have faced every challenge during their 10-month commitment, from carefully evaluating all aspects of their work to critically analyzing their strengths and weaknesses as leaders,” Head continued.
“Thanks to the investment made by their dealer sponsors, each of them is poised to make a remarkable impact at their individual dealerships. And, because of this intensive curriculum, these leaders have formed a comradery that will last them a lifetime,” Head went on to say.
The following is the list of graduates who received their GMEP certificate of completion plaques in January.
— JR Amato, Amato Auto Group, Milwaukee
— Blaine Balderston, Blue Springs Ford, Blue Springs, Mo.
— Brad Cook, Limbaugh Toyota, Birmingham, Ala.
— Ryan Drouin, Grand Subaru, Bensenville, Ill.
— Matthew Greenblatt, Matt Blatt Kia, Egg Harbor Township, N.J.
— Kyle Harris, Blue Springs Ford, Blue Springs, Mo.
— Shaun Leonard, Murray Kia, Conshohocken, Pa.
— Josh Pettee, Tom Wood Subaru, Indianapolis
— Mark Phillips, McGrath Honda of St. Charles, St. Charles, Ill.
— Adam Secore, Merchants Automotive Group, Hooksett, N.H.
— Greg Tomlin, Park Cities Ford Lincoln, Dallas
“Anyone can say, ‘These are the numbers and do this,' but NCM's instructors take the time to explain the how and the why,” Phillips said.
“To accomplish this, they must care, and it is obvious that they not only know and believe what they present will make us all better business people and people, but that they care about us as individuals,” he continued.
“I know this course and the way NCM assisted in my education will make me a better person and leader of my store,” Phillips added.
The next GMEP class is forming now, with the first session beginning March 7.
For information about the General Management Executive Program or the NCM Institute and its complete suite of classroom, Web-based and private management training, call (866) 756-2620.
AutoNation’s fourth quarter results are in as of Thursday – and taking a look at its consolidated used-vehicle units retailed, the United States’ largest automotive group moved 53,920 used vehicles last quarter, a slight, 386-unit increase over Q4 2014.
Those sales contributed to a total of 227,290 used units sold for all of AutoNation’s stores in 2015, a 5.8-percent increase over the previous year (when the group sold 214,910 used units).
The group’s used-vehicle revenue, including used vehicles both retailed and wholesaled, increased by 4.4 percent in Q4 2015 (compared to Q4 2014) to roughly $1.15 billion. By the same metric, AutoNation’s full-year used-vehicle revenue came in at roughly $4.77 billion, an 8.7-percent increase compared to the full-year results for 2014.
However, AutoNation did experience decreases in both new- and used-vehicle gross profits last quarter. Used-vehicle gross profit, also including both retail and wholesale used vehicles, fell year-over-year by 14.6 percent to $75.7 million last quarter. By the same metric, the group’s full-year 2015 gross profit for used vehicles fell by 1.9 percent to $353.7 million, compared to 2014’s results.
Mike Jackson, AutoNation’s chairman, chief executive officer and president, summed up the group’s overall condition in a statement included with the company’s 2015 results.
"In the fourth quarter, new and used vehicle margins on a combined basis declined by $217 per vehicle retailed, or 11 percent, as compared to the fourth quarter of 2014,” Jackson said. “As of year-end, our new vehicle inventories increased 13 percent on a same store basis, as compared to the prior year, driven by a 49 percent increase in premium luxury inventories. We have begun, and will continue through the first quarter, to take the necessary steps to align our costs, inventory, and pricing strategy to adjust to the current market."
Gross profit per used unit retailed was down slightly on both a quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year basis, ending the year at an average of $1,441 per vehicle in Q4 and $1,577 per vehicle for the year.
Looking at the company’s overall gross profit mixes, used-vehicle sales made up 10.8 percent of AutoNation’s mix for the year, down from 12.1 percent in 2014. From a retail perspective, AutoNation continues to make the majority of its profits from parts and service (41 percent of the mix in 2015), F&I (26.6 percent) and new-vehicle sales (20.6 percent).
AutoNation closed the year with 43 days of used-vehicle supply.
Editor's Note: For more insight into AutoNation's Q4 and full-year results, stay tuned to Monday's Auto Remarketing Today.
