FCA US LLC announced today that it will offer a no-cost, no-debt college degree to its employees via a partnership with Strayer University.
Titled the Degrees @ Work program, employees at Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram and FIAT dealerships in the United States will soon have the option to earn a college degree through Strayer University, including its accredited associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
"Many of our dealers have expressed concern over the availability of talent to fill open positions due to business growth and turnover in their stores, especially in metro markets," said Al Gardner, head of dealer network development, president and chief executive officer at FCA US LLC. "Our goal is to position our dealer network as the 'employers of choice.' Our collaboration with Strayer demonstrates our focus on building our dealers' hard-working employees' skillsets to help them perform at an optimal level while also investing in their long-term success."
The first phase of the program will become available FCA’s dealers in its Southeast Business Center, with up to 356 Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram and FIAT dealerships. FCA dealerships in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee may now offer the enrollment opportunities for summer and fall programs at Strayer to its employees.
Developed in part in conjunction with FCA’s dealers and employees, depending on the selected program of study, courses will range from business administration and accounting to education, information systems and other areas. The courses will be offered any time of day online as well as on Strayer’s campuses around the U.S.
"Dealers tell us that education is a benefit frequently requested by their employees," said Gardner said. "With the increasing cost of a college education, offering free college degrees without the burden of debt presents a significant value that we are pleased to provide and that differentiates us from our competitors. It will certainly help us attract and retain strong talent."
For more information about the program, visit the FCA US website here.
Wholesale network AutoWurld announced Thursday it has formed a partnership with Prime Auto Care to provide third-party volume-priced sales support services to its franchise, independent and wholesale dealers at a discounted rate with an AutoWurld membership.
The services also include warranty and inspection services, including a 158-point inspection service through AutoWurld’s partnership with OneGuard that allows buyers to bundle a pre-sale inspection service with a comprehensive 90-day warranty from Prime Auto Care for $199.
“Whether customers are looking for buyer’s protection or extended coverage for up to 84 months, Prime Auto Care has the most comprehensive and affordable plans,” said Kurtis Orcutt, Prime Auto Care’s vice president. “In addition to 90 days and 3,000 miles, our Dealer Protection Program offers powertrain coverage up to 150,000 miles with no year limits, and additional coverage for electrical and air conditioning. Prime protects all key components of the vehicle including provisions for 24/7 roadside assistance to guarantee peace of mind.”
Troy Mack, the founder and chief executive officer at AutoWurld, believes the services help dealers have peace of mind with the third-party inspection’s certification and coverage for unforeseen circumstances.
“The goal with AutoWurld is to make dealer-to-dealer transactions less expensive and bulletproof,” Mack said. “When you couple the OneGuard 158-point inspection services with the comprehensive 90-day warranty, buyers can shop our network with confidence.”
More information about AutoWurld’s offerings can be found here.
Porsche Financial Services announced Thursday its agreement with Safe-Guard Products International to offer a fully branded suite of Protection Plan Products through Porsche, Bentley and Lamborghini dealers in the United States. Non-Porsche products for Bentley and Lamborghini pre-owned vehicles, at participating dealers, will use the QualityShield name as a non-branded private label program.
“Safe-Guard is proud to help enhance the customer experience of these prestigious brands,” said David Pryor, Safe-Guard’s chief marketing officer. “Safe-Guard’s products add safety, security, and peace of mind through superior coverage and service which builds long-term customer retention and brand advocacy.”
Ross Dupper, the president and chief executive officer at Porsche Financial Services, believes the partnership provides a “new level of confidence and convenience” to the company’s “sophisticated customers.”
“Our dealer network is excited to extend the peace of mind that these Protection Plan Products will add to the enjoyment of the Porsche, Bentley and Lamborghini ownership experience,” Dupper said.
Products offered from the partnership include protection for tires and wheels, dents, windshields, key replacements, GAP insurance, lease-end issues as well as prepaid maintenance and vehicle service programs.
More information about Safe-Guard’s products can be found here; for more information about Porsche, Bentley and Lamborghini offerings, contact your local dealer.
DealerSocket highlighted a new integration with MyDealerLot (MDL), a provider in the application of radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies for automated guest recognition and vehicle tracking.
The company explained this integration enhances the customer experience within the sales and service departments. The tool can strategically alert the sales and service staff that a customer has arrived, allowing them the opportunity to greet the customer and see if there is an opportunity for a trade-in.
Dealers utilizing MDL's RFID technology will receive MDL notifications directly on their DealerSocket dashboard. This method is designed to provide a quick and easy access point for sales and service departments to be notified of a customer that is visiting their dealership.
“We are excited and pleased to partner with MyDealerLot as we continue to enhance the value and performance our customers expect with DealerSocket,” DealerSocket chief strategy officer Matt Redden said.
“This integration provides dealers the essential technology upgrade necessary to discover new leads while delivering exceptional customer experience the moment a customer arrives at their lot,” Redden continued.
MDL founder and chief executive officer George Cresto also described how the integration is meant to help dealers.
“Dealerships today are more reliant than ever on having an automated and efficient way to connect the service guest to their sales advisor for lifetime relationships which translate to increase retention, revenue, and profits,” Cresto said.
“DealerSocket’s integration with MDL's RFID technology helps dealers further leverage their CRM technology investment for a truly connected customer experience,” he went on to say.
To learn more about the DealerSocket and MyDealerLot integration or to schedule a demo visit http://dealersocket.com/dealersocket-partners-mydealerlot/ or call (775) 473-6622.
AutoAlert, teaming with CreditMiner, has added additional sales opportunities for its users via the addition of credit soft pulls for service-not-sold records, allowing its dealer customers to provide solid qualifying offers to service customers that have not previously purchased a vehicle at their business.
The credit soft pull, which does not require a prospect’s social security number, date of birth, or consent, downloads equity and credit information into AutoAlert, putting the establishment in a situation where they can provide an offer for the customer’s current vehicle and provide a deal on a new model.
“The addition of CreditMiner to AutoAlert will increase the number of opportunities to sell in service by 30 percent because data enables associates to make value proposition offers, not sales pitches,” said Tony Rhoades, AutoAlert’s vice president of product. “Converting service-only customers into new vehicle purchasers deepens their relationship with the dealership, which is important to ongoing retention, additional purchases, and dealership profitability.”
Complying with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, CreditMiner allows for dealer-specific offers of credit which are otherwise invalid anywhere else. Its tools can give access to bureau data at TransUnion, Experian and Equifax, providing permissible bureau data such as up to five auto loan summaries, current payment data, auto loan balances, cosigner participation, and revolving credit data.
“The team at CreditMiner is proud to partner with AutoAlert, the leader in data mining,” said Don O’Neill, CreditMiner’s vice president of sales and marketing. “The power this relationship brings to dealers is immeasurable. Dealers can now target and prospect consumers in service who did not purchase their vehicle from the servicing dealer.
“The exciting part is the offer is valid only at that specific dealership," O'Neill continued. "This partnership brings the leader in data mining sales opportunity generation and the leader in promotional bureau software together. The results will be an unparalleled tool for dealer profitability.”
NCM Associates announced recently that it has allied with Autotrader to provide NCM 20 Group clients with a free performance report aimed at helping them maximize sales of new and used vehicles.
Via the alliance, Autotrader will automatically feed actual data and metrics on dealership performance into a composite set to provide NCM dealer clients with an accurate look at their listings.
“Dealership data and analytics is one of NCM’s core strengths, and we want to ensure our clients take advantage of this data to improve their bottom line,” said Paul Faletti Jr., NCM Associates’ chief executive officer and president. “This report will allow our members to see their Autotrader metrics in comparison to their 20 Group peers.
“More importantly, this Benchmark composite will help clients make better decisions based on actual data and metrics, not estimates, allowing them to have more in-depth conversations and share best practices to position their inventory and their dealerships for optimal exposure.”
Jared Rowe, Autotrader’s president, resonated Faletti’s sentiment, saying his company looks forward to putting its 800 sales consultants to work to help its customers get the most out of their investments.
“We strongly believe that you can’t manage what you don’t measure, and this alliance is yet another step we are taking to empower our dealer customers with the tools and resources they need to measure their performance on our site and make informed decisions with their marketing strategies,” Rowe said.
The performance composite will show how clients’ listings are performing on Autotrader in both the new and used vehicle departments and show how they match up with their financial performance metrics. It will also show digital metrics for the Autotrader site, including exposure and inventory quality, listing quality, ad solutions, live market views, and comparisons against NCM Benchmarks.
NCM will extend invitations to selected Dealer 20 Group members to opt into the Autotrader Benchmark composite service this month.
Dominion Dealer Solutions announced Tuesday that Dominion ACCESS, the company’s Windows-based dealership management system, is now a fully integrated partner of the Toyota DMS Integration Program.
Toyota’s Dealer Daily Open Access (DDOA) program integrates with Dominion ACCESS through live, secure communications across multiple departments, including F&I, service and accounting. The DDOA interface, developed based on the Standards for Technology in Automotive Retail (STAR), is available to Toyota dealerships nationwide with the exception of GST and SET Toyota dealers.
“The integration between Dominion ACCESS and Toyota DDOA lets us provide another cost-effective solution to Toyota dealerships,” said Van Koppersmith, the president of Dominion DMS for Dominion Dealer Solutions. “We were very pleased to work with our existing customers, helping to streamline their operations, during the development process and look forward to forming long relationships with additional Toyota and Lexus dealers in the near future.”
Jerry York, dealer principal at York’s of Houlton in Maine, commented on his first-hand experiences with the DMS.
“We are a long-time ACCESS customer and have been very pleased with the ease of use, customer-friendly screens and personal customer service,” York said.
York added: “The recent integration of Toyota has only enhanced our enthusiasm for Dominion ACCESS. It has saved us double-entry time in the parts department, warranty claims administration area, and financial statement processing. I’m especially happy to see that Dominion is continuing to make improvements to the software, ensuring a competitive DMS product for the foreseeable future.”
More information about DDS’s offerings can be found on its website.
Dealertrack Technologies and Digital Air Strike announced Monday that they have entered into channel and product agreements to help their dealer clients drive lead response and generation opportunities.
According to the companies, the agreement facilitates the information from the DAS Response Logix Smart Quote to be integrated into Dealertrack’s Dealer.com digital marketing solution and Payment Driver.
“Leveraging Digital Air Strike’s Response Logix with our Dealer.com digital marketing and Payment Driver solutions gives us a uniquely powerful means of targeting and generating quality leads for automotive retailers,” said Brian Green, the senior director of corporate business development at Dealertrack. “Our Certified Provider Program assures our clients that the specialized partners we are integrating into our technologies are well-vetted, best-of-class products. We look forward to the added value Digital Air Strike will bring to our overall solution.”
Thom Brodeur, the chief operating officer at DAS, says his company has won market share “the hard way” over the last few years.
“We’ve done it one rooftop at a time,” Brodeur said. “These complementary and parallel initiatives with Dealertrack allow us to accelerate our go-to-market efforts through partners who lead their markets. It also allows us to provide a larger universe of auto dealers access to the industry’s most ROI-conscious and measurable lead response solutions to sell and service more cars.”
Enterprise Car Sales announced today that its locations near Kansas City will help raise funds for the March of Dimes Greater Kansas organization to help support the nonprofit’s Kansas City March for Babies event on May 3.
The Enterprise locations in Independence, Mo. and Merriam, Kan. Will donate $100 for every vehicle sold in April to the nonprofit organization, with their sites on the goal of raising at least $10,000. Nearly a dozen Enterprise sales employees will also join Multiples of Kansas City in the Kansas City March for Babies walk to raise awareness and funds for research and programs.
“The well-being of our business and the communities where we operate go hand-in-hand,” said Kevin Furderer, the general manager of Enterprise Car Sales in Kansas City. “The March of Dimes has touched the lives of thousands of families, including several of our employees, and we are invested in this important effort.”
Kenneth Jackson, the state director for March of Dimes Kansas City, looks forward to continuing the relationship his organization has with Enterprise.
“As a family-owned company with deep ties in the community, Enterprise is an ideal partner to support our mission,” Jackson said. “Through its generous sponsorship of the Kansas City March for Babies, Enterprise Car Sales is supporting crucial research, community services, education and advocacy to help moms have healthy, full-term pregnancies.”
More information on the March of Dimes Greater Kansas and its endeavors can be found here.
AutoWurld — a subscription-based wholesale network for the auto industry — announced Tuesday a new partnership which expands its third-party service options.
AutoWurld is partnering with One Guard, an auto inspection agency, to provide volume-prices pre-sales vehicle inspection services to the more than 700 dealers in its network.
The company contends this move will help give dealers peace of mind with buying and selling vehicles outside their standard geographic boundaries.
“We created AutoWurld to make auto transactions easier and more profitable,” said Troy Mack, founder and chief executive officer of AutoWurld. “Our partnership with One Guard gives dealers an opportunity to have an independent inspector perform a 158-point vehicle inspection before committing to a purchase. Consequently, buyers are more confident in their purchase whether or not they have seen the vehicle firsthand.”
Taking a look at what the One Guard inspections provide, AutoWurld pointed out the benefits, including:
- 158-point detailed ASE certified inspection
- Dozens of photos detailing the vehicle’s condition
- Access to a knowledgeable service team
- Blackstone oil analysis
- Carfax vehicle history report
“We are thrilled to be announced as a partner of AutoWurld,” said One Guard CEO Bryan Bledsoe. “No other player in the market is doing what AutoWurld does; simplifying the auto industry with a cost-effective, efficient alternative marketplace for dealers to regain control of their bottom line. One Guard is uniquely positioned to expand and expedite business with high-quality, independent inspections for each transaction.”
Quality control and giving dealers more confidence in buying stock online has been a hot topic as of late.
Dealers don’t always have time to inspect every inch of a car that comes through the auction lane, and when online, they are at the mercy of the seller — quality inspections and condition reports can cut down on stressors in these situations.
For dealers, time is more important than money, and Kraig Quisenberry, the director of sales at DCH Auto Group, told Auto Remarketing in the sense that dealers often are more concerned with having a car that is front-line ready than the price they’re going to pay for the vehicle.
