The International Automotive Remarketers Alliance has launched a new website and opened up its membership renewal and member enrollment period for North America, the organization said in a news release.
Starting today, current IARA members or those interested in becoming members can go to www.iara.biz to renew or apply, respectively.
IARA said in the release that there has been “continued growth” in both its membership and in the summer roundtable conference in the last three years.
“The alliance, which is referred to as ‘The Voice of the Consignor,’ has attracted auctions, service providers and all facets of the automotive remarketing industry to comprise the majority of its membership,” IARA said.
All memberships should be applied for online and are done on a single-company basis. However, parties can purchase additional memberships to identify specific division brands or locations.
IARA utilized a product called MemberLeap — which puts education, membership management and events under the same URL — to do a complete software upgrade, which included the new website.
Dominion Dealer Solutions announced on Saturday it launched an automotive equity plug-in tool that allows dealers to use any automotive customer relationship management system (CRM) in conjunction with its automotive equity mining solution, DealActivator.
"We recognize that automotive dealers want the flexibility to use DealActivator’s best-in-class equity mining software without having to change CRM providers,” said Dominion equity solutions general manager Alan Andreu in a news release.
“This plug-in enables today’s dealers to continue using the CRM system that works best for their dealership, regardless of the vendor, while enjoying DealActivator’s data-rich equity tools."
The new plug-in tool provides instant access to equity data and also allows dealers to view a customer's profile in their CRM system simultaneously.
Dealers no longer need to log into their CRM separately from DealActivator.
CRM and DealActivator information now appears on the same screen.
Additionally, with the new plug-in dealership staff can now quickly determine the equity standing of each client in the CRM.
DealActivator’s Soft Credit Pulls and Performance Booster packages, which help dealers identify revenue opportunities and gain strategy recommendations, have also been recent additions to the equity mining software.
The Appraisal Lane, a used-car trade network and communications platform, announced recently that it has added the Grappone Automotive Group and Lee Auto Malls, to its growing dealer community who use the real-time platform to submit used cars for appraisal from their smartphones and receive cash offers from a live network of used-car experts.
The additions of the New Hampshire-based Grappone and Maine-based Lee dealerships highlight The Appraisal Lane's continued growth and a recent focus on expanding into the Northeast region, said the company.
"For the past year, we've used The Appraisal Lane at four of our dealerships," Lee Auto Malls chairman Adam Lee said in a news release. "In that time, we reduced wholesale loss by over 50 percent, and in some cases turned a profit at year's end. With today's market volatility, having a consistent, reliable, check writer for each car allows us to make more retail deals, mitigates wholesale loss, and gives us a firm baseline so we know where we stand on every transaction.
“For us, The Appraisal Lane is a money maker, and we're moving forward with using it at all of our 19 locations." The Appraisal Lane's footprint currently spans the Atlantic coast. Network dealers are located throughout major metro areas of the coast.
The Appraisal Lane is fully optimized for mobile and manages appraisal submissions and purchase offers, in addition to sales and fulfillment channel information.
Carfax and DealerSocket have expanded their partnership, and now more than 4,000 Carfax dealer websites powered by the automotive technology platform now are upgraded with Carfax Snapshot.
Carfax Snapshot puts key vehicle history information directly on the search results and vehicle details pages.
With information such as reported accidents, number of owners, service records and open recalls online shoppers can quickly identify if a vehicle has the right history for them.
Online shoppers can view Carfax Reports purchased by dealers for free on dealer websites created by DealerSocket.
“Transparency is a requisite for success in the current used car marketplace,” DealerSocket director of product management Aaron Schinke said in a news release. “Having an additional layer of vital Carfax information on our dealers’ websites with the Carfax Snapshot tool helps ensure transparency and build trust for each transaction. It’s another step in our efforts to provide dealers with the most innovative and versatile website solutions available today.”
Dealers who want to add Carfax Snapshot to their website can contact their Carfax representative or website solution provider.
In other news from the company, Carfax announced Advent Resources has fully integrated its dealer management system with myCarfax Service Shop tools.
“This integration is another example of our efforts to deliver maximum value to Advent DMS clients,” said Advent Resources chief executive officer Tim Gill.
“Working with Carfax and the myCarfax Service Shop program, we’re putting trusted information about past maintenance in the hands of service writers to better serve their customers. We fully expect this enhancement will have a net positive impact on operations efficiency and service revenue.”
Dealerships using the Advent DMS can take advantage of free resources such as Carfax Service History Check and Carfax QuickVIN by joining the myCarfax Service Shop program.
Carfax QuickVIN helps avoid parts-ordering errors and increases ticket averages. Carfax Service History Check shows a vehicle’s reported maintenance history on myCarfax.com and sends alerts regarding vehicle maintenance recommendations and recalls.
Dealers interested in using the Advent DMS integrated with the myCarfax Service Shop tools can visit www.adventresources.com.
Spireon recently introduced its latest connected car solution — Kahu — a smart add-on designed to provide dealers streamlined inventory and lot management that also offers car buyers modern location tracking and stolen vehicle recovery service.
Kahu is the first connected car solution specifically designed for dealerships, according to the company.
“New car dealer margins have been flat for several years, driving a need to create new revenue and profit opportunities,” said Spireon chief executive officer Kevin Weiss. “Connected cars are changing the industry, but dealers are receiving little value from this shift. Kahu changes that dynamic, giving dealers the tools they need before, during and after the sale to grow profits and benefit from the connected car revolution.”
Kahu will generally be available in the second quarter of 2017, a select group of early adopter customers already have it installed.
“Our partnership with Spireon has paid for itself tenfold,” said Spireon customer Jon Hansen, general sales manager of Burien Nissan. “Being able to offer a product that I find value in to our customers and making it a revenue generator for the dealership is really big for us. I would absolutely recommend Spireon to other dealerships.”
Kahu includes an aftermarket GPS device and mobile apps for dealers and their customers.
Spireon said the smart add-on is intended to help dealers to grow service retention with car buyers by providing accurate vehicle data for proactive maintenance reminders and increase service retention.
The solution allows consumers to track their vehicle as well as receive to smart alerts for speeding and low battery.
“Kahu is an attractive add-on that safeguards consumers while driving dealer profit,” said Spireon.
CarStory, a provider of search and inventory data and analytics on used vehicles, announced recently that Hyundai Motor America will now use CarStory Market Reports to showcase the certified pre-owned inventory listed on its website at hyundaicertified.com.
“At Hyundai, we’re always looking for ways to better convert online CPO shoppers into sales and CarStory’s independent reports do just that,” said Hyundai’s senior manager of certified pre-owned Jose Froehlich in a news release.
CarStory Market Reports are viewed by more than 15 million consumers each month, and more than 6,500 dealers have adopted it, according to CarStory chief marketing officer Chad Bockius.
“CarStory Market Reports give Hyundai consumers real-time, relevant CPO information right on the VDP. This means less shopping time for consumers, and a faster sales process for the dealer because online shoppers become in-store buyers more quickly,” Bockius said.
“Hyundai dealers should experience immediate benefits from the integration of CarStory Market Reports resulting from an increase in VDP engagement. Hyundai is giving dealers a tool that has been shown to increase lead conversions from the VDP by more than 60 percent," he continued.
The service evaluates customer preference data to offer information car shoppers are seeking in a way that helps the manufacturers highlight the perks of its CPO vehicles such as warranty details, inspection points and roadside assistance.
To help with making purchasing decisions, it will also show customers side-by-side comparisons of non-CPO versus CPO vehicles.
“The transparency of the reports resonates with today’s online shoppers who have come to expect deep, accurate data when looking at any product online,” CarStory said.
Hyundai Capital America said in a recent announcement that it reduced mailing and call center costs, cut transactional costs, and enhanced processes to save time and resources after ChannelNet revamped its dealer access portal.
“We consider the reinvention of our dealer portal one of 2016’s most significant accomplishments,” HCA senior vice president and division head for dealer services Tim Devine said in a news release.
The cross-channel, integrated platform launched in November.
“A sleeker, smarter dealer portal, it is designed to give the best user experience possible. As a result, daily usage is up 52 percent, and mobile usage is up 95 percent,” said Devine.
HCA is the first to use the portal. The secure cloud solution has over 10,000 registered users at the auto finance company.
The portal is mobile friendly as well as designed to be personalized and role-based.
At HCA registered users range from dealership general managers, business development managers, sales staff, office administrators and OEM field sales staff.
The portal also applies customer-centric principles to the dealer staff experience.
“It is very exciting for us to work with a corporate team that understands the importance of being customer centric. In this case, the dealer staff are the customers,” said ChannelNet chief executive and founder Paula Tompkins.
“Sales people walking the lot with a prospective car buyer can use their smartphones to look up critical sales information on the spot. For example, they can instantly tell consumers what incentives are available on a specific vehicle.”
She said, “The portal is now a one-stop shop for everything the dealership’s staff needs from the captive finance company and other third-party vendors.”
ACV Auctions said Wednesday that it has expanded into northeast Ohio, Washington D.C., and eastern Massachusetts, while also announcing it will debut a new incentive program for multi-site dealerships at the NADA Convention & Expo this week.
In addition to the three new territories, the company ended 2016 entering upstate New York, western Massachusetts, Pittsburgh and Northern New Jersey.
"We ended 2016 strong with each of our markets growing faster than predicted," said George Chamoun, chief executive officer of ACV Auctions said in a news release. "The increased use of our service and the demand in new markets strongly demonstrates that franchise dealers are truly embracing the ACV Auctions solution for wholesale."
The company’s new incentive program targets multi-site dealerships well-positioned to be the first within their respective markets to utilize the ACV Auctions app to buy and sell wholesales vehicles.
The ACV Auctions team will be demonstrating its app at the NADA Conference & Expo at a reception on Friday, at booth 5615.
ACV Auctions said it will also be working to identify prospective territory managers for future markets.
"We remain focused on moving into markets that are accessible by our current customer base and that offer the vehicles franchise dealers want to buy," ACV Auctions Mike Waterman vice president of business development said in a news release.
"Our growth strategy is also aligned with our commitment to providing local support with condition reports and working with the best franchise dealers in the country."
ACV Auctions is a mobile platform that can enable dealers to view, bid and purchase inventory via online auctions. These live auctions are conducted from franchised dealer lots and last just 20 minutes.
DealerSocket has announced plans to introduce four new technology advances to streamline automotive retail at the NADA Convention and Expo this week.
DealerSocket’s new and newly enhanced tools include Precise Price, Blackbird, Health Check, and both Credit Bureau Connection and RouteOne CRM integrations.
Precise Price is a transparent integrated digital retailing tool that merges with dealership CRM platforms, which allows customers to initiate the framework of deals on a dealer’s website.
Customers are informed about all costs before making a decision via the platform.
The tool also factors in cost influencers, such as dealer incentives and fees, vehicle protections, local taxes and trade-in evaluations, according to DealerSocket.
The company’s software platform, Blackbird, has been redesigned and updated to provide a more streamlined workflow.
Blackbird’s updates include more customization and smoother navigation.
“DealerSocket listened to its customers — receiving input from more than 70 dealers and user testing feedback — and responded with the development of Blackbird,” said DealerSocket founder and chief technology officer Brad Perry in a news release.
“We determined the areas where the platform could be improved and completely redesigned the interface for quick access to regularly used tools, so dealers could experience greater efficiencies and savings.”
Additionally, DealerSocket said it is transitioning to a “single point of entry” or Customer Success Manager (CSM) model to improve customer service.
Previously, dealers had several points of entry with DS, with the various DS tools, according to the integrated technology platform developer.
To aid DealerSocket CSMs, the company is launching its new digital monitoring tool, Health Check, which assess dealers activity and alerts them if they are underutilizing their CRM platform.
Health Check detects when users may need help or training and then notifies DealerSocket. The tool regularly scans dealers’ use of software and signals the CSM to make contact when necessary.
DealerSocket has also begun a partnership with Credit Bureau Connection (CBC) and introduced a newly enhanced integration with RouteOne, its credit application decision engine.
CBC provides sales teams with credit report and compliance solutions such as prequalifying applicants, capturing leads and obtaining electronic credit reports from Experian, TransUnion and Equifax.
Furthermore, the tool delivers added compliance protection with the Red Flags Indicator that catches potential identity fraud cases.
RouteOne now supplies improved data accuracy and greater transparency between deals in each system through two-way data synchronization between DealerSocket CRM and RouteOne.
At NADA, DealerSocket will be displaying its new technologies and performing demos at booths 937 and 1137.
DealersLink announced it will unveil its new retail consumer site, MotorCloud.com, at the NADA Convention & Expo in New Orleans later this week.
DealersLink Black Ops Dev Team began constructing MotorCloud over three years ago, and it will be available to DealersLink members this summer.
“DealersLink was built on innovations that bring value to dealers,” said Mike Goicoechea, chief executive officer of the vehicle exchange company in a new release. “We’re incredibly excited about MotorCloud because we’ve now entered the retail classified space, so we’re bringing value not only to our dealers, but their customers as well.”
The new site applies cutting-edge mobile cloud and app technologies to streamline the auto buying process.
DealersLink said as more customers move to mobile technology, mobile software innovation is expected to be a major growth segment for the company.
All DealersLink members get first-mover access to MotorCloud and $1,000 advertising credit for each year they've been a member.
“Our members always get first priority when it comes to new product launches and other innovations coming out of our R&D team.”
