A new mobile app went live nationwide this week and is designed to give consumers real-time cash offers for their used vehicles from dealers located within their market area.
The developers of CarOffer explained that they work with hand-picked dealers who have been known for their innovative customer service experiences and their commitments to a better, more-efficient vehicle selling process for the consumer.
The product allows dealers to own specific territories exclusively. Dealers license the CarOffer brand in their markets. Based on the consumer’s location, the bid will be routed to the dealer owning that territory to submit an offer.
The CarOffer application had a soft launch at the year’s NADA Convention & Expo. Now available to consumers for free download on iPhone, iPod touch and Android devices.
“I can’t tell you how pleased we are with the soft launch. We’ve already bought many vehicles and anticipate buying a few hundred in St. Louis each and every month. Great program with great execution,” said Pete Fusz, director of used vehicle operations for the Lou Fusz Auto Group.
CarOffer chief executive officer and founder Bruce Thompson believes the tool can tap into unchartered territory and acquire inventory directly from consumers. Chief technology officer Ziad Chartouni shared more details about the tool’s development since the beginning of the year.
“Our initial pilot launch has been tremendously successful,” Chartouni said. “We’ve only opened up about 10 percent of our capacity during the soft launch and the system is generating hundreds of consumer bid requests per day. We anticipate several thousand within the next three to four weeks.
“This is the real deal and it is the answer to acquiring needed inventory directly from the consumer,” Chartouni went on to say.
For more information, visit www.caroffer.com or call (888) 471-0787.
Throughout the years since its inception almost 20 years ago, Xcira Corp. has been a leader in auction technology innovation.
From innovation in simulcast and digital auctions to securing real-time audio and video for remote audiences, the company has been a leader in the industry — evident through its numerous patents throughout the years.
To learn a bit more about the company’s impact on the auction industry, Auto Remarketing spoke with with Nancy Rabenold, chief executive officer and co-founder of Xcira Corp. and a member of the 2014 class of Women in Remarketing.
Xcira’s role in innovative technology began when the company filed its first patent application in May of 2000, recalls Rabenold.
Years of Advancement
When the company was founded, Rabenold says she identified hundreds of "needs" in the auction industry, noting there were many opportunities for the application of technology to “remove friction for buyers and sellers or improve operational and transactional efficiencies within the auction process.”
At that time, though, the idea of digital auctions was still new, and many in the industry remained cautious.
"In fact, the most prevalent needs before technology could succeed involved the elimination of the barriers to entry by satisfactorily answering such questions as: ‘Will buyers bid sight unseen?’ and ‘Will the introduction of technology have negative consequences in the lane?’" said Rabenold.
Regardless of what cautions abounded, Rabenold pushed forward, and the first patent secured in 2000 — U.S. patent No. 6,813,612 — worked to enable individuals to participate in live auctions from remote locations, simply by using an Internet connection and a computer.
This patent helped to break down some of the barriers between digital and brick-and-mortar auctions and helped lay the foundation for simulcast auctions.
“I definitively knew that our first patent, which involved the tenets of a simulcasted auction, would be the first of many. It is vital that Xcira be perpetually known as an innovator; otherwise, our ability to sell our value-add would be justifiably compromised,” said Rabenold. “Furthermore, it is important that we maintain a patent portfolio and protect our customers accordingly.”
How did this first patent change the wholesale game?
The obvious impact, Rabenold says, included the wide-scale adoption and use of simulcasted auction technology.
“One of the most important benefits realized by the auctions was the elimination of geographic constraints associated with bidder participation,” she said.
Building off the platform of this patent, Xcira launched out in a variety of directions. Ultimately, the company would make strides in areas such as Web-based condition checks, real-time audio and video, and technology that allows local and remote bidders to participate in multiple auctions at the same time, among other technological advancements.
The Evolution
Fourteen years after the company’s first patent, many new industry needs have been identified.
"Fourteen years ago, e-commerce was just getting started, and obtaining useful or actionable information from the Internet was a hit-or-miss situation," Rabenold said. "Today, a global economy exists where we see worldwide transactional leaders such as Apple, Amazon, e-Bay, Google, and many others that have conditioned the online user to expect a simple, integrated, complete transactional user experience."
Xcira believes this will start a trend of systems involving multi-language, multi-currency and full integration (e.g., financing, transportation, etc.) capabilities for a "frictionless user environment."
A couple of the more recent needs in the auction industry that Xcira is looking into is mobility and business analytics.
"I believe the industry in general is still grappling with the meaning of mobility and the dealers’ respective use of the platform. It really does remind me of the revolution that the Internet brought to the industry," she said. "If you couple mobility with the trends of business analytics and the recent generations’ adoption of gaming systems and technology, I think we will see some evolving trends established very quickly that will change the industry as we know it today."
When asked about how she has seen the auction industry evolve since beginning her journey with Xcira , Rabenold said: "Obviously, technology has brought almost exponential changes to all aspects of the auction platform. Because of the speed in which technologies change, the industry has changed into a perpetually alert and fast-acting body. Technology has become a fore-thought versus a hind-sight."
Rabenold added: "The entirety of the industry is considered in decision making. And no longer will any participating body of the auction process be underestimated or neglected."
Looking to the Next Decade
Though Xcira has already made a huge impact on the auction industry, it doesn’t plan on slowing down.
Rabenold said that today is the most exciting time in the company’s 18-year history.
In fact, it is the process of building a new platform.
Looking ahead, Rabenold said, "Although I’m excited to announce the features and functions, suffice it to say that I anticipate and hope it will have a greater positive impact on the automotive auction industry than OnLine Ringman had over 14 years ago."
The auction industry is always changing. And therefore, it is difficult to predict the auction industry’s state-of-affairs ten years down the road, but Rabenold said some things are a given:
"Additional efficiencies will be realized in the auction process at all levels through technology. Because we will have much more usable information available to us, decisions will be easier and necessary actions obvious,” she said. “Inefficiencies will be addressed immediately and ‘big data’ will drive huge benefit. All aspects will be analyzed for optimization, regardless of the resulting impact to either brick and mortar subsistence or digital auction leveraging.”
Editor's Note: For more from Rabenold and Xcira Corp., see the upcoming May/June issue of Auto Remarketing Canada, a sister publication to Auto Remarketing.
Recovery Database Network (RDN) and Inilex, a national provider of vehicle telematics solutions, recently announced they have successfully integrated Inilex’s GPS-based vehicle location information into RDN’s vehicle repossession management software, giving dealers instant access to vehicle location information.
Officials insisted this integration is especially beneficial to special finance lenders and large-scale buy-here, pay-here dealers that must engage in repossessions with regular frequency and need an efficient and affordable way to manage the process.
Using the integrated technology, repossession agents who are part of the RDN network can quickly research a vehicle’s last location, giving them valuable time-saving information in conducting their repossession work. RDN and Inilex have made the service available to all dealers nationwide who engage with professional repossession services.
To date, DriveTime, one of the nation’s largest BHPH dealerships, has already incorporated the RDN-Inilex solution into its loss mitigation strategy.
“A seamless way to view a vehicle’s location online is critical to repossession agents who often spend hours or even days tracking a vehicle,” said Zach Hallowell, chief operating officer of RDN. “This new technology provides our customers with an accurate and simplified way to conduct their business.”
Inilex president and chief executive officer Michael Maledon added, “Many dealerships and lenders provide special financing for at-risk customers, and the reality is that repossession must be part of their business strategies.
“GPS tracking is one of the most significant ways dealers of all kinds can take costs out of their businesses. By integrating GPS technology into repossessions, vehicle management, inventory and back-office functions, dealers and lenders can run their businesses more efficiently,” Maledon went on to say.
For more information about RDN’s integration of GPS-based vehicle tracking data, contact RDN at (817) 204-0298 and select option No. 2. To learn more about Inilex and its solutions for dealers, visit inilex.com.
For every iteration of smartphone products to hit the market, it seems as if consumer demand to replace their current device is moving just as fast as the technology.
In fact, a study from Swapalease.com cites data from Recon Analytics indicating that Americans, on average, change their phones after about 22 months — and this number is likely to go even lower with cellular providers rolling out new contract-escape-friendly plans.
What’s more, this rapid-fire replacement may find its way to the auto industry, as well, says Swapalease.
The company discovered through a February survey that around three-fifths of men and women, assuming that cost was not an issue, would like to change cars as often as they swapped out their cell phones. More specifically, the numbers were 59.5 percent of men and 60.7 percent of women.
Scot Hall, executive vice president at Swapalease, talked with Auto Remarketing on Tuesday and said this keeping-up-with-technology motivation that tends to drive cell phone replacement is a prime factor in the auto business, as well.
“The technology is really the big driver behind the change in the automotive industry, as well,” said Hall. “People want that latest and greatest technology, and frankly the technology increases over the last several years in vehicles is like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and I’ve been in the car business a long time.
“Not only the safety features and the entertainment features, but the connectivity overall. And of course the next thing on deck is going to be that Internet in cars is going to be more and more common as we move forward. So, I think it’s almost a perfect parallel, if you will.”
He added: “I think it’s also fair to say, it’s definitely secondary to the technology side, but people are also looking to get better deals, as well. It’s no different when they change their phone plans. If they get more minutes or more bandwidth for either a similar rate or a less of a monthly payment, that’s great, and we see that on the car side as well.”
Top Brands for Switching
The study also asked shoppers — again, assuming cost was no issue — which brands they would like to change to in the future, allowing them to pick more than one. Among men, BMW (42.3 percent) and Mercedes-Benz (42.3 percent) were the top vote getters, and the same goes for women (46.5 percent and 44.1 percent, respectively).
For both men and women, the top of the lists were filled with luxury brands, which should not necessarily come as a surprise.
But although he said luxury buyers typically are looking to change vehicles more often than mainstream brand buyers, Hall gives this caveat: “I think it’s also worth noting that BMW and Mercedes, in particular, have very high lease penetrations already. So I think that’s part of the equation, as well.
“People know that those cars lease well, that those manufacturers commonly run attractive leasing specials, and I think that’s also driving some of that desire,” he continued
And consider this, as Swapalease notes it’s not an import-versus-domestic situation: Brands like Ford (18.7 percent desirability for men, 17. 4 percent for women) Chevrolet (10.4 percent, 9.3 percent) and Buick (7.0 percent, 8.1 percent) generated solid scores as well.
Importance of Warranty
When asked to list the primary reason or reasons for changing vehicles, 42 percent of men say that it was to get a vehicle that was under warranty, followed closely (41.7 percent) by the reason of getting a new model. For women, half wanted a vehicle under warranty and 47.6 percent mentioned the desire to get a new car.
“Historically, lifestyle and financial reasons have always dominated the responses and reasons why drivers and car shoppers use Swapalease.com. For the first time in the history of the company, the importance of getting, and driving, a vehicle that’s constantly under warranty is the No. 1 reason people want to change their vehicle,” the company said as part of its analysis.
Editor's Note: The company generated these results from online surveys of more than 1,000 drivers across the U.S. from Feb. 8 through Feb. 22.
With a former OEM chief executive officer joining its board and paperwork filed for an initial public offering, activity is buzzing at TrueCar. That IPO paperwork filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission offered a glimpse as to what’s going on underneath the hood of the lead-generation website.
TrueCar indicated the number of common shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. But according to the registration statement on Form S-1 filed with the SEC, the company is coming off of a year where it generated revenues of $134.0 million and recorded a net loss of $25.1 million.
Of the $134.0 million in revenue, TrueCar noted that 89 percent consisted of transaction revenues with the remaining 11 percent derived primarily from the sale of data and consulting services to the automotive and financial services industries. Transaction revenues primarily consist of fees paid to the by its network of TrueCar Certified Dealers under its pay-for-performance business model where the company generally earn a fee only when a TrueCar user purchases a vehicle from them.
TrueCar mentioned in its SEC filing that its dealer network consists of more than 7,000 dealerships, primarily franchised stores as well as a smaller amount of independent operators.
“We typically charge TrueCar Certified Dealers $299 upon the sale of a new car to a TrueCar user,” company officials said. “In 2013, the overall industry average advertising expense per new car across all forms of media was $616, according to NADA.
“By helping dealers better target their acquisition efforts to in-market consumers using our platform, we believe that dealers can improve their close rates, which results in other operating cost efficiencies such as savings on selling expenses and inventory carrying costs,” they continued.
TrueCar recapped the challenges it has experienced with its dealer network. At the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012, due to certain regulatory and publicity-related challenges, officials acknowledged many dealers cancelled their agreements with TrueCar, and its franchised dealer count fell from 5,571 on Nov. 30, 2011 to 3,599 on Feb. 28, 2012.
“TrueCar Certified Dealers have no contractual obligation to maintain their relationship with us. Accordingly, these dealers may leave our network at any time or may develop or use other products or services in lieu of ours,” TrueCar officials said in the SEC documents.
“Further, while we believe that our service provides a lower cost, accountable customer acquisition channel, dealers may have difficulty rationalizing their marketing spend across TrueCar and other channels, which potentially has the effect of diluting our dealer value proposition. If we are unable to create and maintain a compelling value proposition for dealers to become and remain TrueCar Certified Dealers, our dealer network would not grow and may begin to decline,” they continued in the filing section that described their risk position.
TrueCar went on to acknowledge that larger dealer groups not choosing to use its services and have a significant impact on its growth possibilities as well as its stock value.
“Although the automobile dealership industry is fragmented, a small number of groups have significant influence over the industry,” TrueCar said. “These groups include state and national dealership associations, state regulators, car manufacturers, consumer groups, individual dealers and consolidated dealer groups. To the extent that these groups believe that automobile dealerships should not partner with us, this belief may become quickly and widely shared by automobile dealerships and we may lose a significant number of dealers in our network.
“A significant number of automobile dealerships are also members of larger dealer groups, and to the extent that a group decides to leave our network, this decision would typically apply to all dealerships within the group,” the company continued.
“We cannot assure you that we will maintain strong relationships with the dealers in our network of TrueCar Certified Dealers or that we will not suffer dealer attrition in the future,” TrueCar officials went on to state in the IPO filing. “We may also have disputes with dealers from time to time, including relating to the collection of fees from them and other matters.
“We may need to modify our products, change pricing or take other actions to address dealer concerns in the future. If a significant number of these automobile dealerships decided to leave our network or change their financial or business relationship with us, then our business, growth, operating results, financial condition and prospects would suffer. Additionally, if we are unable to add dealers to our network, our growth could be impaired,” TrueCar added.
Nonetheless, TrueCar reiterated that it is poised to capitalize the growth potential of rising vehicle sales, referencing some new solutions in the company pipeline.
“In the future, we intend to introduce additional products and services to improve the car-buying and car-ownership experience. For example, we are developing TrueTrade to provide users with an estimated daily market value for their existing cars and a guaranteed trade-in price,” the company said.
“In addition, we are developing TrueLoan and TrueLease to provide users with a more convenient way to finance their cars at TrueCar Certified Dealers,” officials continued. “We are also in the process of launching a number of new services for our dealers designed to enable them to make better informed inventory management and pricing decisions and to close transactions more efficiently.”
With those elements in place, TrueCar decided Friday was a good time to launch the IPO. Goldman, Sachs & Co. and J.P. Morgan Securities will act as the joint book-running managers for the offering.
TrueCar Adds Ex-Hyundai CEO Krafcik to Board
In other company news, TrueCar announced last week that the former top boss at Hyundai Motor America has joined its board of directors.
John Krafcik, former HMA president and chief executive officer, was at the helm of HMA from 2008 to 2013, and will now become a director at TrueCar and serve as a member of the board’s operating committee.
“Very few people are credited with elevating an emerging brand to top-tier status within the automotive industry,” said Scott Painter, founder and CEO of TrueCar.
“John Krafcik is one of those remarkable leaders who has done just that over the last five years. At the heart and soul of his success at Hyundai was the trusted relationship the brand developed with its dealers and customers,” he added.
Krafcik noted: “I believe transparency is a better business model that builds trust between consumers and retailers. I want to help retailers in automotive and other industries build a bridge of trust with consumers, and joining TrueCar lets me get fully immersed in doing exactly that.”
Mobile data access right from the service lane is available via a new app extension.
AutoLoop on Tuesday announced the debut of SmartLane, an app extension of AutoLoop Book, available for the Apple iPad.
SmartLane allows auto dealerships running the Book program real-time access to customer data right from the service drive.
“AutoLoop Book is already one of the most user-friendly and feature-rich automotive scheduling programs available,” said Matt Rodeghero, AutoLoop chief product officer.
“SmartLane gives users access to that information where they need it, instead of restricting them to a stationary terminal,” he said. “Being untethered from the desk is a huge advantage for service reps; SmartLane gives them all the information they need to directly engage the client, in a much more personal manner.”
According to Rodeghero, SmartLane ties directly into a subscribing dealership’s customer database so dealers and service staff can access customer information, make notes, review vehicle service history and more, all while standing with the customer in the service lane.
“SmartLane’s comprehensive capabilities translate into easier, faster, more accurate customer check-ins and walk-around inspections,” he said.
Expanding Book’s usability further, SmartLane allows users to scan in a VIN for rapid customer lookup, take photos of damage, and capture electronic signatures from the drive.
Drag-and-drop indicators help point out problem areas, and service recommendations offer vehicle-specific Good-Better-Best service menus.
SmartLane is available as a free download from the Apple App Store, and requires an active AutoLoop Book subscription.
Haystak Digital Marketing shared more details about its all-new website platform — HAYSTAK KORE360 — a platform the company created in-house using leading-edge technology and data from thousands of top performing dealer websites.
The company highlighted on Monday that HAYSTAK KORE360 is built for the ever-changing needs of shoppers who demand instant access to information on a variety of devices. Haystak’s “responsive” technology is geared to adjust the dealership’s website format automatically according to the type of device shoppers use to access the dealership online, making navigation fast and easy whether shoppers use a phone, tablet or desktop computer.
“We had a great initial launch of HAYSTAK KORE360 at the NADA convention in January. It drew a lot of attention and dealers were excited to see a new website platform built from the ground up with the latest technology and features,” Haystak Digital Marketing founder and general manager Duncan Scarry said.
“In addition to the responsive technology, most dealers particularly liked HAYSTAK KORE360's advanced SEO capabilities, behavioral targeting and timed content features, all of which can help lead to significant increases in traffic, leads and sales,” Scarry continued. “In addition to our focus on providing the latest, most powerful technology, we also continue our commitment to offering the best customer service.”
Scarry went on to mention Haystak’s unique, proprietary search engine optimization reporting can combine organic with paid search results to show the “true dollar” value of organic initiatives.
“SEO content is created dynamically, based on prior keyword performance, thus continuously increasing effectiveness,” Scarry said. “Further, Haystak’s SEO reporting tracks competitive data for comparison and insight.”
Furthermore, Haystak’s intelligent behavioral targeting can automatically customize the display on the dealership’s website with the most relevant information for shoppers, based on the content they viewed on other popular automotive websites.
The company said the behavioral display and retargeting tools can help dealers understand what website visitors are looking for from the moment they enter the dealership website, “delivering a truly personalized experience.”
Finally, officials pointed out HAYSTAK KORE360 also can let dealers control the timing of certain content. Content changes can be scheduled to appear and disappear on specific dates.
For example, dealers can schedule limited time offers and other specials, rebates and incentives to be available on the website for specified periods of time, and then automatically removed from the website when they expire. Also, dealers can quickly and easily create and schedule timed landing pages.
HAYSTAK KORE360 also offers award winning account management. All Haystak search team members are Google and Bing certified and available to consult with customers. In addition, Haystak received the Google AdWords Premier SMB Partner Award for Customer Satisfaction in 2012 and 2013.
For more details, visit www.haystak.com.
In what the company has described as “an innovation in online car shopping,” Carfax announced this morning that online car shoppers at Carfax.com can now search for used vehicles with specific history details — meaning shoppers can tailor their searches to include, for example, vehicles that have service records available or cars with no accidents reported to Carfax, just to name a few modifiers.
The used cars available on the new listings site are from thousands of dealers and each one comes with a free Carfax Vehicle History Report. (These free Carfax Reports, of course, are for consumers and are provided by dealers.)
The company noted that because the vehicles being shown are based on the history attributes specifically desired by the shopper, it allows the shopping process for site visitors to be easier and quicker.
With key vehicle history details being shown, shoppers can sort through search results in a more time-efficient fashion.
Here’s how it works: Shoppers at Carfax.com begin their search by choosing the history attributes they want in a used car. Also included in the listings from Carfax Advantage Dealers are vehicle price, photos and a detailed description.
Once the shopper finds the car he or she wants to purchase, the consumer can connect with the dealer directly through the car listing on Carfax.com.
Additionally, company officials pointed out, Carfax Used Car Listings is an ad-free selling environment
“I found a great car on Carfax,” said used-car shopper Nathan Walker from Washington state. “I called the dealer immediately and he said the car was not listed in their inventory yet because it was still in detail and undergoing inspection. I already knew from the information in the Carfax listing that I wanted to see it. I drove 40 miles to the dealership and bought the car.”
Offering the dealer perspective, Jeff Best, vice president of used cars for Brown’s Car Stores, said: “We’ve made sure our inventory is included on Carfax.com for years. It’s an easy way for us to get in front of ready-to-buy shoppers. Consumers trust Carfax, which helps build their trust in the cars we list on Carfax.”
Carfax president Dick Raines added: “Millions of online shoppers today click on readily available Carfax Reports to see if the cars they want have a history that meets their needs. Now, consumers can know right away by choosing which history details are most important to them at the beginning of their search. Carfax puts the right cars with the right history right in front of you.”
