A new vehicle home delivery service from Montway Auto Transport is an end-to-end automotive transportation service for dealers to provide estimated delivery dates and shipping prices on their website.
The managed service handles shipping quotes and vehicle delivery updates in a single online portal. With this website-integrated widget, dealerships can expand their targeted audiences with nationwide selling opportunities.
The online widget displays vehicle shipping prices and estimated delivery dates in real-time.
That provides greater insight for consumers browsing online, Montway said.
The white-labeled widget can be placed on the detail page for vehicles listed for sale on a dealership’s website using Montway Auto Transport’s proprietary shipping technology.
Users can customize the widget to match the look, feel, and branding of the dealer website. Or, Montway said, just a back-end solution can be provided.
The online dealership portal is a managed service, and with the service, dealers can handle consumer shipping requests. Montway said the service provides full transparency from quote to delivery.
It does that through the use of tools such as visual status charts, search filters, exports, and reporting.
“The dealership model is now online and dealers need sophisticated shipping technologies to better compete with online auto sales disruptors,” Montway Auto Transport principal chief executive officer Dimitre Kirilov said in a news release. “The online widget and portal keep dealers focused on reaching new customers outside of their traditional markets with more detailed information no other auto transport company can provide.”
“We’re excited to announce the launch of Montway Auto Transport’s Vehicle Home Delivery service to support dealerships drive out-of-market consumer leads and manage auto-shipments online,” said Montway executive vice president of business development Mike Trudeau. “As one of the nation’s leading auto transport companies, Montway is leading the industry by providing dealerships innovative online estimation and logistical management tools to simplify the vehicle transportation process.”
Through a new partnership, digital vehicle logistics marketplace Autosled will provide exclusive transport support for 20 Group Dealer Trades, a dealer-direct platform that enables dealers to turn reconditioned inventory.
Autosled will provide that service for the new and used cars traded among 20 Group Dealer Trades members. Autosled provides dealers, transporters, auctioneers, brokers and individuals that are relocating with digital vehicle transport options.
20 Group Dealer Trades comprises franchise and independent dealerships and provides full mechanical inspections, vehicle transport, ACH payments and floor planning.
As 20 Group Dealer Trades’ exclusive transportation provider, Autosled says its pre-vetted network of U.S. transporters supply open and enclosed transport.
Autosled says its online logistics platform enables nationwide shipments with contactless delivery, real-time GPS tracking, and direct contact with transporters.
Franchise and Independent dealerships, through 20 Group Dealer Trades’ dealer direct platform, trade vehicles among its members.
Autosled chief executive officer David Sperau said his company is happy with the opportunity to align with industry partners such as 20 Group Dealer Trades.
“As hard as it is to acquire frontline ready inventory, this is a no-brainer for today’s automotive dealers,” Sperau said in a news release. “We look forward to supporting their growing network of dealers with the most reliable vehicle transport platform on the market.”
20 Group Dealer Trades founder and chief executive officer Santosh Viswanathan said 20 Group Dealer Trades was created to increase profitability for dealerships and dispose of overage, pre-owned inventory through a dealer-to-dealer direct e-commerce model.
“We have now decided to incorporate new car inventory due to the same aging issues that retailers face with used cars,” Viswanathan said. “Instead of paying locator services for half of the hold back cost for each vehicle, automotive dealers pay a flat rate of $199 through 20 Group Dealer Trades. Thank you to Peter Fong, chief growth officer for Autosled, who has helped launch this partnership.”
For more with Autosled, listen to the Auto Remarketing Podcast episode below.
Mirroring the trend in the new-vehicle market, interest in the used-vehicle market has gone up since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Media planning company Comscore analyzed online used-car marketplace Carvana, noting that 58% more visitors viewed the Carvana site than one year earlier.
Comscore also stated a “sustained lift” has taken place from the March/April lows.
Comscore noted a shift in consumer vehicle shopping habits in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that although online new-vehicle shopper interest has improved from its lowest point during the pandemic, new-vehicle sales have been slower to recover.
Describing itself as a partner for planning, transacting and evaluating media across platforms, Comscore sees signs of “steady, but cautious, renewed consumer interest in new vehicles.”
Use of Carvana's “Car Finder” tool has seen a dramatic increase, according to Comscore, noting that August saw a 276% year-over-year increase in users.
Comscore said heavy dealer incentives have possibly coaxed some buyers back to the table. The company sourced Wards Automotive in noting that more than 1.3 million new vehicles were sold in August. That is an increase from about 710,000 of those sales in April, according to Wards.
The share of new-vehicle shoppers now also shopping Carvana increased this summer to about 15% to 16% of the market. That is above the approximately 10% overlap seen last year.
According to Comscore, that is “another indicator that consumers are spending more time searching for the right vehicle.”
The company notes that consumers might by more “wary and particular” during the current pandemic. But Comscore says evidence exists that shoppers could look for “compelling models.”
Overall industry sales are down year-over-year. But Comscore says several “top-shopped models” have already met or exceeded their highest sales numbers for the year in August.
Those include the Honda CR-V, Ford F-150, Ram 1500, and the Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Jeep and Ram visitors in August drove Fiat Chrysler's online retail experience site — DriveFCA.com — to its highest visitation since its April launch. That, according to Comscore, is consistent with shoppers expanding the scope of their search.
About 55% of DriveFCA's traffic in August was referred from a Fiat Chrysler-associated page such as Brand.com, Chrysler Capital, or dealer site. Thirty-four percent came from Jeep.com, and 9% came from Ramtrucks.com.
Lead generation sources brought another 16% of overall referrals, and the largest of those only started referring in July and August. That immediately boosted visitation and contributed 12% to 13% of DriveFCA’s visits each month.
An additional 7% of referrals came from search. Only 2% came from third-party auto research sites.
The “visitor boom” shop.ford.com saw when the new Bronco and Bronco Sport were announced in July is another example of the excitement for compelling models, according to Comscore.
Ford showed a 79% year-over-year visitation increase to its shopper site. That was mainly from shoppers exploring the “Build & Price” tool for Bronco. Comscore said August traffic remained elevated. The shopper site was up 17%, and inventory pages were up 43% compared to August of last year.
Comscore vice president, commercial, Dennis Bulgarelli said automakers have responded well to the challenges of the pandemic. Automakers have supported and incentivized consumers, implemented new safety protocols to reopen plants, and worked with dealers to launch online and in-person “novel shopping experiences,” he said.
“In order for automakers to continue to reach buyers, it remains critical for them to adapt to the changing consumer behavior during the pandemic,” Bulgarelli said in a news release.
Comscore says it will continue monitor trends on its Coronavirus Insights Hub.
Calling it one of the largest OEM contracts in its 20-year history, JMN Logistics has added a new contract with Volkswagen Group of America.
JMN described it as a multi-year vehicle shipping deal to transport vehicles to dealers.
The company says that in late 2019 it made its largest asset purchase of haulers in company history as it “ramped up for the increase in business.”
“We are growing and prepared for a big win,” JMN chief commercial officer David Larson said in a news release.
Larson continued, “Volkswagen is a great company and we look forward to building a long-standing valued partnership.”
JMN will work to handle loads from the port in Jacksonville, Fla., and service dealers throughout the Southeast. With the multi-year contract, JMN is transporting nearly 50,000 vehicles for the manufacturer.
Larson spearheaded the agreement, and JMN chief operating officer Cindy Darnell will manage the agreement. Darnell brings more than 16 years of automotive logistics industry experience. She was also recently added to the Auto Haulers Association of America executive committee.
Darnell said the JMN team worked hard during the pandemic to secure the business.
“We did not pull back, we kept the foot on the gas and now this effort will catapult us into a very exciting future,” Darnell said.
JMN said its work is not done, however. The company is looking “aggressively” for drivers and staff to fuel its growth. The company recently launched a dedicated jobs site and says it is ready to hire for nearly 50 available jobs.
JMN Logistics chief executive officer Jon Nuckolls said he was proud of his team’s accomplishments.
“When Dave and Cindy said we needed to add trucks and staff last year to prepare, I was on board and made it happen,” Nuckolls said.
Nuckolls continued, “It is wonderful to see our plan come to fruition. It is a big win in a time where good news is needed. Our entire team is excited to work with VW.”
Full-service transportation provider Ready Logistics has released two enhancements for clients that it says will make it easier for dealers to move vehicles from point A to point B.
One enhancement is a Transportation Status Tracker on Manheim.com that can help dealers keep tabs on their vehicles.
Ready Logistics enables dealers to order transport online or by phone, with a Ready Logistics expert handling the rest. The company says its second enhancement — a “Carrier Connect” portal — makes it easier for transporters to get the information needed to make successful deliveries.
The company said it is releasing the enhancements as more dealers are buying wholesale inventory digitally.
Regarding the first enhancement, the Transportation Status Tracker, Manheim dealers ordering outbound transportation from Ready Logistics for vehicles purchased in-lane or digitally will now be able to get the most-up-to-date status on their vehicle shipment in Manheim.com’s post-sale management portal.
Dealers could save considerable time with that enhancement, according to Ready Logistics. They could also be able to more easily plan for a vehicle’s arrival. Dealers will see the following status updates:
— Ordered: Pickup and drop-off location
— In Progress: Estimated pickup
— In Transit: Picked up and estimated delivery
— Delivered: Delivered on date
Dealers can view the transportation status for multiple vehicles on the summary page, or they can see individual vehicle transportation status on the vehicle detail page. Through the integration into the Manheim.com post-sale management portal, dealers can get a quote, request or place an order and check transportation status, and they can do that all in one place.
Regarding the second enhancement — the Carrier Connect portal — Ready Logistics has launched the portal for transporters, exclusive to the approximately 6,500 approved transporters in the company’s network.
With that portal, transporters will more easily be able to connect with Ready Logistics representatives via a live chat.
That, according to Ready Logistics, gives them the needed accessibility and support throughout the transport lifecycle.
The portal will also spotlight the “Carrier of the Month” and conduct live polling to generate real-time client feedback.
It will also serve as a single source for relevant industry news, FAQs, training and updates important to transporters’ success.
“Our goals have always been to help clients simplify their logistics and open up new avenues for them to source inventory,” Manheim Logistics vice president Joe Kichler said in a news release.
Kichler continued, “As dealers turn to technology to solve the challenges of conducting business in this time, we’re using technology to help solve transport challenges on both sides of the transaction. Now transporters can more effortlessly deliver vehicles, and dealers can more quickly get the information they need to keep their businesses moving forward.”
ACERTUS co-founder and chief executive officer William Billiter says increased demand for his company’s home delivery service shows that auto retailing “is in the midst of a paradigm shift.”
“Digitization is revolutionizing car sales and service,” Billiter said in a news release.
ACERTUS, a tech-enabled automotive logistics and services company, is taking advantage of the trend. The company said on Monday that 2019 was a record year for vehicles delivered through its Last-Mile Delivery service.
That is a 53% increase over the prior year, according to ACERTUS, which offers automotive logistics services such as multimodal transport, title and registration, storage, reconditioning and maintenance. The company says it makes home delivery “turnkey with vehicles that are road ready.”
Continuing on his thoughts about how digitization is revolutionizing car sales and service, Billiter mentioned what he described as consumers’ unparalleled access to inventory.
He said more online transactions are taking place, and clients are expecting faster fulfillment.
“Dealers are then left with the challenge of how to move more product faster and upshift customer experience,” Billiter said.
He continued, “ACERTUS helps meet this demand of speed and service through our last mile offering.”
ACERTUS sourced Frost & Sullivan research in noting that it is making its record-year announcement at the start of a year when online car sales are expected to exceed 1 million. The research company also expects growth in that category to more than 6 million by 2025.
As a result, ACERTUS said, last mile logistics in the next year and decade will continue to be “a core focus of change” for the automotive industry.
“We are proud to serve as the logistics arm for our dealer customers, empowering them to provide a seamless omnichannel sales experience and grow their e-commerce business,” said ACERTUS executive vice president Michael Malakhov.
Malakhov continued, “ACERTUS’ unique multimodal infrastructure combined with our ability to execute a hub and spoke model increases speed, efficiency and cost savings all while delivering vehicles in road ready condition. With more than two decades of residential delivery experience, we are well positioned to support the increasing need for digital retail and mobility.”
Blue. In the area of vehicles, that color reflects consumers’ desire for adventure, relaxation and reliability.
That is according to paint and coating developer PPG, which on Friday announced its 2019 automotive color trends. The data showed a rise in blue automobiles.
Holding a steady 8% of the total global color popularity data, blue was second to neutrals such as white, black, silver and gray.
Europe consumers, at 11%, showed the most tendency to choose blue for their automobile in 2019. That is up 1% over last year. North America was close behind, with blue representing 10% of automotive builds. That was the highest next to neutral hues.
Seven percent of Asia Pacific consumers chose blue. But only 2% in South America had blue automobiles.
PPG said it anticipated the number of blue automobiles to increase for the next four years, noting that the hue “offers many nuanced shades that can be transformed with different pigment effects, fine or coarse metallic flakes, luminous micas and sparkling glass flakes.”
The company said that across the automotive market, chromatic blues with slight red or green undertones are already appearing and will continue to evolve over the coming years.
In addition to automobiles, consumers are gravitating toward blue hues in their homes and electronics, according to PPG.
“Now more than ever, consumers have a desire to make a statement – whether it be through their color choices or the brands they buy,” PPG manager, color styling, automotive OEM coatings Jane Harrington said in a news release.
Harrington continued, “We see bolder colors making a comeback in many consumer segments. The versatility of automotive blues – from light sky blue to rich indigo – allows consumers to make a statement, while also ensuring the color maintains a certain level of practicality.”
In addition to color preferences for auto exteriors, consumers are also considering more colorful choices for their wheel accents, said PPG global segment manager for wheel and industrial coatings Jennifer Solcz.
“We’re seeing wheel designers now opting for complementary blue and blue-gray tones, and bolder choices for logos, racing stripes and other embellishments for a cohesive, custom look,” Solcz said.
In his new position as chief commercial officer for JMN Logistics and Transportation, logistics industry veteran David Larson will work on sales development strategies for new vehicles, remarketing accounts and dealerships, according to the company.
Larson in the new role will help lead sales, marketing and customer service efforts while also focusing on the quality service that is the overall strategic goal of JMN. The company provides transportation services for U.S. dealers, auto auctions, private individuals, manufacturers and rental agencies.
Larson previously worked for Jack Cooper Enterprises as vice president of Europe and Asia. He was also senior vice president for business development for United Road, worked for the Axis Group as director of business development, and was logistics manager for Kia Motors America.
“JMN focuses on the blocking and tackling our industry needs," Larson said in a news release. “And these are my areas of experience. The company consistently puts customers and drivers first, which was a key factor in my decision to join JMN.”
“David comes to us with an exceptional level of experience and will help us to meet our aggressive growth targets,” JMN chief executive officer Jon Nuckolls said. “He's the perfect person to help us continue to move forward as a progressive logistics provider.”
