A big name in the used-vehicle business in the U.S. and Canada — HGreg.com — has found a new way to relate to one of its biggest competitors.
The website is now offering buyers a “Compare with CarMax” button, providing a link to the same model on the competitors’ website.
Users can easily compare prices between the two used-vehicle giants without ever leaving the HGreg.com website.
The company explained they are doing some of “the legwork” for their customers by providing an easy, convenience way to compare pricing.
Company officials explained though the move may be gutsy, the company is “confident in their pricing” and was “willing to put their month where their mouth is.”
Editor's note: For more information on how this initative is panning out for Hgreg.com, see the May/June issue of Auto Remarketing Canada Digital Magazine.
Promotional sales. Almost every dealership has them. Their purpose? To spark more deals and bring more customers onto the lots, of course.
But Edmonton-based Go Auto is changing the game a bit.
The dealer group has launched a sizeable auto promotion: the Car-A-Day Giveaway.
During the Car-A-Day Giveaway — which began April 9 and will run through May 8 — 30 customers will win 30 vehicles in 30 days.
How does it work? Simply put, anyone who buys a vehicle from a Go Auto location has a change of winning their purchase the very next day.
Go Auto pointed out that since customers are entered the day they buy, the odds are great.
Promotions like these are quite common among automakers, but are rarely seen to this level among independent dealers.
Kia, for example, gave away 60 cars at the end of 2013.
At the time of the announcement in mid-April, Go Auto has already given away a $35,000 Nissan Titan, a brand new $45,000 2014 Infiniti Q50, and several other vehicles to customers across Alberta and British Columbia.
"We have 15 brands participating and more than 7500 vehicles eligible to be won," said Ben Cochrane, Go Auto's vice president of marketing. "So no matter what you're looking for, there's a good chance we'll have it."
Interestingly, Go Auto customers aren’t limited to specific brand or price.
New or used, luxury or rugged, anything goes, says Go Auto officials.
Go Auto President Jared Priestner commented on the news, as well, noting, "Any car-a-day giveaway you've seen has been executed by a manufacturer, like Kia, and across an entire country.
"Go Auto, comparatively, operates on a much smaller scale, which changes the dynamics to an extraordinary degree. To give you an idea of how spectacular the odds are for our customers, we're projecting one winner for every 125 or so purchases. That's unheard of,” he included.
Preistner explained the giveaway is a way of saying “thank you” to the thousands of customers who do business with the dealer group every year.
"No matter what happens over the next month, we're going to give 30 people an experience they'll never forget," Priestner said. "We couldn't be more excited about it."
See all the daily winners at www.goauto.ca/caraday.
AutoCanada announced this week it has increased its existing syndicated credit agreement by $60 million, bringing total availability to $190 million.
The facility now includes HSBC Bank Canada, Alberta Treasury Branches, and Royal Bank of Canada with HSBC acting as administrative agent to the Credit Agreement.
"We very much appreciate the support and continued confidence in our business plan from our current partners HSBC and ATB, as well as our new partner, RBC, as reflected in their agreement to increase the credit amounts under our Credit Agreement. RBC has been a partner of AutoCanada since our 2006 IPO and, as a very well established player in the Canadian auto retail market, we are very pleased to have them join the syndicate." stated Pat Priestner, chairman and chief executive officer of AutoCanada.
The revised credit agreement provides AutoCanada with the following facilities:
- a $70 million revolving operating facility which may be used for ongoing working capital and general corporate purposes including acquisitions;
- a $30 million revolving acquisition facility which may be used for the acquisition of auto dealerships and associated real estate;
- a $90 million non-revolving term facility which may be used to purchase owner occupied real estate, refinance existing real estate and to fund construction costs of new dealerships.
The $90 million allotted to be used to purchase owner occupied real estate, refinance existing real estate and to fund construction costs of new dealerships may come in handy as the company has been steadily adding stores to its lineup.
Just last week, the company announced General Motors of Canada has given it the green light on a new dealership investment, marking the company’s fourth dealership in Winnipeg.
More specifically, AutoCanada said it was expanding their dealership count with the acquisition of McNaught Cadillac Buick GMC, located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 2013, this store retailed 593 new vehicles and 520 used vehicles.
And this acquisition came shortly after the company announced it was awarded the right to a Volkswagen open-point dealership in Sherwood Park, Alberta, in late February. Back in December when AutoCanada revealed its Q3 results, company management said it believes the dealership group is “well positioned” to add four to seven dealerships to its stores in the coming 18 months.
General Motors of Canada has given AutoCanada Inc. the green light on a new dealership investement, marking the company’s fourth dealership in Winnipeg.
AutoCanada Inc. is expanding their dealership count with the acquisition of a Cadillac Buick GMC dealership, which in 2013, retailed 593 new vehicles and 520 used vehicles.
The company announced it has taken on McNaught Cadillac Buick GMC, located in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The acquisition was expected to close April 1.
Commenting on the transaction, Pat Priestner, chairman and chief executive officer of AutoCanada stated, "We are very excited to add a fourth dealership to our Winnipeg platform, a market which has proven to be very good for auto retail. A new brand for us in Winnipeg and an additional dealership allows us to continue to build scale in the city.
“We would like to thank General Motors of Canada for its continued support of our efforts to expand our offerings of these highly desirable brands which we believe will continue to grow in market share. We would also like to welcome the McNaught family, and all of the McNaught dealership employees, to the AutoCanada family, with whom we look forward to building a strong and lasting relationship,” he continued.
McNaught Cadillac Buick GMC was founded by Gord McNaught Sr. almost 40 years ago and is currently operated by his two sons, Gord McNaught Jr. and Andrew McNaught.
The two will continue to operate the dealership from its current leased facility which includes a 10 car showroom, 24 service bays and 10 body shop bays.
AutoCanada also broke down the specifics of the purchase agreement.
As part of the purchase agreement terms, the dealership group will purchase the dealership facility on or before March 31, 2016.
In accordance with the terms of the previously announced ownership structure for GM dealerships approved by GM Canada, AutoCanada will purchase an 80 percent non-voting equity interest. Priestner will be named dealer operator, and, together with other senior managers, will purchase a 20-percent equity interest, with Priestner holding 100-percent voting control of the dealership, the company explained.
This acquisition comes shortly after the company announced it was awarded the right to a Volkswagen open-point dealership in Sherwood Park, Alberta, in late February.
For more on the future VW store, see the Auto Remarketing Canada story here.
This week, AutoCanada Inc. announced its 12th consecutive quarterly dividend increase, due in part to the company’s “continued confidence in the market.”
The board of directors declared a quarterly eligible dividend of $0.22 per common share.
This represents a 4.8 percent increase from the previous quarterly dividend of $0.21 per common share.
"The company is pleased to continue to raise the dividend on a quarterly basis for the past twelve consecutive quarters. The Canadian automotive retail, service, and financing environment continues to be strong and the dividend increase reflects our continued confidence in the market," said Pat Priestner, chief executive officer of AutoCanada.
The dividend is payable on March 17, the company said, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Feb. 28.
The declared dividend represents a rate of $0.88 per share on an annualized basis.
The company has yet to release their 2013 Q4 results, which will be announced in late March, but Q3 of last year may have helped push the dividend up, as well.
AutoCanada Inc. reported this past November a successful Q3, seeing a large profit increase and rises in used-car sales.
The dealership group announced a profit increase of 61.1 percent.
And revenue increased by a whopping 35.1 percent or $104.9 million to $403.5 million.
Same store new vehicles retailed increased by 14.9 percent (5,108), and same store used vehicles retailed increased by 9.6 (2,550) percent.
Editor’s Note: Stay tuned to Auto Remarketing Canada for AutoCanada’s 2013 Q4 financial results.
AutoCanada Inc. announced it has been awarded the right to a Volkswagen open-point dealership in Sherwood Park, Alberta, and the company has big plans for the spot.
AutoCanada aims to build an approximately 45,000 square-foot-facility, which will be designed to Volkswagen Canada image standards.
Construction is set to be completed in the first quarter of 2016.
In commenting on the award of the franchise, Pat Priestner, chairman and chief executive officer of AutoCanada stated, "We are thrilled to be awarded this opportunity in our home market, and wish to thank very much Volkswagen Canada for the trust and confidence that they have shown in us by this decision.
"Since acquiring our first Volkswagen dealership in Maple Ridge in 2008, we have had the good fortune to build a strong partnership with this prestigious and very important brand, and we very much look forward to building a flagship facility to serve the ever growing Volkswagen customer base, and which will complement wonderfully our existing Sherwood Park Chevrolet, Sherwood Park Hyundai and Petersen Buick GMC dealership operations," he added.
The open-point dealership has a planning potential of 800 new vehicles annually, the company said, which it anticipates achieving in two to three years of operation.
The new facility is also expected to add 21 service bays.
This news may not come as a surprise, as Priestner explained in late 2013, when discussing Q3 results, plans for adding multiple stores to the company’s lineup.
As for what’s in store, Priestner commented on new acquisitions in late 2013, noting, "We are very pleased to be able to further execute upon the acquisition guidance we released earlier in the year with the recent additions of Courtesy Chrysler located in Calgary, Alberta, and Eastern Chrysler located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. These two stores are very well established and provide us with a strong foundation for building regional platforms in these two great cities."
Company management said at the time it believed the dealership group is "well-positioned" to add four to seven dealerships to its stores in the coming 18 months.
The company has yet to release their 2013 Q4 results, which will be announced in late March, but Q3 of last year may have helped push the dividend up, as well.
AutoCanada Inc. reported this past November a successful Q3, seeing a large profit increase and rises in used-car sales.
The dealership group announced a profit increase of 61.1 percent.
And revenue increased by a whopping 35.1 percent to $403.5 million.
Same-store new vehicles retailed increased by 14.9 percent (5,108), and same-store used vehicles retailed increased by 9.6 (2,550) percent.
AutoCanada Inc. reported a successful Q3 last week, seeing a large profit increase and rises in used-car sales.
The dealership group announced a profit increase of 61.1 percent.
And revenue increased by a whopping 35.1 percent or $104.9 million to $403.5 million.
Commenting on the financial results for the three month period ended September 30, 2013, Pat Priestner, chairman and chief executive officer of AutoCanada Inc. said, "We are very pleased with the results of the third quarter of 2013, in which we exceeded the $400 million mark in quarterly revenue for the first time in company history. The strong growth during the quarter can be attributed to gross profit increases in all four of our business lines – new vehicles, used vehicles, finance and insurance, and parts, service and collision repair."
In fact, same store repair orders completed for the quarter were up 6.0 percent.
“Recent acquisitions have contributed to the above 30 percent increases in each of our four business lines during the quarter, however much of the growth can be attributed to same store revenue and gross profit increases of 19.9 percent and 18.5 percent, respectively, during the quarter,” he continued.
Part of this success also came from sales increases for both new and used vehicles.
Same store new vehicles retailed increased by 14.9 percent (5,108), and same store used vehicles retailed increased by 9.6 (2,550) percent.
As for what’s in store, Priestner commenting on new acquisitions, noting, "We are very pleased to be able to further execute upon the acquisition guidance we released earlier in the year with the recent additions of Courtesy Chrysler located in Calgary, Alberta, and Eastern Chrysler located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. These two stores are very well established and provide us with a strong foundation for building regional platforms in these two great cities."
Company management said it believes the dealership group is “well positioned” to add four to seven dealerships to its stores in the coming 18 months.
Ackroo revealed this week that intrest in its DealerCard loyalty solution continues to grow.
It has been selected by two major Canadian automotive dealer groups and a U.S.-based dealer group to power their dealer group loyalty programs.
The addition of these new dealer groups brings the total number of dealerships supported by Ackroo to 74 across North America, the company shared.
"Automotive dealerships make up a very large, sophisticated and underserved market in which revenue increase and customer retention is top of mind," said Eamonn Garry, chief executive officer at Ackroo. "Ackroo's DealerCard provides the ideal solution for this market by focusing on the dealers themselves with immediate, proven return on investment."
The program is designed to allow independent car dealerships and dealer groups to reward customer loyalty, boost customer retention and create new revenue streams through reward systems and special promotions.
"The auto dealer market in North America includes more than 20,000 dealerships. Ackroo's signing of these North American dealer groups is further evidence of our ability to sell into this market and provide dealer group wide solutions that are cost effective and easy to deploy,” the company said.
