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| Video News & Views
PEOPLE & IDEAS TO WATCH | Automotive Digital Marketing Keeps Evolving | | Most dealers now see over 50% of sales come from digital marketing, and smart dealers are adjusting their budgets and strategies accordingly. |
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| Table of Contents |
July 14, 2010 |
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Don't Put Your Financing at Risk
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Are You Unknowingly Putting Your Dealership's Financing at Risk? (A Crowe Horwath LLP workshop presented at the NAMAD Annual Convention, July 23, 2010. From 9:15 to 10:30 at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers.) In today's economy, having a sound relationship with a financial institution is more important than ever as lenders assess risk and manage their portfolios to comply with increased regulatory scrutiny. Dealerships need to be aware of key factors that can affect their relationships with lenders in these difficult times. For more information on the NAMAD workshop please visit www.namad.org. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Used Vehicle Reports You Need: Keep up with what's going on in the used vehicle market with two industry-leading used vehicle reports in each issue of Dealer Management Weekly - from companies like NADA Used Car Guide, Kelley Blue Book, OPENLANE, Manheim, ADESA, CentralDispatch and more. You can also find a full repository of these reports in the Studies & Reports section of AutomotiveDigest.com.
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Dean Evans
Dealer.com
Chief Marketing Officer
Automotive Digital Marketing Keeps Evolving
Most dealers now see over 50% of sales come from digital marketing, and smart dealers are adjusting their budgets and strategies accordingly.
- [Read More] |
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Angelo Nyars
Fiserv
National Sales Executive
Loan Originations 5.0
A flexible new rules-based loan originations platform for dealers improves productivity, while enabling better compliance and support.
- [Read More] |
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Chip Perry
AutoTrader.com
President and CEO
Great Tools Sell New Vehicles
AutoTrader.com has created a whole series of easy-to-use tools that enable dealers to merchandise their new vehicle inventory and specials, just like they do with used vehicles.
- [Read More] |
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Stats and Smart Charts
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Unique New Vehicle Shoppers - May 2008 To May 2010
[Click to enlarge graphic]
 Significance of the Data
- One encouraging sign of recovery is in-market shopper demand for new cars and trucks
- Thus far in 2010, number of new vehicle shoppers has increased to levels not seen for at least 2 years
- In May 2010, new vehicle demand totaled 2.8M shoppers, highest level since Feb. 2008
- Given overall market trends, most brands have seen more shoppers
- Ones really making waves are those outpacing market gains
- Hyundai is w/out question 1 of those brands leading way based on several measures
Source: Compete - July 6, 2010
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Industry Conferences
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Chicago, IL July 22-24, 2010
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Traverse City, MI August 2-5, 2010
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Monterey, CA August 15, 2010
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New York, NY September 7-10, 2010
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Detroit, MI October 12-15, 2010
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Las Vegas, NV November 2-5, 2010
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Tom Webb
Manheim Consulting
Chief Economist
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Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index
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Wholesale used vehicle prices slipped 0.7% in June, and before seasonal adjustment, prices declined by 1.5%; Index for June was 120.2 – 5.3% increase from a year ago; Upward movement in wholesale prices appears to have come to a natural end.
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Dr. Nagi Palle
OPENLANE
VP of Analytics
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OPENLANE Market Index
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US auction prices in June held steady and ended on par w/ May 2010 levels, representing highest price levels of 2010 YTD; Car and SUV prices drop slightly while Minivans and Truck prices increase from prior month.
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Upward Movement Since Early 2009:
Ends w/ ceiling imposed by new vehicle prices and leveling off of retail demand.
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US Car Prices:
Dropped slightly in June, ending 1 percentage point below May 2010.
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New Vehicle Fleet Sales Increase:
Was 21.0% in 1st half of 2010 versus 17.4% in year-ago period.
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Light Truck Prices:
Minivans increased slightly, SUVs flat, trucks up 12 percentage points from May.
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Biggest Weakening in Demand:
During June, was for vehicles in the $7K to $9K price range.
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US Dealer Interest by Body Style:
Pronounced upswing in Minivan interest continued in June.
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Used Vehicle Retail Sales Advance:
Dealer sales rose 4.4% in first half 2010, private party transactions up 1.8%.
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Dealer Interest in Other Categories May to June:
Cars and SUVs were essentially flat, trucks dropped eight percentage points.
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Large and Small Vehicle Prices Outperform Market:
Compact cars, large SUVs, and vans performed very well year-over-year.
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Canadian Market Index:
June even with prior month and decreased 8 percentage points from prior year.
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Rental Risk Prices Stable:
Prices were little changed on both sequential and year-over-year basis in June.
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Canadian Prices Holding Steady:
Arrested steep declines experienced from December 2009 to February 2010.
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Prices for End-Service Fleet Units Ease:
Midsize cars declined in June after reaching record highs previous 3 months.
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Canadian Price Trend by Body Style:
Car and SUV prices essentially flat, minivans and trucks dropped from May.
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People Going Places
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James Hance, Jr.
Ford Motor Company
Board Director
Ford Motor Company has elected James Hance, Jr. to the company's Board of Directors. Hance, 65, is the former CFO and former Vice Chairman of Bank of America, where he retired in 2005 after 18 years with the company. He is currently a senior adviser to the Carlyle Group. Hance will serve on the Ford Board of Directors' Audit Committee, the Finance Committee, and the Nominating and Governance Committee. A certified public accountant, Hance spent 17 years with Price Waterhouse (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) in Philadelphia and Charlotte.
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Gerard DeVito
Eaton Corporation
Director - Engineering, Hybrid Power Systems Division
Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation today announced that Gerard DeVito has been named Director - Engineering, for the Vehicle Group's Hybrid Power Systems Division. In this new role, DeVito will be responsible for directing all aspects of Eaton's Hybrid global engineering initiatives including design, development and leading worldwide engineering activities. DeVito joined Eaton in 1986 and has held positions of increasing responsibility within the engineering, product planning, and sales and marketing organizations. Most recently, he was Director - Global Engineering Centers of Excellence, for the Vehicle Group.
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| The Next Big Thing |
Toyota Opening U.S. Field Offices to Address Vehicle Quality
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Toyota will open seven field offices in the U.S. to monitor how its vehicles perform in different climates and driving conditions. The move comes on the heels of massive recalls that threaten the automaker's reputation for quality. Toyota is also extending development time to conduct more reliability tests.
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Vibrating Car Seat Pinpoints Location of Vehicles in Blind Spots
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Drivers zone out while driving and forget to check their blind spots visually. Electronic devices attempt to monitor these spots and alert drivers. A seat with embedded cell phone motors vibrates using location and intensity to communicate problems to drivers without adding another distracting light, display, or buzzer to be interpreted.
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| Internet Sales & Marketing |
Web Expected to Get More Personal in the Future
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Programs like Open Graph from Facebook and Google's new Me social network will make the web experience deeply personal. By sharing their profile, users can get more personal search results. The big question, of course, is how will privacy be affected?
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Chrysler in No Hurry to Replace Ad Agency
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Chrysler is being patient in finding a new ad agency after dropping Publicis Groupe's Fallon recently. The automaker has local and national work in the can, and there are no immediate launches. The new agency will get to handle the reintroduction of Fiat to the U.S.
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| The Green Dealership |
Toyota, Telsa Ready Electric Car Prototypes
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Toyota Motors, largest seller of hybrid autos, and Tesla Motors, already advanced in electric vehicles, will team to develop battery-powered test versions of the RAV4 and Lexus RX. Toyota says partnership with Tesla was formed to develop advanced auto technologies.
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Steps for Extending EV Battery Life
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Replacing batteries for hybrid, plug-in, and pure electric vehicles can get expensive, so owners will be concerned about extending the life of the battery. There a few practices that can help lithium-ion batteries stay alive longer, and much has to do with how often and extensive charging occurs and climate conditions.
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| F&I Administration |
Auto Loan Delinquencies Show Improvement
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Both direct and indirect auto loan delinquencies showed improvement for the quarter, according to the American Bankers Association. ABA reported that direct auto loan delinquencies dropped from 1.94 percent to 1.79 percent. Meanwhile, indirect auto loan delinquencies fell from 3.15 percent to 3.03 percent.
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Wells Fargo Financial Restructures, Closing Stores
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Wells Fargo Financial is in the process of restructuring, which includes closing 638 stores named for this division. Auto loans previously offered by Wells Fargo Financial will be mixed in with other similar products offered by the company and will be available through the financial institution's network of community banking stores, mortgage stores, phone banks and wellsfargo.com. A big part of the restructuring includes ceasing non-prime mortgage loans.
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| Used Vehicle Sales and Remarketing |
Webb Says Used Sales Benefit from Low New-Vehicle Inventory
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Fleet sales of new vehicles have risen to 21% from 17.4% a year ago in the 11.2M annual U.S. market. Automakers are not pushing heavily discounted fleet sales. Retail sales are just stagnant in an uncertain economy with high unemployment.
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OPENLANE Says Auction Pricing Continues to Show Strength
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Wholesale prices remained at peak levels during June, according to OPENLANE, which also indicated that there were month-over-month gains in the prices of minivans and trucks, with cars and SUVs declining modestly from May. Overall U.S. auction prices in June held steady and ended on par with May 2010 levels, representing the highest price levels of 2010 YTD.
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| Aftermarket Trends & Issues |
Balancing Costs vs. Revenue When Servicing All Brands
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Franchise dealers selling large volumes of used vehicles can draw those customers back by servicing all brands. It can start with just simple lube jobs and increase to stocking parts and making large repairs. Revenue will jump but so will costs, including training.
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Transit Vans, Jeep, Dodge Vehicles on Latest Recall Lists
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Ford is recalling almost 34,000 Transit Connect vans, and Chrysler is recalling 22,000 Dodge and Jeep vehicles. The Transit has a roof-related problem that may keep the vehicle from meeting safety standards. The Chrysler vehicles may have a problem with a brake component.
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