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Sherry Boschert
Plug In America
Drivers are Ready for PHEVs
It won't be difficult to get drivers into plug-in electric vehicles. In fact, Plug In America already hears from hundreds of people each day who want to know where they can get one.
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Chris Brown
Petersen Automotive Museum
Information & Marketing Manager
Automotive History and Culture
The excitement of making automotive history come alive: this super-cool museum is all about experiencing automotive culture -- not just observing it.
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Jim Wright
Callbright
VP of Sales
Integrating Call Management & CRM
The benefits of integrating phone leads with your CRM: Total Call Management gives you metrics for all your phone leads -- whether from inbound, outbound, or broadcast calls.
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Stats and Smart Charts
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Twitter Unique Visitors Increase 1448% From May 2008 To May 2009
[Click to enlarge graphic]
 Significance of the Data
- Social networking & blog sites, especially Twitter.com, are exploding in online traffic
- Nielsen Online reports there were 1.2M Twitter unique visitors in May 2008
- Increasing 1,448% in one year to 18.2M in May 2009
- Total social network minutes increased 82% & average time per person increased 67%
- Average time per person on Twitter increased 175% year-over-year
Source: The Nielsen Company, June 23, 2009
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Industry Conferences
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Las Vegas, NV August 4-7, 2009
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Traverse City, MI August 4-7, 2009
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Long Beach, CA August 10-13, 2009
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Carmel, CA August 16, 2009
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San Francisco, CA September 29-October 2, 2009
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Las Vegas, NV October 6-8, 2009
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Las Vegas, NV October 14-16, 2009
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People Going Places
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Maryann Goebel
Fiserv, Inc.
EVP and CIO
Fiserv, Inc. has named Maryann Goebel as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer. Goebel joins Fiserv with more than 30 years of progressive technology experience, which includes 15 years as a senior technology officer for some of the world's leading companies. Since 2006, she has served as EVP and CIO for DHL Express in Bonn, Germany, where she managed an organization of 1,500 employees with responsibility for service delivery in more than 200 countries.
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Derek Jenkins
Mazda Design Americas
Design Director
Mazda North American Operations has named Derek Jenkins as Design Director, Mazda Design Americas (MDA). In his new role as Design Director, Jenkins oversees a staff of about 25, which pushes creative boundaries by developing advanced ideas for Mazda's next generation of cars. The Irvine-based team is credited with the Kabura, Nagare and Furai concept cars, as well as the new 2009 MAZDA6 and 2010 MAZDA3.
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| What's Next |
Questionable Whether All 4 Brands Basis of 'Good' GM
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As a bankruptcy judge hears the case on whether GM's asset restructuring can be considered "good" under Chapter 11 rules, questions arise as to whether the four brands chosen to remain within will accomplish these goals. The Chevrolet brand is still strong, but when analyzing data from Edmunds.com sales and market-share data, it's not clear whether Buick, GMC, and Cadillac can carry their weight.
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Honda, Toyota Models of Most Interest to Kbb.com Shoppers
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Honda and Toyota models took 11 spots on the Kelley Blue Book top 20 most researched new vehicles in the first six months of this year. The brands also took 8 of the top 10 with Honda Accord finishing in first place. Newcomers to this year's top 20 list are Chevrolet Camaro, Ford Fusion, Volkswagen Jetta and Lexus RX350.
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| Internet Sales & Marketing |
Internet New Vehicle Shopping Patterns Show Promise
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The Nielsen online panel of 250,000 online car shoppers is helpful to watch and shows some bright spots for consumer buying interest and market trends. While the auto industry is going through shaky times, some segments are growing or stable as consumers search for their options in roadworthy vehicles, proven gas sippers, and still have much interest in SUVs.
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Heavy New Vehicle Incentives Expected to Drop Soon
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Automakers led by the Detroit-3 offered heavy new vehicle purchase incentives in June which were the highest ever for that month but down slightly from May. Production cuts are reducing inventory so industry analysts expect incentives to drop soon.
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| The Green Dealership |
Federal Plug-in Car Purchases on Hold Indefinitely
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2007 Executive Order 13423 requires Federal fleets to buy plug-in vehicles, but only when they are commercially available and priced comparably to conventional vehicles on a lifecycle cost basis. GOA says uncertainty about advanced battery and gasoline costs make clear guidelines necessary to proceed.
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High CAFE Standards Forcing Big-3 to Catch Up with Transplants
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Detroit's Big-3 automakers have acquiesced to long-resisted increases being made to CAFE standards, pushing a shift toward smaller, lighter cars including hybrids and plug-ins. Relatively low standards in the global scheme have meant the Big-3 have made larger, heavier cars than Asian and European competitors. Increasing concerns about global warming, energy security, and recent oil price spike benefit foreign vehicles built or assembled in the U.S.
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| F&I Administration |
Conditions Right for Leasing Again
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Many economic conditions and the auto industry are similar today as in 1986 when leasing became big. Successful dealers must have an educated sales force and that training is available from Auto University.
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eOriginal Signs Auto Finance Company
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eOriginal says a leading US auto finance company with more than 12,000 dealers will use eOriginal SmartSign Web. The agreement allows the dealers to create and complete electronic finance transactions, helping to eliminate incomplete loan documentation and lower processing costs.
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| Used Vehicle Sales and Remarketing |
Used Vehicle Price Erosion Weaker Than Predicted
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With a weakening economy, many experts predicted that used vehicles would lose value. This prediction was born as prices tumbled during the early stages of the recession. Now, despite continued dire predictions, used vehicle values are rebounding with pickups and SUVs leading the way.
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Deconstructing Cash for Clunkers
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The recently passed Cash for Clunkers legislation promises vouchers to consumers who trade in older, gas-guzzling cars for new, more efficient vehicles. But there are limitations and restrictions. There are also opportunities for fraud.
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| Aftermarket Trends & Issues |
Expert Advises Dealers to Know Their Parts Manager
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Fixed ops expert Gary Naples says management needs to know and get close to the parts department. Average dealer has about $250,000 in part inventory. When times are good, it's easy to overlook a bad parts manager. But surviving a downturn requires a top-notch manager and staff.
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How Service, Parts Businesses Can Gain More Dealer Customers
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As 2,000 auto dealerships go out of business in the U.S., there are opportunities for service and parts businesses to gain more customers. Reaching closed dealer customers is how this can happen - through mailings, timely newspaper ads, radio and TV spots, and display ads on Google and Yahoo. Be sure to provide specific service-related offers along with why your business is the dealership to do business with in the community.
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