AUTOMOTIVE ADVERTISING & MARKETING

Automotive Manufacturers

Automotive Manufacturers Increase Ad Spending in 2013

JKRAdvertising / Auto Industry in the News, JKR Advertising News /

September 10, 2014

Automotive manufacturers continue to understand they can’t afford to refrain from advertising. Last year was proof positive, as the auto industry as a whole increased spending nearly four percent from 2012 – at a total of $15.2 billion.

This total represents the second-largest industry number in 2013. Only retail, at $16 billion, topped the retail industry. It was also the fourth consecutive year that the automotive industry’s total exceeded the number from the previous year.

Automotive Manufacturers Spending is Impressive

What makes 2013’s total that much more impressive is that 2012 was an Olympic year. During the Olympics, the numbers become “artificially inflated” due to the large number of additional ads that run during this time. Experts estimate that about $3 billion in additional ads ran as a direct result of the Olympics (ads that would not have otherwise run).

Data was compiled by the folks at Kantar Media. They are a media marketing company that uses technology to provide strategic expertise in a number of areas pertinent to television, radio, the Internet, mobile and social media.

Kantar research says General Motors was the biggest spender among all auto manufacturers, shelling out $1.794 billion – an increase of a full 10 percent from 2012. This number represented the second-largest total of any brand regardless of industry … trailing only packaged-goods company Procter & Gamble, which spent $3.17 billion.

If the automotive manufacturers, the “big boys” on the block, are spending on advertising, it stands to reason that local dealerships should follow suit. Once that has been established, the only thing left to do is making sure you’re using your ad budget to the fullest extent.

To find out if your dealership is getting the most out of its advertising budget, we invite you to call (321) 397-0777 for a FREE Radio Advertising Review. We’ll take a close look at what you (and your competition) are doing and give you our expert feedback.

JKR Automotive Advertising: We Move Cars!

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Post-Pandemic Dealer Gross Profits are Down – But They Don’t Have to Stay There!
March 13, 2024
It is no secret that dealer gross profits per vehicle are down sharply in the post-COVID automotive world. According to a recent article in Automotive News, gross profits of the six largest publicly traded dealership groups plunged significantly from Q4 2022 to Q4 2023. One of them was actually down 35% per vehicle!

The article explains: High interest rates, more expensive vehicles and a steadier post-pandemic supply chain continue to soften demand and bring it closer to pre-pandemic levels. Still, new-car buying has remained strong overall …

This means that, while sales volume is similar, overall bottom lines are lower for many dealers due to the reduced gross profits. What about your dealership?

Being Realistic
It’s time to turn the page! The time for dealers to simply be order takers for people willing to pay MSRP for a vehicle (and in some cases more) has passed and dealers have to work hard once again to achieve acceptable gross profits.

Selling a high volume of cars doesn’t control gross profits, no matter how much you wish this was the case. Correct processes and menu pricing – and strict adherence to them – do!

What kind of processes?
∙ Slow down the transaction! Your sales staff has to once again sell the customer on the features and benefits of every new and pre-owned vehicle on your lot.

∙ Your salespeople and managers should devalue the customers’ trade-in value (politely, of course) as much as possible. After all, if the customer expects you to lower your price, shouldn’t you be able to do the same on their trade? Remember, you’ll have to fix it up, put your name on it and resell it to someone else with all the tenacity you would a brand-new car. So make sure you buy it right … because the profit is made when you buy it, not when you sell it!

∙ To that end, management should be ready and willing to leave the desk and do thorough walk-arounds on each trade to ensure the best outcome for the dealership.

The Cure for Low Gross Profits
If you are like a lot of dealers these days, you could use some good news. Here it is: while you may not have the capability to achieve profit margins similar to those you enjoyed during the pandemic, they could likely be improved. JKR’s clients enjoy the benefit of attracting not only more customers, but better ones, too!

If meeting and exceeding your sales goals (and increasing gross profits at the same time) sounds great to you, you need to call us. Don’t settle for reduced gross profits when help is out there to get you closer to where you’d like to be.

Want to know how we do it? Reach out to Senior Partner Richard Brauns (407) 701-4233 or Partner/Vice President Jon Albert (407) 718-2494 today.

JKR Automotive Advertising: We Move Cars.

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