AUTOMOTIVE ADVERTISING & MARKETING

How Do You Feel About the Brand You Sell?

JKRAdvertising / Auto Industry in the News /

June 20, 2016

The “Winter 2016 NADA Dealer Attitude Survey” is out … and it has yielded some extremely interesting dealership brand data. In short, the survey is much like the NADA’s report card by automotive brand. It’s based on three categories: franchise value, company policy and the brand’s personnel. Typically, they release the Top 10 and that’s it; but this time around Automotive News has obtained the complete study that includes 31 brands (excluding Scion). It can be viewed here should you decide to find out more.

For starters, let’s get to the not-so-surprising results of the brand study. Lexus and Toyota finished first and second; meanwhile, Volkswagen and Mini were the two worst. Rounding out the rest of the Top 10 were Subaru, Honda, Porsche, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Kia, Jeep and Audi.

The biggest mover and shaker in this most recent brand survey is Volvo, who streaked all the way up to #13 after being #26 a year ago. Also showing upward mobility was Infiniti, who rose from #23 to #15. Conversely, the biggest tumbler was Land Rover, who went from #12 last year all the way to #26 in 2016. Additionally, Audi fell from fourth in 2015 to 10th this year.

The top three positions – Lexus, Toyota and Subaru – were unchanged from last year. This is largely due to high numbers of sales in the case of Lexus and Toyota; and seven consecutive years of increased sales for Subaru. Additionally, all three corporate entities are well-known for listening to their dealership base and acting on their concerns.

Do you agree with the findings of the NADA Dealer Attitude Survey based on how you feel about the brand(s) you sell at your dealership? Don’t worry; you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. We’re just here to provide you with information you might not otherwise discover.

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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