AUTOMOTIVE ADVERTISING & MARKETING

Bounties

Automakers Offer Bounties to Expose Online Vulnerabilities

JKRAdvertising / Automotive Advertising Advice /

July 14, 2016

Bounties are being offered to computer hackers who expose security vulnerabilities and report them to auto manufacturers. So far, two companies – Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and Tesla have stepped to the plate and offered rewards to anyone willing to use their hacking talents for good instead of for evil … so to speak.

The automotive world was taken by surprise in 2015 when two hackers, Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek, figured out a way to take control of some systems in a 2014 Jeep Cherokee by exploiting a cellular weakness. Though the problem was fixed less than a week later, there has been an increased awareness of what a real – and potentially dangerous – issue this could be.

Bounties: How Much?

FCA rolled out their program this week … and are willing to pass out bounties ranging from $150 to $1,500 based on hackers’ information funneled to them via a Website called bugcrowd.com – which is essentially a community of “good” hackers who lend their talents to the fight against the ones who have bad intentions. Meanwhile, Tesla has been paying bounties long enough to have already given out 132 of them – ranging from $100 to $10,000.

Car manufacturers aren’t the only companies who enlist the services of hackers; in fact, many Fortune 500 entities are doing the same thing. Some of the best folks get personal invitations to company headquarters to help address security concerns.

We’re all for anything that can make us safer and less vulnerable!

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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