AUTOMOTIVE ADVERTISING & MARKETING

December Sales

Are Your December Sales Numbers What You Expected?

JKRAdvertising / Uncategorized /

December 30, 2014

How are your dealership’s December sales? According to an article in Advertising Age, December is projecting as the fourth-best month this year with sales of approximately 1.5 million light vehicles. This number trails only May (1.61), August (1.59) and March (1.54).

December Sales Up in Last Decade

As mentioned in an earlier blog, December used to be a fairly slow month, but heavy marketing and an emphasis on year-end sales have pushed the last month of the year much closer to the top. This is in sharp contrast to the turn of the 21st century, when December sales were the 10th-best month in sales in 2000 and 2001.

This is especially true with luxury brands. Think of all the “December to Remember” Lexus ads you’ve seen over the years … and competitors like BMW, Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz have followed suit. A decade or so ago, the idea of a new luxury car for a Christmas present would have seemed outlandish; today, due largely to these ads, it doesn’t seem so ridiculous anymore. Why would dealers be delivering cars with big bows on them if it wasn’t acceptable?!

If your dealership didn’t have the December sales you expected, you owe it to yourself to call JKR Automotive Advertising. Not only will we tell you all about what we can do to boost your sagging sales, we’ll also give you a complimentary analysis of your market – with no strings attached. You have nothing to lose; it’s like taking us for a test drive. Call Eric Tigner today at (321) 397-0777 to start your 2015 with a renewed sense of optimism.

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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