AUTOMOTIVE ADVERTISING & MARKETING

Early 2015 Car Sales

Early 2015 Car Sales are Up. How about Your Store?

JKRAdvertising / Automotive Advertising, Automotive Advertising Advice /

March 2, 2015

Early 2015 car sales numbers are up even more than anticipated, despite some of the most frigid temperatures on record in some parts of the country. If you want to read more about this current upward trend in new-car sales, check out this article from Automotive News. It should provide you with a little bit of hope – or if nothing else, cautious optimism.

That said, there are some dealers out there who are still not getting their fair share of sales, despite the early 2015 car sales figures referenced earlier. If your dealership falls into the category of underperformer, it’s time to take a closer look at why this is happening.

Early 2015 Car Sales Optimism?

If you are in the New England area, you have a good excuse. One hundred inches of snow is problematic; we get that. But if your store isn’t in the greater Boston area and your dealership didn’t “kill it” in February, a well-placed call to JKR Automotive Advertising should be the first order of business. You need a strong, knowledgeable advocate to help you drive people to your dealership … and your store’s Website, too, for that matter. You should have someone on your side who can help you plan well beyond just this month. That’s us; that’s what we do for all our clients on a regular basis at JKR Automotive Advertising.

Call Eric Tigner at (321) 397-0777 today to get things in motion. Before you know it, you’ll have the high volume of foot traffic you have always wanted (and known your dealership could do).

To give you something for your time, by contacting us you will also receive a free-of-charge advertising review. Using our scientific data provided by our media buying specialists, you’ll find out how you’re doing compared to the other guys in your market, which is a very valuable piece of information to have … and it’s yours with no strings attached, whether you sign up with us or not. In short, it’ll help you clearly see why your dealership is not progressing as it should.

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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