News

AUTOMOTIVE ADVERTISING & MARKETING

Virtual Repo Guy

Don’t Look Now, but the Virtual Repo Guy is Lurking

Who, or what, is the “Virtual Repo Guy?” It isn’t a guy at all, per se … but it serves the same purpose as a real repo man. Today, there are more than two million cars that can be disabled remotely with the simply push of a cell phone button. This blog is written with […]

Buried Ferrari

The Case of the Buried Ferrari, Part Two

Yesterday, you hopefully read about the buried Ferrari Dino 246 GTS. Today, you’ll find out that not all of it was entirely true … and why the public was led to believe some of the inaccuracies. If not for the curiosity of a gentleman named Mike Spinelli … an automotive columnist for Jalopnik, we may […]

Ferrari Dino

The Buried Ferrari Dino 246 GTS, Part One

Today’s blog tells the unusual story of how a stolen 1974 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS was found, quite by accident. Much of the information in this article comes from the Los Angeles Times, which covered the story in the late 1970s. Note: Time would tell that this story is mostly factual, but not entirely true. […]

High Gas Prices

Are High Gas Prices Actually Benefiting the Auto Industry?

Are high gas prices actually good for the automotive industry? According to some, that’s the case – just in sort of a roundabout way. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, one powerful CEO made a compelling argument this is so. According to Mike Jackson, the Chairman and CEO of AutoNation, the high gas prices […]

«‹ 99 100 101 102 ›»

Press Categories

Recent Posts

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.

Read more