News

AUTOMOTIVE ADVERTISING & MARKETING

Automotive SEO Advertising

Automotive SEO Advertising: What You Should Know

As an Automotive SEO Advertisingcampaign is put together, it’s important for the dealer know what SEO does and how it works. What is Automotive SEO Advertising? When a person uses a search engine (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.) to find a certain vehicle or dealership, they are essentially asking the search engine to do three things: […]

Subprime Car Loan

Subprime Car Loan Rates Higher than Pre-Recession Levels

It may be hard to believe, but subprime car loan interest rates are higher today than before the recession. Prior to the economic downturn, approximately 25% of all new car loans were subprime, and today, according to Lacey Plache, Chief Economist for Edmunds.com it’s slightly higher. Many are asking if the increase in subprime car […]

Super Bowl TV Advertising

Super Bowl XLVIII TV Advertising SOLD OUT!

Fox Sports executive vice president Neil Mulcahy revealed that Super Bowl TV advertising is sold out, with automotive advertisers Audi, GM, Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia and Volkswagen leading the way. This year, interest in Super Bowl TV commercials was stronger than usual, with all available spots sold shortly after Thanksgiving.

Automotive Newsletter

Automotive Newsletters Increase Sales & Customer Retention

JKR’s Automotive Newsletters are the perfect tool to help your dealership keep its current customers … and get additional revenue from them, too! Automotive Newsletters contain service coupons, which help increase service visits and keep your dealership top-of-mind with your customers. This is vital during a time when customer retention is more important than ever! […]

«‹ 126 127 128 129 ›»

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