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AUTOMOTIVE ADVERTISING & MARKETING

television

Reasons Advertising on Television Gives Auto Dealers a Boost

∙ Despite the inroads made through the use of today’s technology, research still shows that television makes up the largest portion of a person’s leisure-time activity. ∙ Almost every American household (98%) has at least one television set. ∙ Based on the shows in which you choose to advertise, you can to a […]

accessories

Many Dealerships Don’t Try to Sell Enough Accessories

Reynolds & Reynolds recently said the automotive accessories industry is a $40 billion per-year business. Sadly, the vast majority of it (less than 10%, according to multiple sources) is not being won at the dealership level; instead, it is going to third-party companies. It’s high time this changed. So let’s look at why so […]

Annual Sales

Annual Sales Are Up Nationwide. How About Yours?

The annual sales record of new vehicles may be broken in 2016. The folks at Autodata reported a 3.7% increase in sales last month compared to November 2015, setting the stage for what is going to be a very interesting finish to the calendar year. That’s the good news. The not-so-good news is that […]

Car Key with Leasing Tag on White

Some Interesting Stats on Leasing

A recent leasing article in Automotive News led their reporter, Hannah Lutz, to surmise that when it comes to the car lease, salespeople should “pitch women on practicality and men on luxury.” Statistics indicate that she could be correct. Lutz cites findings from Swapalease.com’s third quarter Auto Trends Lease Report, which shows that women […]

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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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