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AUTOMOTIVE ADVERTISING & MARKETING

Successful Selling

Successful Selling: By the People; For the People

To ensure successful selling, you certainly need to advertise. When you consistently keep your dealership’s message in front of consumers in your community, it keeps your store top-of-mind. Today, however, we focus on another facet of a dealership. The quality (or lack thereof) of your staff goes a long way toward the success or […]

Internship

Internship Opportunity Available at JKR

JKR Advertising is seeking a student from a local accredited college for a paid internship position. In addition to working closely with our billing and accounting departments, there will be opportunities for the chosen individual to interact with our Account Executives and Media Coordinators at the agency. The internship candidate will receive beneficial, real-world […]

Keystone Chevrolet

Keystone Chevrolet Enjoys Successful JKR Partnership

Prior to becoming a JKR Automotive Advertising client in September of last year, Keystone Chevrolet in Tulsa, OK was experiencing a traffic problem. While most of us complain about traffic congestion (usually on the commute to and from work), there’s a different kind of traffic car dealers welcome with open arms – and we don’t […]

The perfect employee

Picking the Stellar Employee from the List of Applicants

Every stellar employee has a list of attributes. They are the ones you look for when you’re conducting the hiring process, and the qualities you develop once they become part of your team. After that, it’s up to you to be a good employer and keep them from taking their talents someplace else. Your […]

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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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