News

AUTOMOTIVE ADVERTISING & MARKETING

Car Loan Records

Car Loan Records Being Broken

Car loan records are being set, as Americans seem to have few issues with being on the hook for automobile payments. According to TransUnion, car loan balances have now surpassed the $1 trillion mark – specifically, the number is $1.008 trillion as of the third quarter of this year. The car loan records are happening […]

Jeff Johnson at Hyundai Steel plant.

Jeff Johnson Tours South Korea, Hyundai-Kia Facilities

Jeff Johnson is not only the Managing Partner at JKR Advertising & Marketing, he also recently became the co-owner at Kia of North Grand Rapids. Along with many of his dealer counterparts, he was invited to tour the Hyundai-Kia facilities in South Korea … and he came back with an increased respect and perspective of […]

JPMorgan Study

JPMorgan Study: Consumers Spending Extra Gas Money

A recent JPMorgan Study revealed that Americans have not been particularly careful with the money they have saved since the major reduction in gas prices. Why? Well, it’s really an interesting phenomenon; something behavioral experts refer to as “mental accounting”. If the average American bought the same number of gallons of the same grade of fuel […]

Motor Trend Awards

Motor Trend Awards Announced for 2015

This year’s Motor Trend Awards have been released, and it’s a really good year for Chevrolet. The brand sporting the bowtie for its logo took home two of the three awards as the major automotive publication announced their favorite car, truck and SUV for 2015. Winners of Motor Trend Awards Car of the Year: Chevrolet […]

«‹ 59 60 61 62 ›»

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