News

AUTOMOTIVE ADVERTISING & MARKETING

Palm Springs Kia

Palm Springs Kia Retains JKR Automotive Advertising

We at JKR Automotive Advertising are pleased to welcome Palm Springs Kia, the newest member of our ever-growing roster of clients. Palm Springs Kia is yet another member of the Kiefer Auto Group, which owns nine automotive dealerships; five in Oregon, two in California and two in Idaho. Brands offered by the group include Kia, […]

Happy New Year

Happy New Year from JKR!

It’s hard to believe, but here we are at the close of another year – and the beginning of 2015! At the beginning of every year, we look forward with great anticipation to new opportunities and successes … and reasons to be thankful. From Us to You: Thanks! The best, and first, place to start, […]

December Sales

Are Your December Sales Numbers What You Expected?

How are your dealership’s December sales? According to an article in Advertising Age, December is projecting as the fourth-best month this year with sales of approximately 1.5 million light vehicles. This number trails only May (1.61), August (1.59) and March (1.54). December Sales Up in Last Decade As mentioned in an earlier blog, December used […]

Keep Advertising

Keep Advertising No Matter What’s Happening Today

You need to keep advertising, even when things are good! Right now, a lot of car dealers are feeling pretty good about themselves and their dealerships. It looks like the industry’s best year in the last five. Gas prices are down, meaning consumers are buying more expensive cars because fuel efficiency isn’t quite as important […]

«‹ 89 90 91 92 ›»

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