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  • Cars.com

    July 2009

    Monthly Newsletter

    Volume 3 Issue 7

    Article Count: 14

    Enjoy the pleasure of insightful automotive news right in your inbox with the Dealer Business Journal Monthly Newsletter sponsored by Cars.com!

  • Leedom Convention to Detail How Dealers Must Adjust to New Automotive World - Must Read - Featured

    Peter Salinas - Leedom Group

    Many dealers across the country have had their best year ever because they have sharpened their skills and adopted a new way of doing business in a new automotive world. No group has witnessed this more and helped to influence change more than the Leedom Group.

  • According to Cocteau’s Plan . . . - Must Read - Featured

    Peter Salinas - Leedom Group

    I was driving to Orlando, Fla., to the NIADA National Convention, and having a discussion with my brother via cell phone, when I had a startling revelation. We were discussing some negotiations I’m having with Freddie Mac regarding my home mortgage. As we all know Freddie Mac is now a government entity thanks to our comrades in Washington.

  • More Money: Drive Higher Used-Car Profits - Must Read

    Dealer ADvantage - Cars.com

    Although new-car sales are slumping in 2009, automotive retail experts report that used-car gains are helping to offset industry losses. At CNW Research, president Art Spinella recently projected 40 million units for the year amid wider availability of consumer credit, providing franchise and independent stores an opportunity to capture additional revenue.

  • It’s Time to Stop, Listen and Comment - Must Read

    Chris Leedom - Leedom Group

    So great news for our auto industry! Cash for Clunkers (CFC) passed this week. Wow, I am so excited about this “stimulus” for the auto industry. My guess is it will help thousands of dealers and “save jobs” (the new buzz phrase for anything that passes through Congress). To our esteemed President and Congressional representatives – it will not do a thing, you are about to burn $1 billion – a small amount in Washington but a huge amount where the rest of us come from – especially when it is our money!

  • Avoiding Those “What the (bleep)” Moments

    Mark Behnke - GoldStar GPS

    When it comes to buy here-pay here, there is one inevitable and undeniable fact — your collections team is going to have some “what the (bleep)” moments.

  • Guess What? Collections Are Sales - Must Read

    Chuck Bonanno - Leedom Group

    The car business is a funny business. The buy here-pay here business is a nutty business. While it’s true that buy here-pay here is associated with the car business, it is not “really” a car business. Yes you sell a car to start the ball rolling, but you don’t make any money until customers make payments. So keeping that fact in mind, the business is actually a finance and collections business. And more to the point, your money will be made from quality collection of the note far more often than from good underwriting or good selling. The car is just the security and the instrument to make a loan.

  • Look Before You Lease - Featured

    Thomas Hudson - Hudson Cook, LLP

    Congress is considering several bills that will impose finance charge caps on auto financing, a bill that will strip auto creditors of their secured status in bankruptcy court if the finance charge exceeds a certain amount, and a bill that directs the Federal Trade Commission to eliminate or reduce a dealer’s ability to participate in the finance charge imposed in a retail installment contract. On top of that, some states have passed laws that prohibit undocumented aliens from registering vehicles, eliminating a market that has become important to some dealers.

  • Do You Have an Unhealthy Addiction? - Must Read

    Dave Anderson - The Dave Anderson Corporation

    Do you have cerebral baggage? Cerebral baggage is an addiction to old thoughts, beliefs, processes or products that are no longer helpful, productive or relevant. Sadly, many leaders have an unhealthy addiction to “what used to be” and “what used to work.”

  • Cars.com, NIADA Announce New DealerADvantage Boot Camp Series - Featured

    Dealer ADvantage - Cars.com

    Cars.com announced today that it will partner with NIADA to produce an online training program specifically developed for independent dealers. The free DealerADvantage Boot Camp sessions are designed to help dealers more profitably manage their operations. Topics range from balancing floorplan debt-to-equity ratios to implementing effective online advertising and internet sales processes.

  • Westlake’s Proactive Measures Result in $30 Million Increase in Credit Line from Wells - Featured

    Peter Salinas - Leedom Group

    By Peter A. Salinas

  • NIADA Creates Used Vehicle Certified Pre-owned Program In Partnership with NAC - Featured

    Industry Releases - Leedom Group

    NAC (National Auto Care) and the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association joined forces this week to create a program that will certify pre-owned vehicles by independent dealers.

  • Response Received: Email Tactics to Deliver the Customer Replies You Want - Must Read

    Dealer ADvantage - Cars.com

    Ever wondered why those carefully crafted emails sit unanswered in prospects’ inboxes? So has Joe Webb, and he has a theory.

  • Cash for Clunkers: Winners, Losers - Featured

    Don Elliott - Indiana Auto Auction

    On June 18, the Senate passed H.R. 2346, which includes Title XIII, the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act of 2009 (CARS), more commonly known as “Cash for Clunkers.” The stated purpose of the House version of is “To accelerate motor fuel savings nationwide and provide incentives to registered owners of high polluting automobiles to replace such automobiles with new fuel efficient and less polluting automobiles.”

  • Times Have Changed: We Have to SELL! - Featured

    Wayne Herring Jr - Preferred Warranties Inc.

    One of our best dealers recently told me this over dinner. “Times have changed. We actually have to SELL warranties to customers!” This was a dealer who — before the subprime finance crash — was selling more warranties (vehicle service contracts or VSCs) than any of our other accounts in his home state.