Find Missed Opportunities in Fixed Ops, from Auto Remarketing.

SAN FRANCISCO – The service and fixed operations industry is a $310 billion business. The problem is, only a little more than a quarter of that goes to franchised dealerships, says Netsertive’s Tim O’Rourke, citing outside research.

“The franchised dealers are getting 27 percent of that ($310 billion total), according to their own internal data. They are getting about $85 million,” O’Rourke, Netsertive’s sales director of auto, told Auto Remarketing at the NADA Convention & Expo in January. “The rest of that is flowing to the third-party service providers … or those who are doing it themselves.”

“So, there is a tremendous opportunity there, and the battle is being fought online,” he continued. “People have said overwhelmingly they search online when they are trying to figure out where they are going to get their service performed, and the franchised dealers just aren’t there.”

But based on the outside research shared by Netsertive, perhaps they should be. On dealer websites, 97 percent of material is sales-based; just 2 percent to 3 percent is for service, O’Rourke said.